The Magician’s Nephew: Snickerdoodles

So every Wednesday, starting in October, I have been a part of a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club on The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. This is different from my book club and the Book Club Picks I have been reviewing (and desperately need to catch up on). This week was the last for TMN and we had Chai Tea, Cranberry Chai Scones, Cucumber Canapés, Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus, Mini Shepherd’s Pie, and Snickerdoodles.

I though it would be able to post these faster, but I have really fallen behind. I’m trying though!

So I will not be sharing the Shepherd’s Pie recipe as my sister made it and made it up without writing down how to recreate it. Instead I will be jumping straight to snickerdoodles. This recipe comes from The King Arthur Flour Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (184g) shortening
• 1 1/2 cups (298g) sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 3/4 cups Flour
• Cinnamon Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the shortening and sugar until smooth
4. Then beat in the eggs, again beating until smooth. The mixture will become lighter, and lighter-colored, as you beat; this is the result of air being absorbed.
5. Beat in the vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
6. Then add the flour, mixing slowly until combined.
7. Place about 1/2 cup cinnamon-sugar in an 8″ or 9″ round cake pan.
8. Drop the soft dough by tablespoonfuls into the pan with the sugar, about 6 to 8 balls at a time. Gently shake the pan to coat the dough balls with sugar.
9. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2″ between them.
10. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each cookie until it’s about 1/2″ thick. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough.
11. Bake the snickerdoodles for 11 to 12 minutes, reversing the position of the pans (top to bottom, and back to front) midway through.
12. Remove the cookies from the oven once they’re set and just starting to turn golden. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

These were delicious and a perfect addition to our tea time.

For more from The Magician’s Nephew Tea Party/Book Club, go to Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

For more recipes, go to Cranberry Chai Scones

For more pie recipes, go to Jane Austen Birthday Party Menu, Plus How to Dip Cookies in Chocolate, and a Sugar Cookie Recipe

For more tea posts, go to Melt-in-Your-Mouth Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies

Jane Austen Birthday Party Menu, Plus How to Dip Cookies in Chocolate, and a Sugar Cookie Recipe

So as you know if you have been following my page, I just celebrated my 29th birthday with a Jane Austen Garden Tea Party.

Some of you might be wondering why I am so extensively going through all the party planning and it was because I had been planning to have this two years ago, but life got in the way so I decided to wait and now I’ve finally been able to have it.

Party time!

So far we have gone over invitations, decorations, prizes, activities to have, how to make your own piñata, etc. Before we go over the games I thought I would share the menu.

So starting with sandwiches, remember how we’ve been having those The Magician’s Nephew Bible study/book club/tea party? Well, those have also been a dry run for me as it gives me a chance to try out recipes and see which ones I really love. I decided to start off with one I really loved: Curried Egg Salad Triple Stacks Sandwiches

I also really love cucumber sandwiches and wanted to use the recipe from Spend With Pennies but to save time I used Chive and Onion Cream Cheese Spread.

I know not everyone will be into them so I needed some regular sandwiches. I decided on Turkey-Apple Tea Sandwiches:

And I rounded it out with Tea Time Magazine’s Ham and Cheese Tea Sandwiches:

Out of all of them, the Ham and Cheese did the best. They were all gone before the party’s end.

My mom made a salad for a side and then we went to the strawberry farm down the street and bought a ton of strawberries. Yep, I wanted it to be like Donwell Abbey.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any scones. I had wanted to make some, but I ran out of time. I had also planned to buy some, but when I went to the store they were all out.

But I had lots of desserts! I had made them a few weeks earlier and put them in the freezer until the day before the party. The first cookie I made was Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies.

People didn’t really like these as much as the other cookies, but I love them. They were eaten, just not as much as all the others.

The next cookie I made was Basic Shortbread:

But I used a cookie cutter to make them into teapot shape; along with cutting the other half of the cookies into a teabag shape. And I dipped them in chocolate

Chocolate Dipped Cookies:

1. Have your cookies baked and cooled.
2. Using a double broiler, melt a chocolate bar or chocolate chips.
3. If you do not have a double broiler, get two pots about the same size or have one be slightly smaller than the other. Heat water in one until it boils. Turn down the flame and take the other pot and hold it over the one with boiled water. Place the chocolate in the top pot and stir until melted.
4. When chocolate is melted, dip cookies and lay on wax paper. Put cookies in freezer or fridge to get chocolate to harden.

The last cookie I made was Better Home and Gardens Sugar Cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 Cup of Shortening
• 3/4 Cups of Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
• 1 Egg
• 4 Teaspoons of Milk
• 2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour (Sifted)
• 1.5 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

Directions:

1. Throughly cream shortening, sugar, and vanilla.
2. Add egg; beat until mixture light and fluffy.
3. Stir in milk.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Blend dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
6. Divide dough in half.
7. Chill for one hour.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 of an inch thickness.
9. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.
10. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes.
11. Cool slightly, then remove from pan.

I had wanted to make Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cake but I ran out of time and I ended up just buying an Almond Poppyseed cake from Raleys. It was good, but not as amazing as the Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cake.

My friend also made Carrot Cake (my favorite) and carrot cake cupcakes. I didn’t take a picture of the cake (so good) but in the picture below, where the cupcakes are is where the cake was placed. All the cupcakes were gone by the end of the party. The recipe is a secret or else I would have shared that too.

I’ve been having so much fun sharing all these things with you, and even though the party has ended I will be continuing to share all my other party plans!

For more of my Jane Austen Birthday plans, go to Jane Austen Birthday Party: Croquet

For more Jane Austen party ideas, go to Jane Austen Birthday Party: Paper Fan Making

For more desserts, go to Melt-in-Your-Mouth Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies

For more cookie recipes, go to The Picture of Earl Grey Tea Cookies

For more recipes, go to Savory Beef Hand Pies