Datahawk was nice enough to try out a couple of different recipes for snickerdoodles while she was here, and though the recipe from Penzey’s was tasty, the winner is the recipe from The Best Recipe.

Snickerdoodles
Makes about 30 cookies
These old-fashioned cookies are dusted with cinnamon sugar and have a good contrast between crisp exterior and soft, chewy interior.

2.25 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
0.5 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
0.25 cup vegetable shortening
1.5 cups granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoons for rolling cookies
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon for rolling cookies

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, cream butter shortening, and 1.5 cups of sugar until combined, 1 to 1.5 minutes with electric mixer at medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add eggs. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.
5. Mix remaining 3 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Working with a scant 2 tablespoons of dough each time, roll dough into 1.5″ balls. Roll dough balls in cinnamon sugar and place on cookie sheet, placing them 2 to 2.5 inches apart.
6. Bake, reversing position in oven halfway through baking time (from top rack to bottom and front to back), until edges of cookies are beginning to set and centers are soft and puffy, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to cooling rack with a wide spatula.

Notes: Be sure to grease the cookie sheets or the cookies will stick! These are best when right out of the oven – they tend to get a lot more chewy as time passes. Don’t wait until they look completely done in the oven because by the time you pull them out and transfer them to the cooling rack, they will be overdone and too crispy. I strongly recommend using Penzey’s Korintje Cassia Cinnamon for this recipe.