It’s Christmas in July, so why not make a holiday cookie?

“Oh, Nate, that’s nice and all, but where have you been for the last month?” Let me explain… 

You’d think I was dead. I’d think I was dead, too, because my friend Shannon got Tarot cards and my reading was dismal. If I were a ghost, I would have moved into The Haunted Mansion, so clearly, that’s not the reason for my absence.

I love living in Oregon because our summers are pretty mild. You can expect sunny and 75-80°. Well, the past month had many 90-95° days. I wanted to bake, but refused to heat up my apartment. It was cool (80°) yesterday, so I went for it.

You can get away with a snickerdoodle any time of year, right? Don’t be picky.

Step 1: Gather ingredients: Flour, butter, sugar, more sugar & cinnamon, shortening, vanilla, baking soda, cream of tartar, eggs. 

Oh, another reason I haven’t been baking is because my cat Xander had an issue that put him in the vet hospital for 3 nights. He’s doing well now, though!

And for the record, I do NOT feed my cats cookies. He’s on a prescription diet now anyway.

Step 2: Mix flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. 

I must not have been paying attention when I took that picture. Whoops.

Step 3: Beat sugar, butter, and shortening until light and fluffy. 

Step 4: Add vanilla and eggs. 

Step 5: Gradually add flour mixture until combined. 

Step 6: Refrigerate at least 1 hour. 

I let it chill for about 5 hours while I went on a run, shopped at Target, ate dinner, and caught up on Honey Boo Boo.

Step 7: Roll into 1-inch balls and coat with cinnamon sugar, then bake. 

Link to original recipe (It’s a McCormick one. Martha’s is similar, but has salt too.)

Yields: 60
I got: 48

Start time: 2:50 p.m. 7/29
End time: 9:50 a.m. 7/30
Total active time: About 1 hour
Martha’s estimated time: 30 minutes

What did I learn? 

• This is a pretty quick recipe that I’ll use again (if people like them).
• You don’t lose “it” if you take a month off.

What do I need to learn? 

• Why shortening?
• Why cream of tartar?
• What is cream of tartar?

I know people love snickerdoodles and I thought I did too. I don’t love these, actually. But I hope you do!

A friend from work, Randi, went to Japan and sent me a Hello Kitty apron. It was only right that I covered my mouth since our favorite kitty doesn’t have one.

Thanks, Randi!