Buttery Snickerdoodle Cake - Erin

 

This amazing deliciousness is from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook by Deb Perelman (here) and I recently made it to take to a Superbowl party where it very quickly vanished.  It's basically like a giant snickerdoodle that's cooked perfectly so it's chewy and gooey and amazing!  My only alteration was that I did more of the cinnamon sugar topping because it's so delicious, so you could scale that back if you want.

what you will need

cookie base:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp table salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup milk

gooey layer:

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup half-and-half

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

12 Tbsp butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp table salt

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups flour

topping:

3 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch cake pan with parchment paper.  I just folded the corners so it came up the sides too and it worked great.  Set aside.

cookie base:

Mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and the milk, scrape the sides of the bowl and give it another quick mix around.  Beat in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Drop the dough by spoonfulls onto the bottom of the prepared pan and spread it around as evenly as you can, then set aside.

gooey layer:

Mix the corn syrup, half-and-half, and vanilla in a small bowl until combined and set aside.  In a large bowl use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, scrape the sides of the bowl and give it another quick mix around.  Add 1/3 of the flour and mix.  Add 1/2 of the vanilla mixture and mix.  Repeat until both are gone and just combined.  Drop by spoonfulls over the cookie base and spread it around carefully.  

topping:

Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small dish and sprinkle over the whole gooey layer.  It will be a little thick but just reserve judgment until it's done!

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until they've just bronzed on top.  It's a little hard to tell through the cinnamon, and the top layer may still be rising and settling when you take it out, but 30 minutes was about right for me.  

Let cool completely on a rack (really, it makes it a lot easier to cut) and then cut into 1-inch squares and devour!