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
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!
Amelia
I forgot to rate this recipe, this is the best recipe for cookies I have ever made!
Madeline R.
Delicious recipe but mine keeps puffing up and they are not flat like the ones in the picture. What am I doing wrong ?
Jill Curry
This is probably the best snickerdoodle recipe I have ever made. They turned out perfectly! This will be my go-to recipe from now on.
Areena
This recipe turned out great. I chose it because of the short dough chilling time (had my nephew coming over to bake so needed something I could get to within his attention span). I was surprised that my husband liked these because he normally hates snickerdoodles. I guess that double rolling makes a big difference.
Like another reviewer, I reduced the flour by 1/4 cup. I shaped these into 30g balls, which I flattened a bit. They cooked perfectly in 10 mins on a parchment lined, light-colored aluminum half sheet pan. I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt so I added extra since I assumed the recipe was written with table salt.
I do wish the recipe was written with metric measurements. As someone else mentioned, once you start using a scale, it's hard to go back.
Thanks for a great recipe! Best snickerdoodle I've made so far.
Melinda
I made these at Christmas and they were yummy! Thanks. I was looking over your other cookie recipes and I noticed the Whitc Chocolate dipped Snickerdoodles have a different baking temp. Any reason for this?
Thanks
Nicole
This was my first attempt at snickerdoodles. This recipe is fabulous! I feel like a rock star! I found all the tips and information shared on this recipe page to make sense, so I tried it. I'm glad I did. Thank you for sharing your talent with us all.
Kat
Do these freeze well?
MB
Yes, I freeze them all the time (ready to pop in the oven) and just take a few out at a time.
Melinda
I froze mine at Christmas and they seemed fine. Thawing was quick, just set out wrapped in a napkin for a few minutes. They didn't last long in the freezer, so not sure of time frame!
Stan Rydelek
I ve made this so many times and can’t keep up with the requests for more! Fabulous recipe that outshines the rest!
Janet
Excellent recipe-the only thing I added was a bag of Hershey’s cinnamon chips-delicious!
Jenny
I just bake snickerdoodle cookies using your recipe.My cookies didn’t come out flat like yours, I followed everything your recipe says. My cookies Are puffy and the shape is like half circle. Not sure what’s wrong. This is my second time. The first time came out same as this time. They taste good but don’t like like yours. Thank you.
Biyonka
I made this tonight! My family and i really loved them. Thank you for posting the recipe.
Shelley Broyles
Love this recipe! I’ve been asked by my daughter’s teacher to make large versions of the cookies for the class to cut for a fraction lesson. Is there anything I can do to make sure these are extra chewy?
Jigisha
What a great recipe! Simple and yet delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Sheralee Wiechers
How many cookies were made? It says 24 servings but from some of the comments, they made a lot.
Shivani
I am a chocolate lover, but have recently ventured into the "non-chocolate" baked goods space. These cookies were SO GOOD - so good, I may even prefer them to chocolate chip cookies! I followed the recipe exactly, except I used raw turbinado sugar. Made 24 cookies. They puffed up, and then flattened a bit when cooling, but definitely didn't flatten as much as in the pictures on the site. Totally fine though, as the cookies were still amazing. Will definitely make them again! One question: has anyone tried using flax egg or aquafaba?
Gail Park
Try banging the pan on the counter when you take the out of the oven. That will flatten them. Learned that from Half baked harvest.
Marry
How can i substitute the cream of tar?
Kayla Nguyen
I used lemon juice and it worked great! Use an equal serving of lemon juice to cream of tartar
Eileen
i used baking powder and it came out even better!!
Stacie
They came out perfect! Thank you.
Pam
Awesome cookies!! My granddaughters helped Grandma make these delicious cookies.
Thank you for sharing????
Catherine Grau
I read that as makes 24 cookies instead of 24 servings and doubled it. Somehow I ended up with 140 cookies I was baking for HOURS..however they were absolutely delicious and I did a cookie delivery run to 11 different friends + my favorite teacher. They all said it turned out great, though I didn't get to eat many myself due to the dessert vacuum that is my siblings. Amazing recipes 🙂
Olivia Carsner
I did the exact same thing for my grad party but I tripled it ???? I was baking for ever! They were a major hit though.
Kim
Normally I use my moms recipe for these cookies but I moved recently and could not find it so I am glad I found this one! These were so delicious warm right from the oven. I ran out of sugar and had to use brown sugar and cinnamon to roll the balls in and wow! The brown sugar practically carmelized, sooo good! Thank you for the recipe! I recommend trying the brown sugar for rolling the dough in for a little change or just to try it. I will definitely be using it again. A happy accident????