Many families have their own recipes, passed down generation after generation. I found this recipe, and do not take credit for it, but what is unique about it is not using "cream of tartar", which so many recipes have, including my own family's recipe! I made this recipe the other day, my first time ever, and I was over the moon with happiness how they turned out. Nobody in my family has made them since my grandmother's passing in 2008, and when I made these, I felt like they came from her, which is a wonderful feeling.
This recipe is really easy to follow, and I follow up with my different approach to it.
Here's the recipe and instructions:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
My twists on this: I used a hand held mixer for the mixing, and I did not rotate the baking sheets, nor lined them with parchment paper. On average, each batch took about 13 minutes and were perfect! I used a small melon ball sized scooper to scoop the dough with, which helped make the cookies the perfect size every time. Also, after rolling each dough ball into the cinnamon sugar mixture I made sure they stayed in shape, so did a little Quality Control on every little cookie dough.
Once cookies were cooled, I packaged them up in medium sized cello treat bas, tied them with curling ribbon, and attached a tag stating what they were. Treats are everyone's Christmas gifts this year, and baking cookies from the heart is the best gift of all. It won't last a long time, but the traditions that we grow to love and cherish and sharing them with others, is a truly great gift.
Click here to see the Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe