12 Days of Cookies – Snickerdoodles
Turns out that Snickerdoodles are my sister’s favorite holiday cookie. This might not seem weird to anyone else, but to me, I was shocked when she told me. I don’t think my mom has ever made Snickerdoodles. I know that I haven’t ever made them. So I guess I’m not sure where she got this unexpected love of Snickerdoodles… But since they’re her favorite (and since she’s my favorite older-younger sister), I had to include them in my 12 Days of Cookies. Hi Brookie-Cookie!
I got this recipe from an insert that came with my Martha Stewart silicone baking mat. My dad gave me the mat for my birthday and I love it. Does just as well as my Silpats and I love the bright red color. You can see it in the picture of my Sugar Cookie post. Due to the large number of baked goods in our house, I decided to half this recipe. The dough comes together so easily, you could make these in a pinch. My half batch made exactly 2 dozen with my cookie scoop. I realized as I was looking at the recipe that I forgot to halve the amount of sugar used to roll the cookies in. Woops.
Snickerdoodles – from Martha Stewart – makes 4 dozen
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls (I just used my cookie scoop); roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
My 12 Days of Cookies:
Day 1: Lumberjacks
Day 2: Peppermint Sandies
Day 3: The great Sugar Cookie Debate
Day 4: Fudge
Day 5: Cranberry Orange Cookies
Day 6: Chocolate Chip Snowballs
Day 7: Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
These look fantastic!
my husbands family calls them butter-gooey cake.
Hi! These are actually called Gooey Butter Cakes, and they are a Paula Deen recipe (hence the butter and cream cheese!) I love making them with a red velvet cake mix….so good.
Ooey gooey butter cakes have been around for decades – they started in St. Louis – very close to my hometown. I remember making this recipe years before Paula came on the scene. She just made them more famous! Everyone goes nuts when you make them – I make them with all kinds of flavors – pineapple, lemon etc. Yours look great.
Thanks for all the information about where the bars originate from. Wherever they came from, they sure are good. I saw some comments on the allrecipes.com link of variations that people have tried like swirling in some berries and using chocolate cake mix. Kind of like a cheesecake brownie
Here in Kentucky they’re called Chess bars and have been around for a very long time. I’m not a native to KY and a coworker introduced me to these. I looked at them and thought “What the heck is that?” but once I tried one I was HOOKED! I just love how simple they are to make.
Whatever you call them, they’re pretty darned good!
YUM! Those look really delicious. And I love the colors you always put in the background.; The blue with the orange tint of the abrs is just perfect!
Yours looks like how my first and only batch turned out but I think I’d like them better gooey and with a little less sugar.
~ingrid
Yum…I love these things!
These look delicious! And I love using boxed cake mix!
I made these for a friends birthday this past weekend and they were a big hit!
I just made these today and they are delicious! I left mine slightly gooey and it’s so good!
I love these bars!
ust made these, yum! But I am curious to know where I can find some variations, i.e., with nuts, chocolate, fruit flavored, etc……I love to experiment!
beantownbaker — March 16th, 2013 @ 2:49 pm
I haven’t had a chance to play around myself with this recipe. I’m sure if you searched online, you’d find some other variations. Let me know what you try!
My mom used to make them for us when I was little. I am 25 now. And I am pretty sure they have been around for quite some time. Paula Deen probably only highlighted the fact that they were around. But yes Yum!
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday.
It’s always interesting to read through articles from other writers and practice something from other sites.
How can you make these to taste like pumpkin? If you add in pumpkin, do you need to cut back on something else??
beantownbaker — September 26th, 2013 @ 10:33 am
Oh that’s a great thought… What about using a box of pumpkin cake mix? And then throwing some pumpkin spices in the cream cheese mixture? If you try this variation, definitely let me know how it turns out!
Omg these look amazing cannot wait to try! I will experiment though!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:08 pm
If you do, let me know how it goes!
This has been around for years and yes it came from a Philly box. Was a family tradition for holidays at our house, but you can make with lemon as well
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:31 pm
Good to know!
I have been making these for years…but I dust with powdered sugar when cool. I can’t go to a family function without taking them.We call them Butter Cheese Squares.
I have made these for over 20 some years. I mix pecan pieces in the crust. Family just loves them. Making them tomorrow.
I make mine with Butter Pecan Cake mix and they are awesome. I am trying lemon this weekend.