Want your house to smell like a million bucks?  Have an hour to spare?  Just whip up a batch of cinnamon snaps!  My dad introduced me to cinnamon snaps last year and I knew right away I needed the recipe so I could make them again.  These cookies just ooze “fall”.  They bring to mind leaves turning and fires crackling (we don’t have a fireplace) and cookies baking (duh).  Suffice it to say they give me a warm fuzzy feeling.  Also cinnamon snaps are in the select group of “Jake-approved” treats, so you know they must be good.

Cinnamon snaps seem to be one of those unassuming cookies that people dismiss without trying.  I’ll admit they aren’t the prettiest cookies to ever pass through my oven.  I mean, they’re brown. And in a non-chocolate way.  It’s unfortunate though, because you are missing out if you don’t give them a shot!  Some people may be scared away because they contain molasses.  I feel like molasses has a negative connotation.  I don’t know why, but “molasses” sounds like something only old men like, which is funny because I liked molasses cookies even when I was a child.  I dare you to try these cookies even if you think you don’t like molasses.  You won’t be disappointed!

This batch of cinnamon snaps made its way to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for Thanksgiving.  I was so excited when my stepfather told me to make sure I bring them again for Christmas!  AAYSR (“Ask and you shall receive”).  As usual we had way too many Thanksgiving desserts, which meant we had lots of cookies left for munching on the next day.  Turns out cinnamon snaps go down a bit too easily–it’s hard to walk past them and not grab one or two!  I may or may not have eaten one before breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.  Oops!  It’s ok, I worked off the calories playing in the snow that day!

Here’s the secret for the perfect cinnamon snap (which I learned the hard way):  Do NOT overbake.  Bake them until they crack but still look gooey.  The first time I made them I baked until they were done, and they ended up hard.  Still good dipped in tea—none went to waste.  But only after making them again and baking for less time did I realize how amazing these cookies are.  Rolled in cinnamon-sugar.  Soft.  Rich.  Moist.  Chewy.  I wish we didn’t eat them all, because now I want one!

Cinnamon Snaps

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Yield: Around 30 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream shortening and brown sugar in a large bowl.
3. Add egg and molasses, and mix to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and salt using a whisk or spoon.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with the electric mixer until combined. Continue mixing with your hands or a rubber spatula until a dough forms (around 1 minute).
6. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
7. Using your hands, form dough into 1 inch balls then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. I use a cookie scoop to measure the dough before rolling it into balls with my hands. This gives you uniformly sized cookies that bake evenly.
8. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you do not have parchment paper, just bake on ungreased cookie sheets and wipe the cookie sheets with a paper towel between each batch to remove any grease.)
9. Bake 8 – 10 minutes, until tops are cracked but cookies are still slightly gooey in the center. Keep an eye on the cookies while they bake--they may reach the "cracked but gooey" stage sooner, depending on the size of the cookies.
10. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

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http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/cinnamon-snaps/