Skillet Snickerdoodle for One (or Two)

Skillet Snickerdoodle for One - made January 17, 2017 from Well Floured

Do you have portion control issues? Do you ignore my suggestion to make cookie dough ahead of time, put it in the freezer then bake off ONE cookie when you want one instead of baking (and eating) the whole batch? No joke, I've had friends give me the side-eye when I suggest the one cookie thing. "Who eats just one cookie?" they demand. Like I'm some kind of weirdo.

My ramekin runneth over - oops

Okay, fine. How about making one cookie then? Like this one for a skillet snickerdoodle. Granted, it's larger than your average cookie but maybe that'll make up for its single-ness.

You can tell a couple of obvious things from the picture right off. First, I didn't make this in a skillet. Because I didn't have one small enough. So I baked it in a ramekin. Which, second, turned out to be too small. I didn't think so at the time when I put the dough into the ramekin as it fit just right. I was shown the error of my ways halfway through baking when the dough puffed up and began spilling over the sides. Oopsie.

So if you don't have a 6-inch cast iron skillet either (I only had an 8-inch) and go the ramekin route, play it safe and divide the dough into two ramekins. I know, that's two cookies but that's better than losing some of the cookie to the bottom of the oven floor like I did. Which was a shame because this turned out to be a pretty good cookie. The edges were crisp and light, very airy. The middle was nicely chewy. It was a bit sweet though but a scoop of vanilla ice cream can temper that right quick. Wait a few minutes after you take the cookie out of the oven. If you put the ice cream on when the cookie is too hot, it melts too fast and you end up with melted goop over your cookie instead of actual ice cream. I like to give it 3-5 minutes then put the ice cream on top. The cookie is still warm and the ice cream remains cold in the time it takes you to eat the cookie.

3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Topping
1 teaspoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light colored. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cream of tartar and salt. Add to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until just combined.
4. Press dough into a 6-inch cast iron skillet and top with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
5. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until edges are set and middle no longer looks raw. Serve warm with ice cream.