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The popular cinnamon-sugar soft and chewy sugar cookie recipe. Tips and tricks for making the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe that always receives rave reviews. A recipe that has been in the family for over 30 years!
Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
This was one of the first cookie recipes I made as a kid. As I have shared before, I was fully obsessed with cookbooks as a little girl. My Mom collected church cookbooks and I would go straight to the cookie recipes and beg my Mom to let me whip up a batch.
I made this snickerdoodle cookie recipe 30 years ago and it is still the best snickerdoodle cookie I have ever tasted.
Why you will love this Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe:
- This is the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe because they are perfectly soft and chewy with the perfect amount of tangy flavor.
- Snickerdoodle cookies are easy to make and have a comforting, nostalgic quality that makes them a favorite for many people.
- These homemade snickerdoodles always get 5-star ratings and are so popular! Everyone loves snickerdoodles.
What are Snickerdoodles?
Snickerdoodles are known for their soft and chewy texture, along with a sweet, cinnamon-sugar coating. The primary ingredients in Snickerdoodle cookies include butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, all rolled into a cinnamon sugar mixture.
What do snickerdoodles taste like?
The dough for Snickerdoodles is usually rolled into small balls and then coated with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar before baking. This coating gives the cookies their classic, slightly crispy exterior and a warm, cinnamon flavor. When baked, the best snickerdoodles have a slightly cracked surface and a soft, tender interior.
What makes a perfect snickerdoodle cookie?
A snickerdoodle cookie has to be soft and chewy. No hard hockey puck cookies here! It has to be rolled twice in cinnamon-sugar to ensure that it is completely coated. It also has to have the signature tang from the cream of tartar.
What ingredients are in Snickerdoodles?
You only need 9 ingredients to make the best homemade snickerdoodles.
- Butter — use softened, unsalted butter. If using salted butter, reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Sugar — this recipe calls for granulated sugar.
- Eggs — use large eggs
- Vanilla Extract — since this recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, I suggest using a high-quality pure vanilla.
- Flour — this recipe calls for all-purpose flour.
- Cream or Tartar — this is what gives snickerdoodles that signature tangy flavor and chewy texture. See below for why it is important to use cream of tartar in snickerdoodles.
- Baking Soda — when mixed with the cream of tartar, it helps the cookies to rise.
- Salt — if using salted butter, reduce salt by 1/2 teaspoon.
- Cinnamon Sugar — generously roll the cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture before baking.
Why is cream of tartar in Snickerdoodles?
Cream of tartar is what gives Snickerdoodles their characteristic tangy flavor and helps to create their distinctive texture.
Cream of tartar is an essential ingredient in snickerdoodle cookies for several important reasons:
- Leavening Agent: Cream of tartar is an acid and when combined with baking soda it causes the cookies to rise and become light and fluffy during baking. This leavening reaction is critical in producing the characteristic texture of snickerdoodles, which is soft and tender with a slightly puffy quality.
- Tangy Flavor: Cream of tartar contributes a subtle, tangy flavor to the cookies. This tangy note helps balance the sweetness of the cookie dough and enhances the overall flavor profile of snickerdoodles. It gives the cookies a unique taste that sets them apart from other cinnamon-sugar-coated cookies.
- Texture and Appearance: Cream of tartar also contributes to the slightly crisp and crinkly surface of snickerdoodles, which is created by the leavening action.
How to make the Best Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe:
This is such a quick and easy snickerdoodle cookie recipe! No chilling is required.
- Start by creaming butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes. This is an important step as the butter coats the sugar crystals and creates a smooth texture. It also whips air into the cookie dough.
- Use Cream of Tartar as a leavening agent. It gives it the signature tangy flavor and chewy texture. A touch of baking soda helps the cookies to rise as well.
- Double roll the cookie balls into a cinnamon-sugar mixture. This helps to make sure the cookies are completely coated in cinnamon-sugar before baking.
- Bake just until the edges begin to become a light golden color. These snickerdoodle cookies need to be soft and chewy so watch carefully. If you want them to be flat, press the balls down in the center before placing in the oven.
- My favorite baking tools for perfect Snickerdoodle cookies are a light colored baking sheet, easy parchment paper sheets, and a Kitchenaid mixer.
For soft snickerdoodle cookies…
Do NOT overbake. To make soft and chewy snickerdoodles, remove from the oven while they are still soft as they will continue to set up once removed from the oven.
This is such a popular Christmas cookie because I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t love snickerdoodle cookies! When I used to teach a cooking school for kids, it was the first cookie I taught them to make because kids love them. Whenever I make these cookies, they disappear so darn fast!
Snickerdoodle Cookie Substitutions and Variations:
For a more tender texture, you may use half cake flour and half all-purpose flour.
To make them extra cinnamon flavor packed, sprinkle in cinnamon chips to make Cinnamon Chip Snickerdoodles.
You may fill these cinnamon sugar snickerdoodles with caramels and make Caramel Filled Snickerdoodles.
Do I need to chill Snickerdoodle cookie dough?
No! This is such a quick and easy snickerdoodle cookie recipe and no chilling is required.
If you want to chill the snickerdoodle cookie dough, I suggest double wrapping tightly and placing it in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours.
FAQ’s:
Absolutely! Snickerdoodle cookies freeze well and can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months if you keep them in freezer-safe bags.
When ready to serve, just remove from the freezer and let come to room temperature which should take about 30 minutes.
These soft snickerdoodles will stay fresh for up to 24-48 hours if you cover them and store at room temperature.
Watch carefully! This will depend on the size of the snickerdoodles (larger ones will take longer to bake), the type of baking pan (light vs. dark), and the accuracy of your oven temperature. I suggest setting the timer for 8-9 minutes and checking to see if they are done baking. Snickerdoodles will look slightly underdone but will set up once removed from the oven.
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Check out some more of my most popular cookie recipes:
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Soft Chewy Sugar Cookies
Grandma Geri’s Gingersnaps
Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies
Mrs. Claus Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies
5-Star Rated Cookie Recipes:
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The Best Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 3/4 cup Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar (for less tang, use 1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture:
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Cream for 1-2 minutes longer.
- Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, just until combined.
- In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon.
- If time allows, wrap the dough and let refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Roll into small balls until round and smooth. Drop into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat well. Using a spoon, coat for a second time, ensuring the cookie balls are completely covered. *To make flatter snickerdoodles, press down in the center of the ball before placing in the oven. This helps to keep them from puffing up in the middle. *
- Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Let cool for several minutes on baking sheet before removing from the pan.
Video
Notes
When ready to serve, just remove from the freezer and let come to room temperature which should take about 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you love this snickerdoodle cookie recipe and it becomes a staple in your family for years! Happy Baking!
made these snickerdoodles and they are amazing!!! can’t make enough of them
eh i tried them last night, but i found a few things wrong with this recipe. the bake time was completely off and i had the oven preheated for a while before i threw my cookies in. along with not having an accurate time the cinnamon and sugar ratio for me was a bit off. i wanna believe maybe it was a typo, but who knows? i will say the dough itself looked and tasted good. in the end i did finally get to have my cookies all baked, but i just had to cook them longer than suggested.
Yes, I agree the cooking time is much longer. My first batch was very raw dough in the middle. Need to add much more time to baking them. Dough itself is very yummy!
Same here. The oven had been preheated for a while, and after I put them in for 10 minutes and were still raw. Maybe the cookies need to be a tiny for the time to work correctly.
I baked them at 375 degrees for 11 minutes. Turning the sheetpan after 5 minutes.
These took about 15 minutes to bake. Tasted amazing!!
If you put 6 cookies per baking sheet, the cookies come out perfect!
I did 1/2 cup sugar.
I have loved snickerdoodles my entire life and I’ve never had one better than these. This recipe is IT. I think the key is to whip the butter and sugar with electric mixer for the 4-5 minutes. And definitely flatten them a little before putting in oven. They came out lightly crispy on the outside and so chewy and fluffy on the inside. PERFECTION.
First time I’ve ever had snickerdoodle cookies. They were so simple and delicious! I would definately make these again. Just wondering how many grams of cookie dough do you use for your size? Love the recipe!
Just divide the total weight of your dough by 24 for the original recipe serving size. For me this came to 38 grams per cookie. And this resulted in cookies that were the same size as the picture.
Tried this recipe tonight! Everyone loved them… definitely a home run recipe!! Thank you for sharing.
Oh my! These are the best! Making some to give away but I’m going to have to keep a dozen for my own family.
Very good cookies! My family fell in love with them. I split the dough in half and made two different cookies with the dough. One half I rolled in cinnamon and sugar and the other half I added chunks of pecans into the dough and placed a whole pecan on top. They both came out delicious! We had pecans lying around and decided to go for it after we tried the first batch of regular snicker doodle cookies and bit into the warm, soft, and chewy cookie. We knew it would go so well with pecans and it did!
Thank you for the tip! I will definitely be trying this with pecans.
Love that pecan suggestion! I wanted to add nuts to some of the cookies and was scrolling for comments to see if anyone had used nuts with success. Thank you for making the effort to contribute your comment!
That sounds great! Another option is to mix in toffee chips (like the discontinued Starbucks Toffeedoodle). My son has a nut allergy, and commercially prepared toffee chips usually have almond, and so I actually (for the first time) made my own toffee. The cookies were a big hit with my family! I used 1 c of toffee chips in the batter and then some more toffee chips pressed into the top of the cookie before baking. I used a medium cookie scoop and baked them for 16 minutes. Really good! Thanks for this recipe, I’ve always wanted my snickerdoodles to be soft but I’ve had my share of hard snickerdoodles (baked by relatives). I’ll never go back!
My favorite cookie recipe! I am known for being a horrible cool and baker, and I had my entire family and closest friends say these were the best snickerdoodles they’ve ever had. THANK YOU! I followed the recipe exactly and had 24 perfectly fluffy, warm, soft pieces of heaven!
These cookies were a hit. I had to make them 3 days in a row. They were soft and chewy. Thanks so much for the recipe.
It’s was awesome! I substitute it for lemon juice and it tasted great!!! Thanks so much for sharing this!