So I have this blonde in my life.

There is sugar in her laugh; spice in her eyes, and for whatever reason, time with her reminds me of warm cookies….familiar, comforting, satisfying.

The first night I had dinner at Jessica’s, I was with my best friend Nicole and her (at the time, soon to be) husband Seth. And walking into Jessica’s apartment was like being hugged after a really really long day. She makes you feel like she not only knows where you’ve been, but knows where you’re going and girl, GIIIIIIIRL, it’s going to be FANTASTIC!

That night, after stuffing our faces full of food, and wine, and exchanged stories of dates gone badly, and kisses from Dustin Hoffman, and flirting with a Ford Copolla, and deep deep belly laughs, I remember lingering in Jessica’s kitchen while she put the finishing touches on the dessert that we would be having in a short while. In that kitchen, my eyes roamed over various knickknacks, roamed over to her powder pink kitchen-aid (that, if you know her, just makes SO much sense), roamed over to the Williams-Sonoma hand soap, and then to her spice rack. And I remember thinking, “Gosh…I wish I knew how to cook well enough to even need a spice rack!” In that kitchen, on that night, I had no idea that THAT dinner would be the beginning of so many other meals shared, so many other dinners that would feel like a small slices of a coming Heaven, so many more stories exchanged, and belly-laughs had, and heart breaks rendered, and tears shed, and weddings, and babies, and moves, and Italys, and, and, and….

Today, as I stand in my kitchen, my eyes roam over to a wedding photo that holds all of my GIIIIIIIIIIRLS (including Jessica), they roam over to my kids playing in the living room, over to my mint green kitchen-aid, to the recipe for Jessica’s Snickerdoodle cookies that she e-mailed me all the way from Italy, and to the very spice rack that was once my Blonde’s and which now resides in my kitchen. And get this, I know how to cook well enough to even need it 😉

JESSICA’S SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

Recipe:

Dough:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light, brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp salt, optional and to taste (I included the salt)

Rolling:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Level: EASY

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray.

Combine the butter and sugars, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined; about 3 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined; about 1 minute.

In a small bowl, combine your rolling ingredients of sugar and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Scoop dough into 1 1/2″ balls, and dredge each mound of dough through the cinnamon-sugar until evenly coated.

Place dough mounds on baking sheet and bake for about 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly under cooked, pale, and glossy in the center. They will firm up as they cool.

Sprinkle cookies with leftover cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. Then eat as many as you can.

Suggestions/Tips:

Baking is a science. Because I was working through this recipe for the first time, I followed the directions to a T, and these cookies turned out PERFECTLY. I took a batch out to the neighbor kids and they were literally gone within 2 minutes, complete with groans, moans, and “Miss Brie, these are SO good!!!!” TIP: Because baking is a science, I alway begin baking for less than the time stated. For example, this recipe calls for you to bake your cookies for about 9 minutes. Therefore, I baked mine for 7 minutes and added time till the cookies were done…..at precisely 9 minutes 😉