It’s cookie time! Garrett has baked up some cinnamon snaps for us that are delightfully crispy. Enjoy! ~Elise
Back home in Southern California, my family usually spends Christmas time around the fireplace with a large fire roaring. My brothers and I take turns bringing in more wood for the fire and my dad, who knows how to judge a fire, knows when to poke the logs to get a good blaze going. Then we all relax with a book and just enjoy the quiet of each other’s company or simply watch the glowing embers and talk.
I don’t have a fireplace in my apartment. I mean I do, but it’s a decorative one. The kind where you press a switch and two or three tiny flat flames flicker with less glow than most night lights. It certainly doesn’t heat the room worth a darn either. A good fire with family is probably what I miss most about not being with them this year.
These cookies are a comfort though. They snap, crunch, and pop like a good fire, and lots of cinnamon gives them plenty of warmth. In fact, if you could taste and savor a Christmas fire on your tongue, I’m willing to bet it would taste like these cinnamon snap cookies.
Remember, the best way to enjoy these to share them with family. If they aren’t there then send some in the mail and enjoy them together over the phone.
Cinnamon Snap Cookies Recipe
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Cook time: 12 minutes
- Dough chilling time: 2 hours
- Yield: Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 large egg
- Extra sugar and ground cinnamon for coating
Method
1 Whisk together the flour and spices: Vigorously whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
2 Beat butter and sugar, add egg, vanilla, honey: Beat the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the honey, egg, and vanilla extract and beat for another minute on medium until well incorporated. Be sure to pause halfway through to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
3 Mix dry ingredients into wet: Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter sugar mixture and mix until they are incorporated into the dough and the dough is smooth.
4 Work dough into logs, wrap in plastic, chill: Lightly flour a work surface and divide the dough into two equal parts. Lightly roll them out into logs about 2-inches in diameter. Place them on pieces of plastic wrap and wrap them up and carefully smooth the logs out. Place in the freezer and chill at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
5 Preheat the oven to 350°F
6 Line baking sheets: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
7 Make cinnamon sugar: Set aside a small bowl and add some cinnamon and sugar in whatever proportions you enjoy best (I find 1/4 cup of sugar to a teaspoon of cinnamon is perfect for me, but taste and go with what works for you).
8 Slice dough into rounds, press in cinnamon sugar: Slice the dough into 1/4-inch rounds with a sharp knife. Take each round and press one side into the cinnamon sugar you mixed earlier. Place the dough round sugar-side up. Give the cookies plenty of space as they will spread when they bake.
9 Bake at 350°F for 10 to 13 minutes: Bake at 350°F for 10 to 13 minutes or until a dark golden-brown. Be sure to watch them very carefully after 10 minutes as they can burn very quickly.
The cookies will puff up a bit and remain soft once out of the oven. Don’t worry as they will become crisp as they cool.
10 Cool and serve: Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Keep in an airtight container for a week or two.
