Gravestone recipe: Annabell’s Snickerdoodles

What’s more Halloween-y than a cookie recipe on a tombstone? This recipe for snickerdoodles comes from the grave site of Annabell Gunderson, who was active in her community of Willits, Calif., who worked at Brookside School for over 20 years and who volunteered with a number of community service and civic organizations.

She was raised in Napa before moving with her family to Lake County to run a resort in the 1930s. She was known for her snickerdoodle cookies and her adventurous spirit, she traveled to Alaska over 30 times, according to archivist Rosie Grant, who found the recipe and includes it in her new cookbook “To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes.”

Annabell’s Snickerdoodles

INGREDIENTS

51/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening

1 cup margarine or 2 sticks butter

3 cups plus 6 tablespoons sugar

4 eggs

6 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Into a large bowl, sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt through a sieve and set aside.

In a stand mixer, thoroughly cream together the shortening, margarine, 3 cups of the sugar, and the eggs. Fold in the sifted ingredients until the dough becomes firm. Scoop out 1- to 2-tablespoon portions of the dough and roll into balls, about 2 tablespoons each.

In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon, then roll the balls gently in the mixture until coated. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned but still soft.

— Courtesy Rosie Grant, “To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes” (Harvest, $26)