Snickerdoodle Bars Recipe

Snickerdoodle Bars have all your favorite snickerdoodle cookie flavors! They’re thick, chewy, and so simple to make.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Cool Time 30

Total Time 1 10

Servings bars

Calories 172kcal

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and line it with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), combine the butter, 1 cup of granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on low speed for about 1 minute or until combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, 1½ teaspoons of cinnamon and salt. Add to the butter mixture in three parts, mixing on low speed between each addition, mixing just until combined.
Add scoops of the dough to the prepared baking pan. With a butter knife or small offset spatula, spread the dough into an even layer.
In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ¼ cup of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture all over the cookie mixture in the pan.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and slightly pulling away from the sides of the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center should have a few moist crumbs.
Let cool for 30 minutes in the pan. Then pull on the parchment paper to transfer the bars to a cooling rack to cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Use room temperature ingredients. Set the eggs and butter out about an hour before you start baking. Room temperature ingredients are much easier to incorporate into a cohesive dough than if they are cold. If you forget to set them out, follow my easy tutorial for how to soften butter quickly; you can soak the eggs in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, then drain and dry them.
Weigh the flour. Using too much flour will yield dry, crumbly snickerdoodle bars. The best way to avoid this is to weigh the flour using a kitchen scale. If you don't have one, fluff the flour in its container, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level off the top with a knife.
Don't over-mix the dough. Over-mixing will cause the gluten in the flour to over-develop, which will cause the cookie bars to turn out tough instead of chewy.
The dough should look and feel softer than a snickerdoodle cookie. This makes it easy to spread in the pan and yields a moist, chewy cookie bar.
Watch the bake time. Overbaking will cause the cookie bars to dry out. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Add chocolate chips. You can gently fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips at the end of step 4. Use your favorite type of chocolate!