Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
The popular cinnamon-sugar soft and chewy sugar cookie recipe. A recipe that has been in the family for over 30 years!
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 I have ever tasted.
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!
So 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.
How to make the BEST Snickerdoodle Cookie:
- 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 — light-colored baking sheets, parchment paper sheets, KitchenAid mixer.
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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
The Best Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe. Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies. The popular cinnamon-sugar soft and chewy sugar cookie recipe. A recipe that has been in the family for over 30 years!
- 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
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
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.
I hope you love this snickerdoodle cookie recipe and it becomes a staple in your family for years! Happy Baking!
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.
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.
Tried this recipe tonight! Everyone loved them… definitely a home run recipe!! Thank you for sharing.
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!
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.
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!
made these snickerdoodles and they are amazing!!! can’t make enough of them
The BEST snickerdoodles EVER! I am a school bus driver, have over 50 kids on my route and they were all begging me to make these every week. Thank you for this hit recipe!
My family kept asking me to make snickerdoodle cookies but I’ve never made them before. I found this recipe, followed it exactly, and the cookies turned out delicious! I will definitely make again!!
For the cinnamon mixture it says to measure out 1/4 c sugar and 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS cinnamon? Did I read that right? I will be tweaking that part of this recipe…
This is right. The cinnamon does not go in the cookies themselves but instead is used as part of a coating. It won’t make them overly strong.