Snickerdoodles

From Richard: “[Cynthia] was the best mommy I could ever have imagined. She really, really did a wonderful job with those three kids. She always was interested in people and doing good things. She could play the piano more beautifully than anybody I’ve ever known. You know some people pound the piano, well she kind of caressed the keys. She just loved playing the piano, and she was very good at it. Anytime she saw a piano, she would start playing it and whenever she played she always gathered a gang.

“Do you know about our wedding? Well, we knew nothing about Quakers when we designed our own wedding. We later found that we had a Quaker wedding. On our 25th wedding anniversary, we were up at Silver Bay, at the big Quaker meeting there. Cynthia grabs my hand and says ‘Come with me,’ and drags me up to the front. There are hundreds of people there, and she explains how we accidentally had a Quaker wedding then says ‘Well now we want to have our real quaker wedding.’ She says ‘Dick, do you remember your oath?’ I remember thinking ‘Oh god, I hope so.’ So she said hers, and I said mine, and we shook hands and kissed, and were officially married.

“That Saturday night we’re at supper and all of a sudden these three kids come walking in with a big cake. They drove all the way up from Ridgewood to Silver Bay, with a cake, to celebrate our 25th anniversary.”

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 1⁄2 cups flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1⁄2 tsp salt

• 1⁄2 cup wheat germ

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.

3. Into the bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

4. Add in the wheat germ and vanilla extract.

5. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 1 hour.

6. Roll the dough into 1 1⁄2 inch-sized balls. Roll each ball into the topping mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

7. Place cookies 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Recipe from Cynthia Keil