Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookies and happen to be the first cookies I learned to bake. Growing up in an Asian kitchen we rarely baked desserts, the sweets my Mom made usually included fresh fruits, stewed or steamed dumplings.

I am going to start my Snickerdoodle story with, "Remember when Mariah Carey actually sang good songs without taking fashion advice from Snooki's stylist?" The year was 1993 when Mariah Carey's Hero and Dreamlover songs were always on the radio. My home economics teacher turns the radio up while we were baking. I would sing along faking my soprano abilities while licking the cookie dough off the bottom of the bowl.

For a 6th grader I was either lucky or unlucky to be paired with my first crush in Middle School. He was tall, wore glasses and played basketball. I made a fool of myself when the teacher presented the recipe for Snickerdoodles and I said, "Is it a cookie with Snickers?" My crush grunted a laugh. I didn't turn beet red because I was oblivious and still wondered why we didn't have Snicker bars in the pantry.

"No dear" my teacher replied, she proceeded to demonstrate how to roll the cookie dough into a ball and cover them in cinnamon and sugar. My mouth formed a O and I exclaimed, "OH..." I finally turned beet red and thought to myself that my crush will never ask me to the homecoming dance now.


For the 1st Food Blogger Cookie Swap hosted by Julie and Lindsay I decided to bake Snickerdoodles for the memories and to set the mood I played Mariah Carey's Christmas Album while I was baking. Since it is the Christmas season I rolled the cookies in crushed peppermint and topped them with a Hershey's kiss. I WISH I could share these cookies with my 6th grade crush. Hey Zack if you are reading this I have a big batch waiting for you.



2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
2 large eggs
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy
48 pieces of Hershey's Kisses

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Then press the top half of the dough into the crushed peppermint.

Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Immediately top each cookie with a Hershey's kiss.

*I like to make big cookies the size of small bread plates. I roll each cookie dough into the size of a golf ball and top each cookie with 3 Hershey's kisses. Bake the cookies for 13-15 mins. People are happy after one cookie. For the food blogger swap I made "normal" size cookies and for some cookie batches I mixed the crushed peppermint candy into the dough for a different variation.