A snickerdoodle is a type of homemade edible biscuit that is coated with cinnamon and sugar, and is a delightful excuse for a snack. Simple in its basic form, the snickerdoodle is designed to be adaptable in the face of changing culinary demands.

However simple sounding this may be, the various styles that can be created with the recipe are numerous. Some cookies are small, some large; some are soft, some crispy; some have lots of cinnamon, some just a dash; and some don't have any extra toppings. It is a treat which can be custom fitted to your individual taste.

Recipe for Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Shape a teaspoonful of dough into balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar. Place the dough onto a baking pan, and then flatten them slightly. Bake at 400°F until brown.

Options

• Vary the size of the biscuits, by adding and removing dough in accordance with the principles of conservation of mass.

• You could leave out the cream of tartar. Cream of tartar makes biscuits flatter, smoother, and crunchier after they bake. But they taste exactly the same!

• Add more flour. If the dough sticks to your hands instead of doing what it is supposed to, this may be wise.

• Put a walnut on top. This is a traditional variation stemming from an incident involving an art teacher, a small middle school in southwestern Pennsylvania, and walnuts¹.