Snickerdoodle biscuits

Explanations

1. Gathering all your ingredients and setting up: This is an important step to any attempts at cooking, especially if it is a spur of the moment baking spree. This is because one must first check to see if they have all the ingredients in the first place. And tough some substitutions are possible, no amount of ingenuity will save you if you are missing 50% of necessary ingredients. So rummage around your cupboards and shelves for the goods. Put the oven on at 190°C (375°F for you imperialists out there), line 2 trays with your desired choice of non-stick surface (reusable mats, backing paper, or something else entirely. Whatever floats your boat). And prepare for baking.
2. The beating of the butter: If one is using an electric mixer, this is an easy, effortless step. Simply place the butter and sugar in a bowl, engage machinery according to instruction, and beat the 2 ingredients on medium speed for 3-5ish minutes until light, fluffy, and creamy. Job done and move on.
   If one is attempting to do this by hand, then roll up your sleeves and get your weapon of choice (a wooden spoon or whisk is recommended). The beating can be done in 4 steps. Mash, Stir, Scrape and Repeat. To do this, it is important that the butter be soft enough to press with a finger but not melted. Then simply press the butter against the bowl, then stir. Keep scraping down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing until light and fluffy.
   The key in both methods is looking for the right texture. After a thorough beating, the butter mixture should be pale, creamy, and slightly fluffy with most of the sugar dissolved.
3. The mixing of the dry ingredients: Take the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Put them in a bowl, and mix with a spoon or fork or something. That’s it. Not much else to say. Except maybe be careful when pouring the ingredients, and don’t be overzealous with it and make a mess. Just be calm and gentle.
4. The mixing of the wet ingredients: Same deal, get the eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Put all of them in a bowl, and beat together. That’s it, and don’t make a mess. Well, you can if you want. I can’t dictate your life choices, only advise you on the path of least clean up.
5. Combining butter and egg mixtures: Now, the proper way to do this is slowly and in batches. Add a little bit of the egg mixture to the butter, and mix until fully incorporated. Once it is, add some more egg mixture, beat it in. Once mixed in, add remaining eggy stuff, blend, and voilà, you should have a smooth well blended and uniform buttery and eggy paste.
   If you did not add in batches, for whatever reason (I didn’t do it because I was lazy and impatient). Or you did, but something seemingly did not do what it was supposed to do. You will end up with a lumpy, runny mixture, as seen below. But never fear! It is not the end of the world, nor the end of the snickerdoodles. It will be fine after the next step.
6. Adding the dry ingredients: Scoop a third of the flour mixture into the butter and egg mixture, and blend it together. After, add another third and blend. At this point, the mixture will start to thicken considerably, but continue on, and add the remaining flour. Once all the flour has been blended in, you should have a thick but still slightly sticky dough. If you believe the dough to be too thick and dry (maybe even a bit crumbly), then add ½ Tbsp of milk, and blend it in. If it’s still too dry, add a little bit more milk until it has the desired consistency of being thick but still sticky, and malleable into round balls.
7. Ball making: So first, mix together the topping ingredients in a bowl. Then, with a scooping utensil or your hands (I hope you washed your hands when you started baking), scoop up about 1.5 Tbsp worth of dough. Shape it into a ball. Roll it in the sugar mixture and put it on one of the prepared trays. This recipe makes about 30 biscuits. You can divide the dough into sections to have an estimation of how many scoops you need to get out of that section. If you divide the dough into thirds, each third should produce about 10 balls. When placing the scoops on the tray, space them out a little, leaving about a 5cm gap between them. With 2 trays, you can put 15 scoops per tray. If desired, sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on the scoops of dough.
   • Options: You are now presented with a choice. What kind of snickerdoodle are you looking for? If you want a chewier biscuit, then leave the scoops as they are and move on to step 8. Now, if you are interested in a flatter, mildly crunchier snickerdoodle, then follow this additional step. With the back of the spoon, flatten the balls into disc shapes, keeping them an even thickness, and move on to step 8.
8. Cooking the biscuit: You can cook the biscuits in batches for 10 minutes each on the middle shelf of your oven. If you want to cook both trays at the same time, then remember to switch the trays halfway through. This way, both trays can have an equal amount of time on the top. After they finish cooking, leave the biscuits to cool on the trays for an additional 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Eating the biscuit: Lastly, be sure to enjoy your biscuits. Either alone or with company. And don’t forget to give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.  If the job is not well done, and you don’t think your snickerdoodles are perfect, then give yourselves a pat on the back anyway and try again later down the road. Never give up and never give in! Maybe keep little notes on recipes you’ve tried to remember what to do differently next time.  Anyway, happy baking and happy eating.