Today’s Exercise: 25 minutes on treadmill, 13,500 steps
I posted on Monday the recipe for some Cornflake Wreaths. These are not the baked treats that I made over the weekend (in fact it was about 2 month ago that I made this) but I posted them since I have decided to create a small buffer between cooking and posting to ensure that a post can always go up every weekday at the same time.
Baking sweet treats for my journalism course has become a matter of routine. This week’s recipe has been chosen because it is both low in calories and has a funny name (the same reason that I used a month and a half ago when I made Loc Lac). It is alleged that the name ‘Snickerdoodle’ derives from a Dutch word meaning snail… but the local Dutch-national desputes this claim fully. I, personally, believe that the etymology of this name is because it’s funny and memorable (similar to a Knickerbocker Glory).
In making these I have had to deviate slightly from the American recipe since corn syrup is not widely available (if at all) in the UK. Due to it’s viscosity and it’s health properties I have used honey as a substitute. Hopefully what I am making is still the real McCoy.
Ingredients (this should make 42 put I managed to make 68):
- 1 3/4 cups plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 large egg
- cinnamon sugar (made of 3 tbsps sugar and 2 tsps ground cinnamon whisked together)
Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees celsius.
Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar together in a bowl. In a larger bowl beat the butter and sugar (not the homemade cinnamon sugar) together with an electic whisk until well blended. Then add the honey, vanilla and egg to the butter-sugar mix and beat until blended. Finally, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until blended. Cover the bowl and stick in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Take the bowl out of the fridge and make 42 cookies from the dough by rolling it into 1-inch balls, rolling them in the pre-made cinnamon sugar and then placing them on a baking sheet greased using low-calorie spray oil. Use a small glass (like a shot glass) to flatten these balls into cookies. Bake the cookies for 5 minutes in the oven.
Cool them afterwards for 2 minutes in the baking trays and then on a wire rack.
Adapted from here
Verdict: These were yummy. When left to cool they became and crisp because of their thinness and their cinnamon flavouring makes them perfect for Christmas baking.
The main issue with these is how time consuming they are to make. I was in the kitchen for a few hours since I had to hand roll 68 balls, roll these in sugar and then flatten them all out. This would have taken less time if I didn’t go to the shops in the middle of the shop to buy my mum a bottle of Baileys to accompany her Desperate Housewives marathon but that is by the by. I would recommend making these with children since they’ll have fun doing all the rolling in sugar and such things, plus it’s free slave labour. Hurrah!
Calorie Count: 55 per cookie (mine were 34 each)
