Orange Snickerdoodles.....50/50 Cookies

Hello everyone.  Orange you glad you stopped by today?

Oh my.  That was terrible.  Let's start over.

Hello everyone.  Do you remember those 50/50 bars the ice cream trucks sold when we were kids?  You know, orange Popsicle on the outside, cream in the middle.....or was that a Creamsicle?  I don't remember.  I do remember eating like 4 of them at one sitting and completely denying to my mom that I did it.  Sorry mom. They were just so good.

They were also like that orange/vanilla ice cream you used to be able to get.  The kind that came in a block carton and looked like a checkerboard on the side.

Did you know they don't manufacture the block cardboard ice cream cartons anymore?  At least we can't get them here.  I went looking and the grocery guy told me they are all round now.

Weirdly, all this talk of 50/50 madness is reminding me of a Garfield beach towel I used to have.  It had Garfield all decked out with top hat and taps.  I thought it was extremely cool and my brother thought I was a big nerd.  I just couldn't understand why he didn't think that towel was *SO*COOL* like I did.

In weirder news, apparently my brain associates all things orange into one category.  Garfield, 50/50 bars....you know, all that stuff.  This is totally normal right?

Anyway, these cookies are like all that 50/50 stuff.  There is something so right about orange and vanilla. Wrapped up in a snickerdoodle package these sure taste good.

This recipe is adapted from BHG's snickerdoodles.

Ingredients
1/2 cup salted butter*
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Zest of 1 orange (zest two if you want some extra zest to top your cookie)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

How to:
Preheat oven to 375.
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy.
Add baking soda, cream of tartar and zest of 1 orange and mix well.
Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
Add flour in parts until it is all combined.
Cover dough and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour (or freezer for 20 minutes).
Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon in a flat bottom bowl (or a pie pan).
Roll dough into 1 inch balls, then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-11 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
Eat!!

*I know I know.  You're supposed to use unsalted butter in baking.  For the most part I agree.  But, in my humble opinion snickerdoodles need salted butter otherwise they turn out a bit bland.  So there.

Happy Day to you!
TCW

Pizza Night!

Our friends, the F's are from New Mexico.  The first night they had us over for pizza night, they put New Mexico green chile's on the pizza.  Oh the delight!  My mouth caught fire and my nose ran but there was only one thing I could say "more!"  We later learned that the green chile's were a test - if we could handle them, they would keep us.  Thank you F fam for introducing us to the New Mexico green chile! 

We recently had a repeat of the original pizza night, oh the delight!  I know I already said that but it was delightful, repeat was therefore, necessary.

To start, there was some good stuff on hand....strawberries for the salad, home-made pesto and (of course!) beer!  We are all Racer 5 fans, super good IPA and great addition to pizza!

Mr. F started us with a tasty appetizer which I believe he made up on the fly....

Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto with Goat Cheese (YUM!)......

While Mr. F worked out the app's, Dr. F threw together this fabulous salad....

What could make this salad better?

Avocado of course!

While I strolled around the kitchen taking photos, I couldn't pass up a shot of these pretty heirloom tomatoes on a fancy plate.....

....or this watermelon!

....and, I'll take another appetizer please, thank you...

(this is actually The Cyclist's hand, not mine!)

OK, to Pizza!

Moving on with a theme, one pizza will have prosciutto, figs and goat cheese...

Mr. F started preparing the dough....

Meanwhile, Dr. F started caramelizing onions....

....and more work with the dough....

.....now we start Pizza #1 - pesto, squash & mushroom....

....into the oven she goes.....

....note the fancy wooden pizza pan made by Mr. F! 

Beautiful woodwork as usual.

And check out the finished product.....

Oh, my yummyness!  I love when the cheese gets a little brown like that!

Now on to Pizza #2 - sausage, mushroom, New Mexico Green Chile and caramelized onions!

The Cyclist started cooking the sausage....

Someone chopped some mushrooms.......

....and Mr. F started getting those New Mexico green chile's ready....

Note: from here my "picture story" is not as detailed because while Mr. F continued to prepare pizza's, the rest of us went to eat!

The finished product of Pizza #2...

....and finished product of Pizza #3 - figs, prosciutto & goat cheese....

Yum!  Cheese!  Yum!

I don't know which one was my favorite, they were all so different and all so good.  The spiciness of those New Mexico Chile's might beat all though. 

I should mention that while all of this was going on we were also having a dough contest.  I can't remember which dough was on which pizza, but, one dough was purchased from our local Italian grocer, Corti Brothers and the other was purchased from a really good local pizza spot One Speed.  Both were good, but the Corti Brother's dough won.  It had a nice chewiness to it.  I don't know the exact brand, so I'll have to find out and report back later.

Of course, with all of that pizza and beer we absolutely had room for dessert!

Enter Snickerdoodles!

As prepared by me and The Cyclist, recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook....

(dough balls)

And....Viola!

I used to always have a problem with these guys coming out flat, but it appears the new Kitchen Aid mixer has solved this problem.  These were (for the first time) nice and fluffy!

Thank you F's for another great Pizza Night!