As we push into the month of August, the Noble Pig household will be taking on a steady stream of visitors for the next few weeks. I suppose this explains my recent absence, although I do truly enjoy my daily blogging. It is so wonderful to have so many of our friends visit us in our new place of residence.
Last night we were fortunate to spend a wonderful evening with our very close friends…not to mention a whole gaggle of kids (theirs and mine) who were very excited to be reunited again. Willie (our vineyard guy) was here too. Willie has easily settled into our lives like a comfortable pair of worn jeans and we like it that way.
We grilled steaks, drank Oregon Pinot Noir, had Snickerdoodle Ice Cream for dessert, which I served with these Banana Snickerdoodles.
When I turned on my computer the other morning I had an email from one of my readers with this recipe. I literally stood up and went straight to the kitchen and made them. I liked the idea of using bananas because Snickerdoodles tend to go hard easily, but are much better as a softer cookie.
The dough for this is very wet but is easy to work with once dipped in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. The dough also spreads a great deal in the oven. The trick is to make only eight to a pan for a thicker cookie. If the cookies touch each other while baking they tend to spread more, resulting in a flatter presentation.
These also got a thumbs up from my Snickerdoodle bandit so we will keep them around. And a thank you to all my readers who continually send me all kinds of great things and ideas by email. It’s always appreciated.
Funny story…as I was out on the golf course this morning taking these pictures, two gentlemen getting ready to tee off wandered over to ask what I was doing. I told them I liked taking pictures of food. They said they liked eating food. I offered them a cookie…they ate every single one on this plate. It cracked me up.
Enjoy the last weeks of summer, it’s going to go fast…
Banana Snickerdoodles
Adapted from Going Berserk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus more for dipping
2 eggs
1 ripe banana
Ground cinnamon
In a medium bowl, sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl cream shortening and sugar; about 2 minutes. Add eggs and banana, mix well. Add flour mixture and mix until blended.
Once the dough is mixed it will be very wet. Use a Tablespoon sized scoop to drop balls into cinnamon-sugar. (I used about 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon). The dough becomes very easy to work with once dipped in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Roll into balls and bake on parchment or a silicone baking sheet at 400 degrees for 9 minutes. (The recipe did not indicate whether or not to grease the baking sheet so I baked on silicone. A greased sheet might be too much for these soft cookies but the silicone worked well.) Cool cookies on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container and they will stay soft for several days.
One Year Ago: A Tiny Addiction
