Snap doodles! Like Snickerdoodle cookies, but coffee cake. Soft and cakey, with a cinnamon-sugar topping.
“So I have a complaint about your Snickerdoodle recipe!” I told New York Times bestselling author Stella Parks when I recently interviewed her at Omnivore Books.
Stella and I have been friends for years, but I had to be honest with her. “How come your Snickerdoodle recipe uses baking soda? To me, classic snickerdoodles have baking soda and cream of tartar!”
Get the book! BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks
Stella actually had a great answer to that, which she even addresses in the book: The original recipe for Snickerdoodles was distributed through various baking powder companies, including a nationwide advertising campaign for the Cleveland Baking Powder Company. Stella wanted to honor the people who helped make the recipe so popular, so she stuck with the baking powder for her recipe.
That’s all well and good, but for me, the nostalgic taste of biting into a Snickerdoodle, one of the very first cookies I learned to bake, is the slightly tart and sweet flavor that only baking soda and cream of tartar can impart.
Stella delves even deeper into the history of Snickerdoodles in her book – and in fact, all this historical information about each recipe is one of my favorite things to do bravery.
The history of Snickerdoodles is a bit convoluted, but apparently it’s related to an old coffee cake recipe called “Snipdoodles.” This was a quick coffee cake dusted with cinnamon sugar and Stella discovered the recipe was super easy to duplicate just by adding some extra milk to Snickerdoodle cookie dough.
Stella’s recipe for Snip Doodles calls for spreading the batter thinly on a large rimmed baking sheet, but I like to make a slightly thicker version that bakes in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan, like brownies or a sheet cake. And while she recommends using freshly ground cinnamon in the recipe, which she told me has a lighter spiciness and more intense flavor than plain ground cinnamon, she told me substituting regular ground cinnamon works well.
This quick and easy coffee cake has the same flavor profile as Snickerdoodles, as well as the same signature crumpled surface. Serve warm from the oven with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, or simply enjoy as an afternoon snack.
Snickerdoodle Coffee Cake (Snip Doodles)
Recipe adapted from by BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks. Copyright © 2017 Stella Parks.
ingredients
- For the cake batter:
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1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
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1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) refined coconut oil at room temperature
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1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) white caster sugar
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1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon iodized table salt)
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
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1 tablespoon vanilla extract
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1 large egg, straight from the fridge
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2 1/3 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
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1 cup (8 ounces) milk, any percentage
- For painting:
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2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
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2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
special equipment
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blender
method
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Preheat oven to 350°F:
Spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking oil, then line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper, leaving 1 inch of the paper hanging over the sides.
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Make the dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, coconut oil, sugar, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and vanilla. Blend on low speed to moisten, then increase to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, pausing halfway through to scrape with a flexible spatula.
With the mixer running, break in the egg and continue beating until smooth. Alternately add 1/3 of the flour and then 1/3 of the milk until fully incorporated and smooth. Fold once or twice with a flexible spatula to ensure the dough is well mixed from bottom to top.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping and sprinkle over the dough.
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Bake bars:
Bake in the oven for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs.
Let cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes, then carefully remove the entire cake from the pan by grasping the sides of the parchment paper and lifting straight out of the pan and place the cake on a cutting board. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the cake into squares. Serve warm.
Wrapped in foil, Snip Doodles can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
