My grandma ALWAYS made these at Christmas and us kids devoured them. We still do. It’s not uncommon for my brothers to request these when they come over, even at times other than Christmas. Fun fact: I even made these using Grandma’s old cookie sheets. These cookies are high in sentimental value.
Grandma B’s Snickerdoodles
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temp
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 t cream of tartar
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3 T sugar
3 t cinnamon
about 17 maraschino cherries, cut into quarters
In a small bowl, combine the 3 T sugar with the cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream the shortening, butter, and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Chill dough for about 2 hours. Roll dough into ball about the size of a small walnut (1 1/4 inch?), roll in the cinnamon sugar and place on cookies sheets that have been lined with parchment paper. Poke 1/4 of a cherry in the middle of each dough ball. Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes, or until just starting to brown around edges. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Eat. Leave a few for the Christmas guests.
Yield: 5 1/2 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies
