Snickerdoodles

While I wrapped presents, Jeremy made the cookies.  When he saw the result, he got mad and said I should throw out the the cookbook (Joy of Cooking) because the recipe failed.  He said it was a bad cookbook (even though it's been around for over 75 years). Instead of nice round puffy snickerdoodles, we got very flat and crunchy cookies.    Hypothesized reasons for the imperfect cookies may have been: the recipe used too much butter, not enough flour, the butter was too soft, the baking soda was expired, the dough balls were made too big, the cookie sheets were warped, and the oven isn't perfectly level (he seriously got out his level to confirm).  With all that said, they STILL TASTE GOOD.  So who cares? :)  In the future, I'll try a different recipe though.

Snickerdoodles   (2013 Cookbook Challenge)
Recipe from Joy of Cooking
Makes 36 cookies (3" size)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1&1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
for rolling:
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar; add eggs and beat until well combined.  Stir in the flour mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.  Shape the dough into 1&1/4" balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar.  Arrange a couple inches apart on greased cookie sheets.  Bake 12-14 minutes at 350º, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are golden brown at the edges.  Let stand a couple minutes, then remove to a rack to cool.

The first batch that made Jeremy go into cookie rage: