Saffron-Vanilla Snickerdoodles

Okay so this is one of those recipes that if you do everything carefully it will taste amazing, but be warned its really easy to mess up. The saffron is a major variable in itself.  This is one of the most expensive spices for a reason, its hard to find anything else like it. The taste can be overpowering so make sure not to add too much or too little.  Honestly the challenges were what made me actually want to try out this recipe:). Also, if u don't have half a vanilla bean ready, you can substitute by adding double the vanilla extract. Okay guys, ill shut up now. Good luck and hope it turns out great!

Ingredients:

-1/4 tsp of ground saffron

- 4 tbs milk

- 4 cups all purpose flour 

- 2 tsp baking soda 

- 1 cup of unsalted butter at room temp.

- 1 cup granulated white sugar 

- 1 cup of packed light brown sugar 

- 2 tsp salt 

- 2 egg, room temp.

-2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:

1- Grind the saffron with a mortar and pestle until it becomes powdery. The finer the saffron, the richer it's color and taste will turn out.

2- Combine the milk, vanilla extract, and saffron in a small bowl. Microwave it for ten to twenty seconds. Cover and let steep for 10 min. The color should look like turmeric.

3- In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. 

4- In another bowl, beat the butter on low speed for 1-2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Mix well on low speed until well combined. Then mix again for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.

5- Add the egg to the milk mixture and beat well.

So at this point you should have three separate bowls, the saffron milk, the flour, and the butter/ sugar.

6- Slowly add the milk mixture to the butter while beating on low speed. Then add the flour mixture, also at medium speed. At this point you should keep mixing until the batter is uniform. 

7- Scrape the dough into an airtight container, or form a disc shape and cover it with plastic wrap.

8- Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hrs and up to days.

9- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Form small balls with the dough and place them around 2 in apart on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake them for around 16 min, making sure to rotate them halfway. Ideally, they should turn out golden, but still slightly under cooked in the middle. Let them cool for ten minutes, then enjoy:)

Okay so I'm glad i didn't mess up. And also for the different shapes, my sister did that lol so yea. And honestly it tasted awesome. If you guys decide to bake these, comment how they turned out. Thanks for reading my post!:)