Pre-holiday Baking: Snickerdoodles

With Thanksgiving and Christmas (yikes!) just around the corner, I've been thinking more and more about baking cookies and which ones I'd like to make and give away as gifts. So today I tested out a Snickerdoodle recipe. Now I've tasted this cookie before but this was the first time I've ever actually made Snickerdoodles. The recipe, which I found in a cookbook called Simple Joys of Friendship is quite simple and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and bake. The end result is a cookie that is soft, slightly chewy, slightly sweet, and one that goes perfectly with a hot cup of tea. The cinnamon flavor of the cookie made my boyfriend think of Apple Jacks Cereal when he tasted it. Though not the most exciting cookie appearance-wise, the Snickerdoodle is quickly becoming one of my favorite tasting cookies and I'm definitely going to include this one for my holiday baking.
Snickerdoodles (yields 3 dozen cookies)
ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 and 1/2 cup plus 2 T. sugar divided
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
2 and 3/4 cup AP flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
2 T. cinnamon

directions: (preheat oven to 400 degrees F)
1. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, eggs and vanilla.
2. Blend in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
3. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
4. Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
5. Roll balls of dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
7. Remove immediately from baking sheet to cool on a wire rack.