Snickerdoodle Cake

You know what is the best? Snickerdoodles. The warm sweet vanilla and cinnamon, and comforting and over the moon goodness? Yep. Those. You know what else is good? Cake. The two together? Heaven.

I brought this cake to a friends house and it went over better than expected. The entire thing got DEMOLISHED.  This cake will win people over.

Adapted from Foodie With Family

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 3 cups sifted four
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup room temperature butter
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk at room temperature

Buttercream:

• 2 1/4 cups butter at room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 8-9 cups icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of half and half, plus more if needed

Directions:

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325 and butter and flour your cake pans.
2. Cream together your butter and sugar till fluffy, and in a separate bowl whisk together your remaining dry ingredients.
3. Beat the eggs into the butter and sugar one at a time and also add vanilla.
4. Alternate adding the milk and flour until both are fully incorporated.
5. Divide the batter evenly between your pans and bake for 35 minutes, rotating half way through, or until toothpicks inserted in the center come out clean.

Buttercream:

1. Cream together your butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
2. Add six cups of icing sugar and vanilla, starting on low and gradually moving up to high until it’s evenly mixed together.
3. Scrape down the bowl and add the half and half, beat until evenly mixed.
4. Add the last two cups of icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy (more or less sugar or half and half can be added depending on your desired consistency).

Notes:

• Let cake cool in the pans for five minutes before removing it to the rack.
• Only frost cake once it is completely cooled.
• I opted to trim my layers to make the cake more flat and uniform.
• Leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Coconut Cookies

You know what was absolutely fantastic? The cookie swap. I had SO much fun making, packing, sending and receiving cookies from all over the place! I’ve posted twice about the matches I received, and I’m still hoping to get my third in the next couple of days.

I packed my cookies in vintage tea and sugar tins with matching cards. I thought they looked really cute. I’m already day dreaming about what kind I should make next year. Shipping cookies was way easier than I thought it would be. You just have to pack them snugly and in an air tight container and you’re set. The ladies at the Fed Ex Store were so into the idea of the swap.

These cookies were originally born out of the fact that my house had a surplus of coconut last May. I first made them for a friend who was moving into a new apartment as a housewarming and I’ve not stopped making them. They’re lovely with tea or warm with a BIG glass of milk. The cinnamon, brown sugar, and coconut are a perfect warm sweet and comforting combination. Perfect for the fall and chilly winter months.

Ingredients:

    •    1 1/4 cups flour
    •    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    •    1/4 teaspoon salt
    •    1 tablespoon cinnamon
    •    1/2 cup butter
    •    3/4 cup packed brown sugar
    •    1/4 cup white sugar
    •    1 egg
    •    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    •    1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
    •    1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the flour and then the coconut.
4. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
5. Bake for 8 to 11 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
6. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

• In my pictures I doubled the recipe, so the measurements displayed aren’t the same ones as are listed above
• These cookies are really soft when they first come out of the oven, but once they cool they’re a fantastic chewy cookie.

The Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are a staple in the cookie world. I appear, however, to have been the only person to have grown up without them in my life. After listening to my friends rave about them for a couple months I decided that I need to see what all of the hoopla was about, and ventured out to find how delicious these are.
Long story short, these are perfect cookies. Nice sweet little sugar cookies with a light cinnamon and sugar coating. They’re fantastic with tea, or coffee, or lunches, or to sneak a handful of them with a glass of warm milk while you watch a movie. It’s easy to see why these are so popular.

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cup of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
2. Cream together sugar and butter till light and fluffy, scrape down.
3. Add vanilla and eggs to butter mixture and beat till fluffy.
4. Slowly add the whisked dry ingredients to mixer till thoroughly incorporated.
5. Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.
6. Shape dough into one inch balls and roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
7. Set on an ungreased cookie sheet two inches apart and gently press down with the bottom of a glass.
8. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 8 - 10 minutes, or till outside of the cookies are a golden brown and the center is still soft.
9. Let cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

• Cookies will keep in a sealed container from up to two weeks.
• This makes around 4-5 dozen cookies.

Sometimes I make really lovely things in my kitchen, and I photograph it all the way through. I want to start chronicling these cooking adventures, having a place to keep them, and sharing them with all sorts of lovely people out there.