Hi! I know it has been FAR TOO LONG since I posted last. That was totally not the plan for the last week plus, but I swear I have a good excuse! We packed our bags and made our way west for a wedding! Hart’s sister, Chelsea, got married this last Saturday in lovely Orange County, California and there was NO way we were missing that. I knew when I left that I was going to be creating a Pittsburgh Cookie Table for the reception and had intended to post all of the cookies that I made for it. Needless to say my road to hell got a couple feet longer last week :)

I marathon baked, in a day, all of the cookies for the table and didn’t take a single photo of any. Taking pictures while you cook is a challenge any day, taking pictures while you cook AND hang out with family that you haven’t seen in far too long while taking care of all the last minute wedding events, details and schedules is pretty much impossible, so I forgave myself and decided to just redo them all one at a time when I got home. What a tragedy…I have to bake cookies!

The Pittsburgh Cookie Table. This should not just be a thing here. Or even just for weddings. Every event would be improved my a Pittsburgh Cookie Table. It’s pretty self explanatory, really. Its a table. Of cookies. Heaped with all sorts of homemade deliciousness baked, traditionally, by the bride’s family at every single wedding I have ever been to in Pittsburgh, and now in Orange County. It’s kind of the best part of the wedding. How could it not be? It is a gigantic table of cookies. The Cookie Table has been known to make appearances at graduation & communion parties and other large events with lots of family, well at least with my family. Maybe the love of cookies is a genetic thing? No one I have ever talked to outside of Pittsburgh seems to know about the awesome that is The Cookie Table. People ~ you are missing out! Give it a try – add The Cookie Table to your next big thing – it will be the BEST part.

This was the pre-cake shot, that ended up on the top above the cookies, but that happened later. Look at all that delicious! All those cookies and the ones I kept coming back to? The snickerdoodles.

A simple butter cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. Crispy edges, chewy center, spicy cinnamon. I love this cookie. The only ‘weird’ ingredient in these is Cream of Tartar. Cream of Tartar is a leavening agent that is paired with baking soda. It is an acid that actives the baking soda, but more importantly adds that tang that is makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle. It isn’t necessary, you use baking soda in a lot of places to leaven where you do not add cream of tartar, but in this cookie it gives it the flavor and texture that is the signature of a good snickerdoodle.

These are, for me, the perfect Snickerdoodle. I scoop with the Black Handled portion scoop, about 2 Tablespoons, for a nice sized cookie and prefer these not too under baked, a gummy center on these isn’t very good. Let them set on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely, they are soft when they first come out of the oven. They also will make your house smell like HEAVEN.

Snickerdoodles yield – around 28 4″ cookies

• 1 cup Butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 2 each Large Eggs
• 4 Tbsp Buttermilk
• 2 1/2 cup AP Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• little bit of fresh grated Nutmeg (optional but I love it)
• 1 1/2 cups Cinnamon Sugar (to roll dough balls in)

Preheat the oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment. I know I say to do that every time because it makes for wicked fast clean up, but these are rolled in cinnamon sugar, so even if you spray the sheets down the sugar will still bake on a little and they will need a good scrubbing; I always try to avoid that.

Mix the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and nutmeg if you opt for it in a bowl with a whisk.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. This takes awhile so be patient. Once it is light and fluffy add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add the buttermilk and mix until combined. Add the flour in stages until the dough is evenly mixed together.

I mix my cinnamon sugar heavy on the cinnamon because I like it that way, usually about 2 cups of sugar to 3-4 Tbsp of cinnamon. The cinnamon I prefer is Vietnamese so it’s a spicier cinnamon, think red hot candies, than the stuff on the shelves at the grocery store but mix up your cinnamon sugar however you dig it and get it into a bowl big enough to let you toss around the dough balls to get a nice coat.

Now scoop the dough balls. Obviously a portion scoop makes the process of making the dough balls far easier, but however you do it make them rounded balls and toss them in the cinnamon sugar. Roll them around to get totally coated and place on the trays. I get 12 to a half sheet with no edges touching, as we all know that makes me twitch.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, my oven is perfect at 12. Cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely. They are best when totally cooled, but that doesn’t take very long at all. They hold up well in a sealed container for a few days, if they last that long.

Next up in the Pittsburgh Cookie Table will be the Peanut Butter Blossoms!