Make Sarah Fennel's small-batch snickerdoodles recipe 'for a cosy night in or as a spontaneous treat'
Discover the magic of single-serve baking with this recipe from her new cookbook, Sweet Tooth
Sometimes, all it takes to turn your day around are a couple of freshly baked cookies. Enter this recipe from Broma Bakery owner Sarah Fennel, which yields precisely two delectable snickerdoodles.
“They’re perfect for a cosy night in or as a spontaneous treat when you want that fresh-out-of-the-oven magic without the work of a full batch,” she told CBC Life. Plus, from start to finish, they’re ready in just 23 minutes.
The recipe is one of several small-scale bakes featured in Fennel’s new cookbook, Sweet Tooth, which she included “to bring that sense of ease and joy into people’s kitchens.” But these cinnamon-sugar-topped treats are particularly tempting at this time of year.
“I love baking these cookies when the weather gets a little chilly,” Fennel shared. “And [if] I’m craving something sweet after dinner but don’t want a ton of leftovers.” Single-serve baking has never seemed so enticing.
Just Two Snickerdoodles
By Sarah Fennel
Life can’t always be about chocolate chips. Sometimes it needs soft vanilla cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar. In this small-batch snickerdoodle, I use an egg yolk instead of a whole egg to create the same chewy consistency of a full-batch cookie (save the egg white for a cocktail or tomorrow’s breakfast scramble), while the sour cream creates a tangy, moist crumb. And like the other single-serve cookies in this chapter, this recipe makes two large cookies. You’re welcome.
Ingredients
For the cinnamon sugar:
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the cookies:
- 2 tbsp (¼ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp full-fat sour cream (plain Greek yogurt also works)
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
Preparation
First, make the cinnamon sugar. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon with a fork. Set aside.
Next, make the cookies. In a medium bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and use a silicone spatula to mix until combined (if it’s not fully coming together, microwave the mixture for 3 seconds — and make sure your bowl is microwave safe!).
Add the egg yolk, sour cream (or yogurt), and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined and no streaks of flour remain.
Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a ball between your palms. Place each ball of dough in the cinnamon sugar and roll it around until it’s evenly coated. Place the cookies at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan.
Bake until the cookies have started to crackle on the top and are set and firm around the edges but still somewhat soft in the middle, 12 to 13 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the sheet pan before serving.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 13 minutes
Total time: 23 minutes
Makes 2 cookies
Excerpted from Sweet Tooth. Copyright © 2024 by Sarah Fennel. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Sarah Fennel. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.
