I’ve examined this snickerdoodle recipe extra instances than I can rely. Many individuals really feel nostalgic for these cookies, and I wished them to be excellent: gentle, chewy, and stuffed with cinnamon-sugar goodness. Actually, I’m slightly obsessed now.
The cream of tartar is my secret weapon. It offers the cookies their signature tang and tender texture that makes snickerdoodles so irresistible.
I like that these cookies are simple to make with easy, on a regular basis elements, but really feel particular sufficient for vacation treats. The cinnamon-sugar coating creates a traditional crackly high that makes you need only one extra chew… after which one other. That is my go-to recipe for the perfect snickerdoodle cookies once I desire a cookie that’s each comforting and slightly magical.

Right here’s what I like about these snickerdoodles:
- Gentle, chewy facilities: Because of the cream of tartar and slightly brown sugar, these cookies keep gentle inside whereas nonetheless holding their form.
- Basic cinnamon sugar crackle: Rolling them in cinnamon sugar offers that nostalgic crackly high I can’t resist.
- Fast and simple prep: Although the dough wants to relax, the precise mixing and rolling is simple.
- Excellent for any event: I like snickerdoodles as Christmas cookies in vacation tins, after-school snacks, or as slightly deal with with my espresso. These at all times hit the spot!
Right here’s what I exploit to make my favourite chewy snickerdoodle cookies, together with just a few notes on why every ingredient issues:
- All-purpose flour: I stick to simply all-purpose flour as a result of it retains the cookies gentle, fluffy, and chewy, precisely the feel I would like in a traditional snickerdoodle.
- Cream of tartar: This little white powder is what makes a snickerdoodle style like a snickerdoodle. It offers the cookies that signature tang and helps them keep gentle and puffy.
- Baking soda: This helps the cookies rise simply sufficient with out spreading too skinny and crispy.
- Salt: A pinch brings out all of the flavors and balances the sweetness.
- Unsalted butter: Utilizing room temperature butter permits it to cream simply with the sugar and offers the cookies a young, chewy texture. Unsalted as an alternative of salted butter lets me management the salt within the recipe, and it additionally gives slightly calcium enhance.
- Gentle brown sugar: I like a lighter shade for these cookies. The brown sugar additionally provides a little bit of chewiness and refined caramel notes.
- Granulated sugar: I like sprinkling slightly granulated sugar into the dough and within the cinnamon-sugar coating. It helps create that glowing crackle on high.
- Vanilla extract: This provides heat and depth that makes the cookies really feel richer.
- Giant eggs: I at all times go together with actual eggs. They offer construction and moisture that flax eggs simply can’t replicate, and are a very good supply of protein and vitamins like vitamin A and potassium.
- Floor cinnamon: This ingredient is the star of the cookie. I combine some into the dough and a few into the sugar coating for that excellent cinnamon taste. For the coating, I combine 2 elements granulated sugar to 1 half cinnamon for that iconic snickerdoodle crackle.

Cream of tartar is what offers snickerdoodles their signature tang and gentle, chewy texture. It really works as a leavener, serving to the cookies puff up excellent whereas preserving them tender inside. In case you skip it, your cookies will nonetheless bake, however they’ll be lacking that traditional snickerdoodle taste and slightly of that gentle, pillowy texture I like. You’ll find it within the spice part of most grocery shops!
I’ve examined this recipe numerous instances. Right here’s my step-by-step strategy to excellent snickerdoodle cookies:
- Measure and blend the dry elements. Earlier than I begin mixing, I prefer to measure every part out first. (Use a kitchen scale for essentially the most correct measurements!) It makes the method a lot smoother and prevents mid-recipe surprises. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt so the leavening distributes evenly.
- Cream the butter and sugars. Beat the room-temperature butter with the brown and granulated sugar till the combination turns into pale, fluffy, and barely ethereal. This step provides air to the dough, which helps give the cookies their gentle, tender texture.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Combine within the eggs and vanilla simply till every part is mixed. I at all times cease mixing as quickly because the batter comes collectively. Overmixing could make cookies more durable as an alternative of soppy.
- Mix moist and dry elements. Gently combine the dry elements into the moist elements till no flour pockets stay. The dough ought to look gentle and really feel barely sticky however nonetheless simple to scoop.
- Chill the dough. Refrigerate the dough for at the very least 2 hours. (In a single day is even higher!) Chilling corporations up the butter so the cookies don’t unfold an excessive amount of within the oven, and it additionally offers the flour time to hydrate for a greater texture.
- Preheat the oven and prep the cinnamon sugar. Warmth the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. I like a 2:1 sugar-to-cinnamon ratio for the perfect taste and snickerdoodle crackle.
- Kind and coat the cookies. Scoop the dough with a tablespoon and roll it into balls. Roll each within the cinnamon sugar till totally coated. For an additional sugary end, I generally roll them twice.
- Bake the cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes, simply till the tops begin to crack. Don’t overbake! I like pulling them out when the facilities nonetheless look barely underbaked. They’ll proceed setting as they cool.
- Cool and serve. Resist the urge to seize these instantly. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for two minutes earlier than shifting them to a wire rack. This helps them set with out breaking and retains the facilities gentle. In case you skipped the double roll earlier, you may also dip the nice and cozy cookies in cinnamon sugar right here for further sweetness.

The traditional cinnamon-sugar model is difficult to beat, however this recipe can be simple to customise. If you wish to change up the flavour, texture, or elements, listed here are a few of my favourite methods to tweak these snickerdoodles:
- Enjoyable add-ins: Raisins add chew, and cinnamon chips soften barely and add little bursts of heat spice. Chocolate chips work effectively for a sweeter twist. For an additional traditional, strive my recipe for the perfect Wholesome Chocolate Chip Cookies!
- Larger and thicker: If I would like bakery-style snickerdoodles, I make bigger cookie scoops with my dough. Larger cookies might have an additional minute or so within the oven.
- Brown butter model: For a nuttier taste, brown the butter earlier than mixing the dough. Simply let it cool earlier than creaming it with the sugar so the dough doesn’t get too gentle.
- Gluten-free: A 1:1 gluten-free baking flour often works effectively as an alternative choice to the all-purpose flour on this recipe. In case you’re in search of lightened-up treats, browse my wholesome cookie recipes for extra desserts for each weight-reduction plan!
- Dairy-free butter: For a cholesterol-free, dairy-free choice, vegan butter can work effectively. Simply select one designed for baking with an honest quantity of saturated fats so the

I like serving these snickerdoodles once I need one thing easy and assured to make folks comfortable. They’re excellent contemporary from the oven with a chilly glass of milk or a heat mug of espresso. The gentle, chewy facilities and cinnamon-sugar coating make them nice for dunking.
These cookies additionally make an excellent addition to vacation cookie platters or as edible items for neighbors, lecturers, or pals. I like pairing them with just a few totally different cookie flavors, like my Maple Sugar Cookies or my Swedish Spritz Cookies, for selection.
If you wish to get slightly artistic, use 2 snickerdoodles to make an ice cream sandwich. Simply add a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream within the center and gently press the cookies collectively. Love cookie sandwiches? Strive my Ginger Molasses Whoopie Pies subsequent.
After all, they’re simply nearly as good as an on a regular basis deal with. I usually bake a batch for after-school snacks, weekend baking tasks, or anytime I’m craving a traditional selfmade cookie.

Let the snickerdoodles cool fully earlier than storing them. That method, they keep gentle and chewy. I maintain them in an hermetic container within the fridge for 7-10 days.

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What’s the key to gentle snickerdoodles?
For me, the important thing to gentle snickerdoodles is a mix of cream of tartar, the correct amount of butter and sugar, and chilling the dough. The cream of tartar offers the cookies that slight tangy taste and tender chew.
Creaming the butter and sugar collectively provides air, which makes the cookies gentle and barely fluffy, whereas the sugar additionally helps maintain the facilities chewy. Chilling the dough prevents the cookies from spreading an excessive amount of, so the facilities keep thick and gentle.
Why are my snickerdoodles flat?
If my snickerdoodles prove flat, it’s often as a result of the dough was too heat or didn’t chill lengthy sufficient. Chilling the dough helps agency up the butter so the cookies unfold extra slowly within the oven. I additionally ensure that my cream of tartar and baking soda are contemporary, since these assist the cookies puff up barely.
Can I make snickerdoodles with out cream of tartar?
You possibly can skip the cream of tartar, however they gained’t have that traditional snickerdoodle tang or the identical gentle, puffy texture. You possibly can substitute a small quantity of baking powder to assist the cookies rise. They’ll nonetheless style like cinnamon sugar cookies, simply lacking that little one thing particular that makes snickerdoodles such a traditional cookie recipe.
Can I make snickerdoodles with out a stand mixer?
You can also make these with a hand mixer, however a stand mixer with a paddle attachment makes this recipe a lot simpler. I’ve examined these cookies with each, and whereas a hand mixer works completely wonderful, it takes extra effort to correctly cream the butter and sugar. In case you go that route, simply be prepared for an arm exercise!

Begin with the dry elements. Add the all-purpose flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt to a big bowl. Whisk the entire elements collectively till effectively mixed. Put aside.
Add the butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup granulated sugar to a standing mixer bowl. Beat on medium velocity for 3-5 minutes till the combination turns gentle in shade and is creamed and fluffy. Be sure you scrape the perimeters of the bowl all through the beat time.
In the meantime, add the eggs and vanilla to a separate bowl and gently whisk the eggs collectively so the egg yolk, egg white, and vanilla are mixed.
Slowly add the egg combination to the creamed butter and sugar and beat till the egg combines with the sugar and butter and turns into gentle and fluffy.
Add the dry elements to the moist elements and blend till simply mixed. Make sure there aren’t any flour clumps on the backside of the blending bowl.
Switch the cookie dough to an hermetic container and refrigerate for at the very least 2 hours, or in a single day for finest outcomes.
Take away the cookie dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whereas the dough is sitting, add the cinnamon and a couple of tablespoons of granulated sugar to a bowl and blend.
Use a tablespoon scoop to scoop a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough into your palms and roll the dough right into a ball.
Roll the dough within the cinnamon-sugar combination till the ball is totally coated.
Place the dough on the lined cookie sheet and repeat till you could have rolled all of the dough in cinnamon sugar.
Be sure you area the cookie dough balls far sufficient aside; these cookies do unfold slightly bit.
Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes. The snickerdoodles ought to start to crack on the tops when they’re nearly executed.
Take away the cookies from the oven and switch them to a cooling rack.
If you end up creaming the butter and sugars, be sure you beat them lengthy sufficient that the colour lightens.
Chilling the dough is a should. It corporations up the butter so the cookies unfold much less and lets the flour hydrate, giving gentle, moist facilities. In case you’re in a rush, half-hour within the freezer works, however I’ve discovered that 2-3 hours within the fridge or in a single day offers the perfect outcomes.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”XAHsznWY” upload-date=”2021-12-04T00:00:00.000Z” name=”Easy Snickerdoodles” description=”This easy snickerdoodle recipe comes out so soft and delicious. It’s made with simple ingredients and a holiday cookie favorite.”]
Energy: 97 kcal, Carbohydrates: 19 g, Protein: 2 g, Fats: 2 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 5 g
Vitamin data is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.


