Bake snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar, with a slight tang and a soft middle. The dough takes ten minutes to mix, and the cookies bake in about ten. Take them out while they still look a little soft, and they will be chewy rather than hard.

What you need

This makes about 24 cookies.

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• For rolling: 2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream of tartar is the one thing you may need to buy. It is in the baking aisle, near the spices, and it is what makes a snickerdoodle taste like one.

Make them

1. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.
2. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
3. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
4. Chill the dough for 30 minutes if it feels very soft. This is optional, but it helps stop spreading.
5. Heat the oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment.
6. Mix the cinnamon and sugar for rolling on a small plate.
7. Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches wide (a heaped tablespoon). Roll each in the cinnamon sugar until fully coated.
8. Put them on the trays about 2 inches apart.
9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The edges should be set and the centres still look soft and slightly puffy.
10. Leave them on the tray for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. They will firm up as they cool.

Why they are chewy

Underbaking by a minute is the whole trick. The cookies keep cooking on the hot tray after you take them out, so pull them when the middles still look a little soft. The cream of tartar also helps, and so does not overworking the dough. Mix until you see no dry flour, then stop.

Getting the details right

Soften the butter at room temperature for about an hour. It should give slightly when you press it but still feel cool, not greasy. Weigh the flour if you have a scale (2 3/4 cups is roughly 345 grams), or spoon it into the cup and level it off instead of scooping. Roll the balls the same size so they bake evenly, and use parchment on the trays so they lift off easily. If you want crinkled tops, do not press the balls down. Leave them as balls and they will spread and crackle on their own.

If something goes wrong

• They spread flat. The butter was too soft or the dough was warm. Chill the dough and use cool baking sheets, not a tray fresh from the previous batch.
• They are hard and crunchy. They baked too long. Take them out earlier next time.
• They are puffy and cakey. Too much flour. Spoon the flour into the cup and level it, instead of scooping it from the bag.
• They do not taste tangy. There was not enough cream of tartar, or it was old. Measure it carefully.
• The cinnamon sugar will not stick. Roll the balls straight away, while the dough is a little tacky.

Keeping them

Once the cookies are completely cool, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for four or five days. You can freeze the rolled dough balls on a tray, then bag them, and bake straight from frozen with an extra minute or two. That way you can have warm cookies on a weeknight whenever you like.

Make it a fall evening

Bake a batch while you do something low-effort, like a movie night, or pack some in a tin for a friend. They go well with hot apple cider in the afternoon, when the light has gone gold and you have nowhere to be.