Based on Snickerdoodle V recipe by Amy Barry on Allrecipes.com.
Many years ago, my coworkers and I were talking about our favorite cookies. I told them that while I usually prefer crispy cookies, the one soft cookie I really enjoyed was a Snickerdoodle. They had never heard of this cookie. I assumed it was because I was brought up in the Midwest and they were born and raised in Southern California. I didn’t have a recipe, so I surfed the web and found the recipe for Snickerdoodles V on Allrecipes.com. I whipped up a batch and brought them in to work the following week and they were gone by the end of the day.
At Christmas, both of my coworkers requested that I make them each a batch of Snickerdoodles. One coworker took them home and her family finished them off before she even had a chance to eat even one! In fact every year, her husband asks her when I’m going to bake them another batch of cookies.
Recently, I was watching Food Networks “Christmas Cookie Challenge,” and one of the contestants decided to combine Mexican Hot Chocolate with a Snickerdoodle, topping it with a toasted marshmallow. It sounded so delicious, I decided to try it out.
A lot of times when you buy cookies they are about 5 inches in diameter. I prefer much smaller cookies, so when portioning out the dough I use a melon baller, which gives you a nice two-bite cookie and consistency in the size of your cookies.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles with Mini Marshmallows
Credit: allrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable shortening, such as Crisco Baking Sticks
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper for rolling
- a bag of mini marshmallows
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Sift together the flour, baking cocoa, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. If you don’t have a sifter, a fine mesh sieve will work.
- Cream together the shortening with the sugar. Add the two eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the sifted flour mixture slowly to the shortening and mix well, but don’t over mix our your dough will become tough.
- Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat baking sheet.
- Using a melon baller or a teaspoon, form dough into approximately 1-inch balls. Roll into the mixture of sugar, cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly puffed.
- Top with one or two mini marshmallows while still warm. Pop for a minute or two under the broiler until Marshmallows have puffed up slightly and begin to brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
Variations
- Use a Baker’s Blow Torch to toast the marshmallows, rather than using the broiler.
- You can cut a larger marshmallow in half, in place of the mini marshmallows.
- You can serve the cookies without the marshmallows or have your guests toast the marshmallows themselves.
- If you prefer, you can include the mini marshmallows in the dough instead.
- You can substitute butter for the shortening, but the cookie will be slightly denser in consistency.
Baking with Marilyn 