Baking Recipes,  Cookies

Belated National Coffee Day Snickerdoodles

So, coffee. I call it my fuel. Not a day goes by I don’t drink the stuff, whether it’s black or a 3-in-1, I don’t care as long as it’s coffee. I won’t say I don’t function well without it, but there’s always something missing in my day when I don’t drink coffee in the morning.

Though I drink coffee in many forms, I still have a favourite version. It starts out black but ends up a cloudy brown, with a drizzle of milk and just a little brown sugar mixed in. Brown sugar has a very distinct taste compared to white sugar; a soft caramely-nutty taste compared to just pure sweetness. I never drink ice blended coffee with whipped cream because I think it tends to cover up the coffee taste too much. Coffee is better when it actually still tastes like coffee anyway.

To make a long story short, I freaking love coffee, and I’m one in a billion people proud to shout it out and celebrate it.

When I heard that some of the famous coffee chains were about to celebrate National Coffee Day on September 29th, I immediately thought that I must contribute to this food holiday as well. And that’s where these Coffee Snickerdoodles come in.

Even though I knew my post wouldn’t make it in time for National Coffee Day, I still had the urge to write this. I don’t have a very particular reason for picking these cookies to celebrate this day. I was simply in the mood for snickerdoodles and I thought, ‘Hey, why not make coffee-flavoured ones!’ So I looked around and score!

These cookies are simple to make and a nice change from regular snickerdoodles. The dough is soft and and easy to handle, and already you can tell as the smell of cinnamon and coffee meld together that these cookies are going to be many shades of awesome. You can go the manual route and use a wire whisk but since I was in a hurry I used my mixer.

Though I must admit I still love the classic snickerdoodles a little better, I can’t deny these were enjoyable as well. They have the same puffy and pillowy goodness against a crunchy bottom that I love in a snickerdoodle. They have the lovely wavy shapes on top of the cookie, like ripples in calm waters. The difference is these have that wonderfully fragrant coffee smell, and of course a solid coffee aftertaste that I think will please coffee-lovers.

These give you that lovely cinnamon sweetness snickerdoodles are known for at first bite, but after a while the coffee taste starts setting in. If you also happen to like adding cinnamon to your coffee, then I think you can have a double coffee-cinnamon breakfast if you pair the two.

Coffee Snickerdoodles

These cakey cookies give you that lovely cinnamon sweetness snickerdoodles are known for at first bite, but after a while the coffee taste starts setting in.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

For the cookie dough

  • ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon instant coffee, finely ground

For the cinnamon-sugar

  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
  • 2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar.
  • 3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined. Stir in vanilla extract.
  • 4. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and instant coffee powder.
  • 5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing with a spatula until just combined. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
  • 6. In a small bowl, combine remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and the ground cinnamon. Roll the cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls and completely coat the cookies in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
  • 7. Place on the cookie sheet 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set. The cookies will be soft and puffy fresh out of the oven but will develop a crunchy bottom and firm-but-cakey body as it cools. Let set on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

I think I’m starting to take a liking to cakey cookies.

The previous snickerdoodle version I made from Alice Medrich, while puffy and delicious, did not exactly have that wavy exterior I so love seeing atop snickerdoodles. I’d probably be making another classic snickerdoodle recipe soon! 😉

3 Comments

  • Michelle

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  • alexis

    i want to make these for my family but i was wondering if there was a substitute for cream of tartar? i’ve read that vinegar or lemon juice could work but that was for meringue recipes so i don’t know if it would be different in this situation

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