BAKING WITH POPPY: Snickerdoodles (A.K.A. Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts)

First off, sorry we have been rather blog-neglectful this week! Carefully both got really busy at the same time and became useless at blogging. We are back now though! Posts today and tomorrow and back to normal from Tuesday, we promise. Super excited for some Christmas posts coming up, there will definitely be some Christmas recipes but for now we have these, which are delicious at any time of the year but actually not un-festive because they are spiced and best with a hot drink => winter.

Snickerdoodles are (apparently) an American thing, but they are basically just oven doughnuts, kind of a cross between a scone and biscuit in texture I think? Scone and biscuit in the English sense, not American (anyone else getting confused?). They're sort of a cakey biscuit. Anyway they are super lovely and super easy and everyone should make them. This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's Snickerdoodle recipe in the incredible book How To Be A Domestic Goddess, which is the book that made me start baking. So blame Nigella if you get fat from these, not me, it's her fault.

Anyway, first off preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan oven) or gas mark 4.

Ingredients (makes about 25)
250g self-raising flour
1 pinch of salt
1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger and/or nutmeg
75g caster sugar
25g dark sugar
100g butter
1 egg
Vanilla, chocolate or coffee extract
1 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tbsp (or 1 dessert sp) cinnamon

Method
Combine the flour, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl using a whisk (then you don't need to sieve!). Use whatever spices you like, these are just my ultimate trio, as you can see from this recipe, but it's totally up to you. You could also substitute 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour for cocoa to make chocolatey ones.

Next mix the two sugars then cream the butter and sugar mix, until it's as light as possible (or for as long as you can be bothered to mix it...). Then add in the egg and any extract(s) you are using. I haven't put quantities for extracts, partly because it's up to you, but also because it depends what you're using as to the strength of it, so look on the bottle to see what it recommends! The egg mix will look pretty gross at this point but I promise it's fine.

After this you just add the egg mix to the dry ingredients and combine! It might seem a little dry but if you carry on squishing it, it comes together nicely quite quickly. Once you have a good mix, you just take teaspoons of it to make little balls, around walnut-sized, and put them on a baking sheet, then stick in the oven for 15 minutes.


While they are cooking, mix together the cinnamon and icing sugar and put it on a plate. After 15 minutes, the snickerdoodles should be slightly golden and have become hard and cracked on top. 

Sorry for the mutant in the middle, I had a teeny tiny extra one that didn't fit...

Once out the oven, as soon as they are cool enough to touch (as hot as you can take), roll them around in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Make sure to tap the mixture out of the cracks - no one likes a mouthful of cinnamon.

Eat. Preferably with a cup of tea (or I guess coffee if you added coffee extract or are just generally that way inclined). I made these this afternoon and have so far eaten ten, I think that says it all.