Recipe: Clementine Orange Snickerdoodles | Cooking On the Side (2024)

FAQs

Are snickerdoodles supposed to be undercooked? ›

Are snickerdoodles supposed to be undercooked? I always recommend slightly underbaking your cookies and then letting them finish baking through cooling on the pan. This will ensure you don't overbake your cookies and end up with a dry, hard cookie!

If your butter is under mixed, it won't have the air pockets to hold it's shape. If it's over-mixed, the air pockets decrease in size and are unable to hold their shape in the oven—causing your cookies to spread. It's best to cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes.

Cracking occurs from several chemical reactions during the baking process. If some of your cookies aren't cracking, it could be because those dough balls were less round than others, the dough became too warm, your oven isn't heating evenly, or (most likely) the cinnamon sugar coating wasn't applied as thoroughly.

You can either replace cream of tartar with baking powder at a 1:1.5 ratio (1 teaspoon cream of tartar : 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder), or you can replace cream of tartar with the combination of baking soda and either lemon juice or vinegar (as with this recipe).

One of the most common reasons why cookies didn't spread out in the oven is because you added too much flour. Cookies rely on the perfect ratio of butter to flour in order to spread just the right amount when baked. What is this? It's very easy to over measure flour when using cup measurements.

Refrigerating snickerdoodle dough lets the butter resolidify and prevents the cookies from flattening out in the oven. I recommend giving the dough at least 45-60 minutes of chilling time in the fridge before baking.

How do you know when the cookies are baked? The snickerdoodle cookies will only take about 10 to 12 minutes to bake, so be sure to keep your eye on them! It's best to rotate the cookies after about 6 minutes so that the cook evenly. The cookies are done when the edges are just set and the centres are soft and cracked.

The Problem: Incorrectly Measured Ingredients

Sugar sucks up liquid, and when those cookies bake, it'll release the liquid and cause the cookies to spread out. If you use too much butter, the cookies will end up flat and greasy.

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry.

baking soda allows the ingredients to rise and become airy. Without baking soda, your cookies will be very dense, perhaps not chewy, and not as tasty.

Why do my snickerdoodles taste like flour? ›

Improper flour measurement is the #1 cause of your cookie dough being too dry or the cookies tasting like flour.

Cakes sink in the middle due to several factors, including overmixing of the batter, opening the oven door too soon, or not baking at the right temperature. Expired leavening agents or incorrect proportions of ingredients can also cause sinking.

Slightly under-baking the snickerdoodles also guarantees a softer cookie. Take them out of the oven after about 10-11 minutes. This will keep the interior of the cookie soft and chewy.

Soft – Dough that's “soft” or “runny” can be thickened by adding one or two tablespoons of flour to your mix. This will help keep your batch from “Spreading” and coming out of the oven looking like flat, not-so-cookie-like puddles.

What Does Cream of Tartar Do in Cookies? Cream of tartar makes cookies chewy, as it precludes the sugar in the dough from crystalizing, which would lead to crispiness (ie: the opposite of chewiness).

Cream of tartar is the secret ingredient to making whipped cream fluffy and light. It's also used to make meringue more sturdy, and to add a bit of tangy zip to baked goods, such as snickerdoodle cookies.

You can use 1.5 teaspoons (6 grams) of baking powder to replace 1 teaspoon (3.5 grams) of cream of tartar. This substitution is ideal because it can be used in any recipe without modifying the taste or texture of the final product.

Baking Powder

Baking powder is a good cream of tartar substitute for cookies because it is synergistic with baking soda. You'll need 1.5x the amount of baking powder substitute for the cream of tartar called for in the recipe. Baking powder is a great cream of tartar replacement because it doesn't impart any flavor.