Who doesn't love snickerdoodle cookies?
These chewy morsels of cinnamon and sugar deliciousness can usually be found around
the holiday season.
Unlike a fruitcake, however, it's the gift that people actually want — and are secretly
hoping to receive.
But it turns out that snickerdoodles are not just popular Christmas cookies anymore.
If Google is any indication, and it surely is when it comes to what people are searching
for, snickerdoodle recipes have received some of the most traffic on the internet in recent
years, coming in at number ten for 2018, according to Us Weekly, and number five for 2019, according
to SheKnows.
If you're one of the legions of people looking up recipes for snickerdoodles on Google, then
you probably already know there’s one surprising and secret ingredient on the list — the
one that separates the oh-so-soft and chewy snickerdoodle from plain old crispy-and-crunchy
sugar cookies with a bit of extra cinnamon: cream of tartar.
No, it has absolutely nothing to do with tartar sauce.
And yes, there's a very good reason it's in the snickerdoodle recipe.
Despite its name, cream of tartar is not a cream at all.
Rather, it's a dry, white powder that's a byproduct of the winemaking process.
Cream of tartar is most often used in baking and serves three specific purposes.
It adds stability to egg whites and helps them keep their shape, even at high temperatures
in the oven, which is perfect for meringues and soufflés.
Cream of tartar also prevents sugar crystals from forming, which is useful for smooth icings,
frostings, and a chewy cookie texture.
Finally, it acts as a leavening agent, allowing dough to rise without the use of yeast, which
you wouldn't really want in your cookies.
So that distinctive soft and chewy snickerdoodle texture?
You have cream of tartar to thank for it.
As Allrecipes reports, cream of tartar prevents the sugar in the cookie dough from, quote,
"crystalizing into crunchiness," while its acidic content also gives snickerdoodles their
distinctive tangy taste.
“I baked snickerdoodles if you're hungry."
"You baked snickerdoodles?"
"Yeah, how's that funny?"
What if you don't have any cream of tartar the next time you're baking snickerdoodle cookies?
Luckily, there are some simple substitutions you can make in an emergency.
The easiest is to replace both the baking soda and cream of tartar with baking powder,
which is actually a combination of baking soda and tartaric acid, or cream of tartar.
Another option is to use lemon juice or vinegar as an alternative.
Taste of Home recommends using a full teaspoon for every half teaspoon of cream of tartar.
This will provide the same kind of acidity while preventing the cookies from deflating.
Vinegar won't work in cake or similar desserts though, as it could affect both the texture and taste.
You can also use buttermilk and yogurt to replace cream of tartar.
Both contain a bit of acid and will work particularly well as a replacement in baked goods.
The key is to remove some liquid from the recipe to account for the buttermilk or yogurt.
According to Healthline, for every quarter teaspoon of cream of tartar, remove half a
cup of liquid and replace it with buttermilk.
If using yogurt, thin it out with some milk to reach the consistency of buttermilk, then
replace cream of tartar with the same proportion as buttermilk.
Cream of tartar is a great ingredient to have on hand for making all sorts of tasty desserts,
from baking the chewiest cookies and the fluffiest cakes to making the creamiest and smoothest
frostings and candies.
It also has other useful cooking and non-cooking applications.
Want to keep your vegetables from losing their bright and pretty colors while boiling?
Add a pinch of cream of tartar.
Have aluminum or metal pots and pans that are looking a little dull and rusty?
Combine cream of tartar with some hydrogen peroxide to form a scrubbing paste.
You can also buff stainless steel with a wet cloth and a little bit of cream of tartar.
This ingredient lasts practically forever when stored properly and away from moisture,
so you may just want to pick some up the next time you're in the spice aisle.
You never know when that cream of tartar might come in handy!
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