Wally Cookies

I don't make any secret of the fact that I have a particularly awesome family.  I have been blessed by really wonderful parents, siblings and in-laws, nephews and nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins.  My relationships with these amazing people are some of my proudest life achievements.  If that was all I accomplished in life I'd feel like an overachiever.

One uncle, in particular, is larger than life.  As a young child I was both terrified and awestruck by him.  He has always been bearded, gruff, ribald and hilarious.  As an adult, I'm just awestruck.  He isn't particularly demonstrative, but I have never doubted for a moment the depth of his love for his family, nieces and nephews included.

I was pretty rattled when I got a call from my cousin Melody over the weekend with the news that Wally had suffered a heart attack.  He was in the hospital, stabilized and awaiting tests.  The weather was bad and if he had to be transported it would pose a new set of concerns.  I made calls to family to let my people know what was going on.  My brother Sheldon expressed what we all were thinking, "You just never expect anything to happen to Wally."  So it was with great relief that I got to share Melody's Sunday update:  3 stints, resting comfortably, maybe going home on Monday.

In Friday's post I said my next blog would be a recipe for snickerdoodles.  As a small child I called them Wally Cookies because the sugar and cinnamon looked like, to me anyway, my uncle Wally's beard.  I didn't even know they were called snickerdoodles until I was old enough to read the recipe for myself!  So here is a recipe I tried this weekend.  What I love:  they are slightly chewy and stay soft longer than my usual recipe.  What I don't love:  they don't taste quite like Mom's.  I'll post her recipe soon and you all can weigh in with a favorite.

An Even Better Snickerdoodle

Yield: 16-18 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
For rolling:
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.
6. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press it onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies.
7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.

 

Please post your results if you try these!

 

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