Snickerdoodles

My kids are big snickerdoodle fans. They will choose this simple but perfect cookie over any other kind every time. Just in case I should ever be the wife of a presidential candidate, I have already chosen this cookie recipe as my entry to the presidential wifey cookie contest.

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat butter or margarine for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup sugar along with the baking soda and cream of tartar, beating till combined. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Combine the 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown. Cool on wire rack.

Yield: 3 dozen

My notes: If you make them slightly bigger, like I did, you will have the amount on the platter in the picture, plus the 3 or 4 that were scarfed immediately. Where the recipe says chill, I don't. (Chilling is not a skill I possess.) Skipping the chilling doesn't seem to hurt the cookies in any way, and they're not hard to make into balls without it, either.