Kicked-Up Snickerdoodles

Okay, so I let Emeril into my kitchen again and do you know what he told me to do?  He told me to add cayenne pepper to my snickerdoodles!  Leave it to Emeril to take something like a snickerdoodle and kick it up a notch.  The idea of spicy snickerdoodles really piqued my curiosity and I had to give these a try.  

 Kicked-Up Snickerdoodles

Adapted from Emeril's 20-40-60 Fresh Food Fast

Makes about 30 cookies

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, at room temp

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter at room temp

1-1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl and set aside.  

In a separate medium mixing bowl, using a handheld or standing electric mixer, combine the shortening and butter and beat until smooth.  Add 1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the sifted flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together.

Combine the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon and cayenne in a small bowl.

Divide the dough into 1-1/2 tablespoon portions and roll them between your hands to form 1-1/2 inch balls.  Rolls the balls in the spiced sugar.  Then divide them evenly among two unlined cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.  Flatten the balls into 1/2 inch thick disks.

Bake, rotating the sheets back to front midway, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets on wire racks.

Notes/Results:  Emeril's recipe produced a rather thin and somewhat crispy snickerdoodle.  While I prefer a thick and chewy cookie I really did enjoy the flavor of the cinnamon, sugar, and cayenne pepper in this recipe.  You could really feel the heat from the cayenne on the back of your tongue. I can't say that I enjoyed this cayenne version better than the original cinnamon and sugar version, but I'm really glad I finally gave these a try.  I think they're definitely worth a try if you like the combination of spicy and sweet.

I also wanted to thank all of you for your supportive comments regarding my last post!