Luxury Light

As most of you know I love to cook!

So here's my idea...start sharing some of my favorite recipes and culinary attempts (and possible disasters) in a new weekly post called,

Mer's Monday Munchies!

This first recipe is in honor of my dad's birthday (today!). I inherited a lot of things from my father: green eyes, sense of humor, creativity, horrible singing voice, the ability to misspell everything (this is a Welsh gene, along with the inability to carry a tune) and most notably, a BIG sweet tooth! One sweet we both indulge in is cookies! I hope you enjoy this easy and classic cookie recipe as much as my dad and I do!

Best-Ever Snickerdoodles

(Makes about 35 4-in. cookies)

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups all-purpose white flower

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup

2 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar, combined with 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, for topping

Directions

1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease several baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray.

2.) In a large bow, thoroughly stir together the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, if using; set aside.

3.) In another large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter, sugar, and corn syrup until well blended and smooth.

4.) Beat in half of the flour mixture until evenly incorporated. Stir in the remaining flour mixture until evenly incorporated.

5.) Let the dough stand for 5 to 10 minutes, or until firmed up slightly.

6.) Put the cinnamon-sugar mixture in a shallow bowl.

7.) Roll portions of the dough into generous 1 1/2 inch balls with lightly greased hands (the dough will be soft). Roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar. Place on the baking sheets, spacing about 2 3/4 inched apart. Using your hand, slightly pat down the tops of the balls.

8.) Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 8-11 minutes, or until just light golden brown at the edges. (You can reverse the sheet from front to back halfway through baking to ensure even browning.)

9.) Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to a wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled.

*Let backing sheets cool between batches to keep the cookies from spreading too much.

(Recipe courtesy of "The American Cookie Book")