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.
I love to hear from you! If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating. If you make any of my recipes, tag me on Instagram @modern_honey so I can see your creations. It’s one of my favorite things seeing you make these recipes in your own kitchen. Sign up for my newsletter below so you never miss a recipe. Thank you for following along! I truly do have the greatest readers. FOLLOW ME ON: INSTAGRAM --- FACEBOOK --- PINTEREST
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
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1 ½ cups Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 ¾ cup Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture:
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 ½ 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
I hope you love this snickerdoodle cookie recipe and it becomes a staple in your family for years! Happy Baking!
Ericka
Outstanding. First time I baked Snickerdoodles and I chose the best recipe! I will definitely tell friends about this website. Thank you.
Victoria Mabry
All-purpose flour, right?
lesley kingston
1st time I tried these ever, awesome recipe and great cookie!!
Jennifer
I must have done something wrong. My "dough" is like cake batter. Theres no way I can roll them into balls. I've got it in the fridge right now, but I think I may add a lot more flour. Disappointed.
Caitlin
I dropped these in .75oz dough balls (1 rounded tbsp) and made a little over 3 dozen cookies. The first batch I cooked for 12 minutes and they were still a little too doughy. The second batch I cooked longer and they were pretty good. I think the recipe has a bit too much flour, at least it did for my cold, dry climate. My cookie dough wasn't sticky enough to pick up all that cinnamon sugar goodness. Too much flour is likely why they don't spread much and need to be flattened before baking. The flavor is good though! Next time I will cut back on the flour a little and bake for 14 minutes and I think they will turn out perfectly. Tip: they're done when the top just starts to crackle
Doug Meader
How many cookies is a serving?
Laura
These were great! Perfect texture and balance of flavors!
Trish
This recipe is a winner! My cookies were perfectly crispy on the edges, with a tender, slightly chewy center. I did have to increase the bake time considerably- more like 13 minutes rather than the 9-11 shown in the recipe. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing. Yum!
Heather M.
Barbara,
Typically cake like cookies are a result of overbeating the mixture, especially the eggs. Also can mean too many eggs were added but seeing you followed the recipe, I would say maybe try to while your butter/sugar less and do the same after the eggs are added.
Barbara
Delicious!
I do have a question, though. My cookies aren't "chewy", they are a bit more on the cakey side. They are still wonderful and I'm happy with them (as is my husband!), just wondering how to get a chewy cookie? This is an on-going quest for me... I did press the cookie before baking, and followed the recipe pretty closely. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.
By the way, found the recommended cooking time to be spot on. I used 10 minutes and it was perfect. Maybe it's the size of the cookie that's an issue? Bigger cookie, longer cook time? Or maybe leaving the dough in a ball rather than pressing it down?
Kayla Nguyen
I found that baking the cookies for a couple more minutes, like close to 13-15 minutes has a much better outcome! Also the cookies come out a perfect size if you use an ice cream scoop, so try that.
Michael D'Angelo
Get a good accurate scale as I weigh all ingredients now. You can thank me later.
Andrea
yes - i weight all of my ingredients. measuring cups are so misleading...
TazManiac
Can this recipe be translated to any european measurements & temperatures please ?? Using google for measurements is just misleading & a "cup" can literally be any size. Over here (U.K. , France etc) scales are the norm, such a shame that no american recipe sites ever consider this fact. We can work in either lb/oz or g/kg
Begonia
I know that weight measurements are more accurate in baking, but a cup is not “any size.” It’s an 8 oz. measure (commonly available in the U.S.), not just any old coffee cup you have in your cupboard.
Lisa
Make sure you measure out your flour correctly, either aerate or scoop with a spoon. Too much flour can create the cakey texture you're experiencing. This is a tried and true recipe in my house! Happy baking!
Kelly
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...
james
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.
HMMendes
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!!
Suzanne
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!
Susan Rogers
made these snickerdoodles and they are amazing!!! can't make enough of them
ryan
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.
Margaret
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!
Halle
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.
Doreen
I baked them at 375 degrees for 11 minutes. Turning the sheetpan after 5 minutes.
Ethan
These took about 15 minutes to bake. Tasted amazing!!
Ezra
If you put 6 cookies per baking sheet, the cookies come out perfect!
Doreen
I did 1/2 cup sugar.
Dena
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.
Jo
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!
Ethan
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.
Rachel
Tried this recipe tonight! Everyone loved them... definitely a home run recipe!! Thank you for sharing.
Jenny
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.
Miriam Gonzalez
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!
M. L'apponte
Thank you for the tip! I will definitely be trying this with pecans.
Grace Hung
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!
Karen Austgen
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!