Snickerdoodles

Katie
As the first couple weeks of school wrap up, it's weird to see how much is different from last year. Even though I'm only a year older, a lot of things have happened between last September and now that are making this fall very different from the last.

First of all, I can drive! After turning sixteen in March, getting my learner's permit in April, and taking driver's ed in June I'm on the brink of getting my license in October. This is just weird. I've spent my whole life not being able to drive, and now I'm about to do it all by myself, whenever I want, wherever I want. That wasn't even conceivable a year ago! Now I'll have to go from worrying about bus fares to worrying about gas money, but I don't think I'll mind too much with all the new freedoms I'll have.

On top of the exciting new things I can do this fall, there are also some things that I'm sad I can't. Since I tore my ACL playing soccer during preseason, any sports-related activity has become out of the picture until about April. This, of course, means missing the whole soccer season this year and not playing indoor soccer come winter, but it also eliminates exercise as a whole for a while, and even walking won't be possible for the weeks after my coming surgery. Since I'm a generally active person and try to work out every day, this is a pretty drastic change of lifestyle. Whereas last fall I was sprinting up and down the soccer field every afternoon, this year I'm doing nightly physical therapy stretches on my bed before I go to sleep.

Which is not to say that this injury is all bad. It certainly is helpful, school work-wise. With the craziness of Junior year I really do appreciate the two extra hours daily in which to do homework (which means two more hours of sleep!) Plus, my knee is feeling better every day, and now it barely hurts unless I bend it too far. And luckily it was my left knee that went out, so driving is still a go!

Along with those two major changes, the usual little things have happened between last year and now: some new clothes, a Pottermore account (go Gryffindor!), a couple haircuts, an unforgettable summer, discovering - and fostering a deep love for - Doctor Who, a few pretty nice tan lines, joining the track team, and, best of all, baking a whole lot.

Just like I enjoy the small changes in life, I like to switch up the types of things I bake. So while my usual standby is something chocolate - brownies, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, you name it - I decided to do something a little different. Granted, a snickerdoodle isn't totally outlandish or even difficult, but it was refreshing to give my cocoa powder and chocolate chips a break. And the results were delicious! Snickerdoodles are pretty much what I think sunlight must taste like, with just the right amount of crunch and cinnamon-y pop. Even my dad, a self-professed chocoholic, enjoyed them immensely.

So I say, give a new recipe (perhaps this one?) a try the next time you bake. Life is all about change, after all, and what was that they said about the spice of life? I think it was cinnamon.

Snickerdoodles
From Martha Stewart's Cookies Book,
I got the following recipe from her website

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
• 2 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.
3. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes with Homemade Oreos

Katie
I wish for a lot of things.

I wish we could have snow days every day.

I wish Every Degrassi Ever marathons weren't just for weekends in the month of January, but happened every day. Every month. All year.

I wish Biology came naturally to me, and studying wasn't so necessary.

I wish I could pass level 3-30 on Angry Birds.

But most importantly, I wish I could eat one of these cupcakes anytime I wanted. A breakfast cheesecake - why not? And maybe when I'm feeling a little peckish later in the afternoon, too. Then of course there would be the pre- and post-dinner cupcakes and the midnight snack. Yum.

Making these was no easy feat, but maybe that's because I decided to do things the hard (lazy) way and instead of walking to the nearby gas station to buy a pack of Oreos, I made my own. Well, sort of. I didn't bother with the cream filling nonsense but it was still an adventure, making sure the cookies were just big enough to fit inside of a cupcake cup and estimating how much I'd need for chopping and adding to the batter later.

And because this was my first time making cheesecake, I was a little worried. But it turns out that cheesecake is both ridiculously simple to make and ridiculously delicious in cupcake form. Fact.

So whether you're wishing for something satisfying during the cold winter months, or a treat you want to wish you were eating all the time, try one of these. And then go play Angry Birds, because someone has to kill those little green pigs and it sure as heck isn't me.

Martha Stewart's Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes
Adapted from 52 Cupcakes
Makes 30
For the Batter:

• 42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.


Homemade Oreo Cookies
Adapted from Cupcake Project, which got it from multiple other sources.

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  
• 1 large egg
  

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Beat in the butter and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. (I found that while the dough wasn't sticky enough to roll, I could press it flat with my hands like the recipe said and then use cookie cutters to cut perfect circles. If you just care about the taste, then there is no need for the cookie cutters. Also, remember this is a chance to get creative and use all kinds of cookie cutters.)
4. Bake for 9 minutes at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.