“IIIIIIAAAAAAAN!?!?!? AAAAGAAAAAAAAIN!?!?!?!” The sound of my mom screaming bounced off the walls of the damp basement and echoed through the rest of the house. 

Before she even finished spitting out my name, I knew the cause of her ire, and scurried down the stairs to clean up my mess. “Sorrysorrysorry! Sorry!” I got down on my knees and began picking the countless confetti-like pieces of paper out of the drier.

“You have got to stop it.”

“I will.”

Growing up, I had a habit of stuffing my pockets with the small packets of salt from take-out restaurants—I also had a habit of forgetting about them and allowing them to go through the wash—and holding a handful of them with me at all times. Throughout the day, if I had an unlucky moment, or uneasy feeling, I would toss one over my left shoulder to ward off any negative energy. 

Though I no longer hoard salt, my superstitions still tug at me. I would rather be soaking wet than carry an umbrella, for the fear of it popping open inside looms large. I never wish anyone an early “happy birthday,” so as not to tempt fate. I burn sage after I bicker with my boyfriend to drive off any demons that feed on the negative energy.

Given that Halloween is here, and many of these unsavory spirits may be out to play, I figured I’d develop a treat to keep anyone or anything unwanted away from your festivities. I started by taking the classic snickerdoodle and infusing the base with plenty of sage. It adds an incredible herbaceous, perfect for fall. I wanted to add a bit of smokiness to invoke the sensation of burning sage, so rather than just using the cinnamon principle to the classic, I added a bit of smoked paprika to the sugar the dough is rolled in. The final product has a warm savoriness, perfect to cast out any chill.

I’ll be snacking on these as I pass out candy to my trick-or-treaters, and I hope you do the same!

xx,
Ian

Smoked Paprika & Sage Snickerdoodles

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

For dough

• 1 bunch (10 g) sage leaves, plucked from stems
• 16 tbsp (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups (288g) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt*
• 1 tsp (3g) cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp (2g) baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
• 2 large (100g) eggs
• 1 tsp (4g) pure vanilla extract

For the rolling sugar

• 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp (12g) smoked paprika
• 1 tsp (2g) cinnamon

Directions:

1. Infuse your butter: In a medium saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat. As soon as the butter begins to sputter, turn off the heat and toss in your sage leaves, swirling to incorporate. Let sit and infuse for a half hour.
2. Mix your dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, add your flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda and whisk together.
3. Make your dough: Pull the leaves from your butter and allow the excess to drip off. Add your butter into a large bowl with your sugar and whisk until incorporated. Add in your eggs and vanilla and whisk fervently until the mixture has slightly thickened and lightened in color, 1-2 minutes. Add in your dry ingredients and fold until fully incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour (or until ready to use, up to 48 hours).
4. Preheat your oven and prep your pans: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Make your rolling sugar and bake the cookies: In a small container or bowl, mix together your sugar, smoked paprika, and cinnamon. Pull your dough from the fridge and use a 1.52 ounce (#20) cookie scoop** or weigh out 50g balls of dough to portion. One at a time dough balls in the sugar mixture and shake to cover all sides. Place 6 cookies on each baking sheet, at least an inch apart
6. Bake: Place your two sheets on separate racks and bake until they are a deep golden brown and firm around the edges, 14-16 minutes, swapping the baking sheets halfway through. Allow your baking sheets to cool for at least 10 minutes if reusing them and repeat Step 5 to bake off the remaining cookie dough. Let cookies cool and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes:

*If you’re using any other type or brand of salt (i.e. Morton, or sea salt), I suggest scaling back to 1/2
**In a pinch you can also portion out 3 tablespoons worth the dough into balls.