Sugar Crinkles

These cookies come from a cookbook that my Mom has. It is a cookbook of recipes from bed and breakfasts throughout the country, and it's organized by state. This sugar cookie recipe is from Alaska. I made them twice this past weekend, and they came out really well.

Sugar Crinkles

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup shortening (I use unsalted butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Extra Sugar for rolling and sprinkling

Cream together the sugar, brown sugar, shortening, vanilla, and egg. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350˚ oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. When the cookies come out of the oven, they will still be very soft on the top. Sprinkle a bit more sugar on them right away, so it sticks to the cookies as they cool. The cookies are best once they are cooled. Don't overcook, or the cookies will be too crunchy when they are cold.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is the cream of tartar. Definitely necessary. Also, this recipe supposedly makes 4 dozen cookies, but I don't see how that's possible. For me, it makes only 25 cookies or so. It can be good to double the recipe. It can also be good to add a chocolate chip or drizzle of chocolate at the top of each cookie as decoration when they are done. But they are also good plain.