Snickerdoodles are buttery, soft, perfectly sweet cookies with a big note of cinnamon inside and out. I LOVE them and have zero will power when they’re at hand. For another delicious cookie recipe, try my easy oatmeal raisin cookies.
What You’ll Need for This Recipe
Unsalted butter: If you’d like to use salted butter just reduce the salt added by 1/2 a teaspoon.
Cream of Tartar: This powdered acid is a byproduct of winemaking and gives the cookies a soft chewy texture.
Light Brown Sugar: You can use dark brown sugar in this recipe if desired.
Vanilla: Use a high quality vanilla extract.
How to Make Snickerdoodles
1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
2. Cream the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla to the batter and mix.
4. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat on low until just combined.
5. In a medium bowl mix sugar and cinnamon together for rolling.
6. Use a medium ice cream scooper to portion out the cookie dough.
7. Roll about 2 inch wide balls of dough in the palms of your clean hands then roll in cinnamon sugar.
8. Transfer to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake until your snickerdoodles are just golden.
Pro Tips for this recipe
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- If you love cinnamon then spoon some of the cinnamon sugar over each ball of snickerdoodle dough before placing on the baking sheet. You’ll get way more cinnamon than if you just rolled them.
- This snickerdoodle cookie recipe can be made in advance and frozen for up to two months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator then leave on the counter to soften a bit before rolling out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Freezing Cookie Dough
These chewy snickerdoodle cookies taste best fresh out of the oven BUT you can make the dough months ahead of time and freeze it. Roll the balls out and chill them in the fridge or freezer until solid, then transfer to a sealable freezer bag and store until ready to use. When you’re ready for cookies just thaw for about 10 minutes while the oven heats up, roll in cinnamon sugar and bake! You’ll probably want to add 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
Why add cream of tartar?
Cream of tartar is an acid derived from wine making. Adding it to snickerdoodles gives them more rise and a softer chewier texture. Cream of tartar also adds a subtle tang to balance the sweetness of these cookies.
Why is it called a Snickerdoodle?
There’s not really an agreement on this but the name could be derived from the German word Schneckennudel, which refers to a variety of snail-shaped pastry. The name may have also come from a combination of the words snicker and doodle.
What is the difference between a sugar cookie and a Snickerdoodle?
Snickerdoodles have big notes of cinnamon and tend to be softer and chewier than most sugar cookies.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this snickerdoodle recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Snickerdoodle Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup butter room temperature, 226g
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar 150g
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda 5mL
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 3/4 cup flour 330g
For the Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/4 cup Sugar 50g
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
- Cream the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs on at a time while mixing on low. Scrape the bowl down and mix in the vanilla
- Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat on low until just combined. Scrape the down down and fold in any remaining flour.
- In a medium bowl mix sugar and cinnamon together for rolling.
- Use a medium ice cream scooper or tablespoon to portion out the cookie dough. You'll want enough to roll balls that are 1.5-2 inches wide.
- Roll the dough in the palms of your clean hands then roll in cinnamon sugar.
- Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 375F until puffed and just golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
Video
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- If you love cinnamon the spoon some of the cinnamon sugar over each ball of cookie dough before placing on the baking sheet. You’ll get way more cinnamon than if you just rolled them.
