STILL NEW YORK-HUNGRY

38. Snickerdoodle Loaf (pre-Christmas carbs)

Well, dear Americans, and whom else it may concern,


I don't know about you, but I guess there isn't a more quintessential Christmas cookie than the snickerdoodle. It's:


– buttery (like Butterspekulatius )
– cinnamon-y (the "Christmas spice" in Germany)
– sugary (but not too much )
– vanillary (when you're generous and want 'em to taste even better)


You know me by now.


I was browsing the cooking / baking section of my bookstore, stopping at Tiffany & James Fraioli's Baking for Beginners. And – yeah, you guessed it – I bought it because of this recipe the book randomly opened at.

You may think that with all the stuff I baked before, and will bake in the the future, that I'm no beginner anymore, but "37. Nonno Aurelio's Castagnaccio (Hearty Fall carbs)"  may prove me wrong. PLUS: there are some more, quite creative recipes I'd like to try out, too, as further browsing showed.

Also, I immediately had an image of Laura & Vince – my MCs of many a story and three novels so far – before my inner eye. And snickerdoodles are Vince's fave Christmas cookies. (Maybe something to insert in either.)

So how could I not include this heavenly cookie turned cake?




Serves: 1 25cm / 9.8 in loaf pan

Prep Time: 1+ hr PLUS cooling time

Degree of Difficulty: Easy



WE NEED

360 gr / 1.5 US cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1.5 tbsp cinnamon Ceylon, as the cheaper Cassia contains too much cumarin which destroys the liver, cinnamon-lovers

120 gr / 0.5 US cups softened butter
240 gr / 1 US cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp OR 1 pck. = 8 gr / 0.3 oz. pure vanilla extract OR vanilla sugar
120 gr / 0.5 US cups plain Greek Yoghurt And, yes, full-fat
1 tsp brown sugar



WE DO


1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line the loaf tin with baking paper. So you can lift the cake out of the dish when it's done.



2. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt & 1 tsp cinnamon until well-combined. In a larger bowl, beat butter & sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla (sugar) + Greek Yoghurt, and mix until well-combined. Add the "dry" ingredients and stir until just combined. Fill the batter into the tin And press thoroughly into the corners + nooks of the tin, smoothing the top with a spatula.





3. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon until well-combined, and top the cake evenly with the mix.



4. Bake for 50 minutes OR until the cake is golden-brown on top AND/OR a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Since every oven's different it can take longer/shorter Also, golden-brown and toothpick didn't occur at the same time – means, I took the cake out when it got too brown on top, but there were still some crumbs on the toothpick. That doesn't do anything bad to either the cake or your stomach.



5. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes in the tin before lifting it onto – and letting it cool – a cake rack. Don't cut it when yet too warm, it will crumble!



Guten Hunger!