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!
Linda Parker
I followed this recipe carefully because it is a little different than my mother-in-law’s recipe. My dough was extremely crumbly. I had to work it with my hands quite a bit to get it to stay in a ball. When they were done, they were more like shortbread cookies than soft, chewy, flat ones. I did substitute butter flavored shortening for the butter (cholesterol problems) and Splenda (diabetes) for the sugar. Could one of these substitutions be my problem? What else should I adjust to make them right? They still taste amazing!
MyHBisMusicF
Loved it!! I didn’t have cream of tartar, so I used distilled white vinegar. Rolled the dough in festive Christmas sprinkles before baking, as well as the cinnamon-sugar coating. Turned out amazing! Crisp and crunchy on the outside, chewy and soft in the middle. Will definitely use this recipe again! 🙂
Regina
I live at very high altitude where baking is always complicated, and all recipes usually need tweaking. But I made these cookies as directed and they came out perfect. The family loved them and they sold really well at a school bake sale. Love, love, love this recipe. It is going in the book for sure. Thank you!
Robert Samuel Kirby
Greetings from Nova Scotia, Canada! I made your snickerdoodles exactly as the recipe you provided. Quite pleased and I must say the cookies tasted even better the next day!
I am inclined to add your cookie to my Christmas collection that I make every year!!
Barb Groennert
Can the dough be mix a few days ahead and then refrigerated before baking?
Debbie
This was such a well-written and easy recipe, I had to give it a try. The cookies came out looking great and with a lovely texture. They tasted good, but a little unsweet for me, plus had a tangy, lingering aftertaste - I guess from the cream of tartar - that I didn't like. Especially when hot out of the oven.
But they had such great online reviews that I took them into my workplace the next day. They were quickly gobbled up, got raves and one person even applauded. So much for my sense of taste. 🙂
Jameel
You don't need to flatten the cookies. As the recipe says,. just indent them in the middle as if you were making a space to put caramel or a hershey's kiss or something. Or if you are familiar with making buckeyes, like that. You could also use a small cookie scoop - not the one you used to scoop out the dough obviously because it would be the same size as the entire ball. The dough will naturally expand into the flat shape on its own.
Jameel
I made these a few weeks ago for my co-workers as part of an intended snickerdoodle whoopie pie batch. Ultimately I made 30 cookies and maybe 8 of them I turned into the whoopie pies because I decided it was too decadent. I actually ran out of granulated sugar so I put the 2 1/4 cups sugar in the dough itself and then for the rolling sugar I used light brown sugar. Everyone loved them and I'm about to make another batch by request tonight. Great recipe!
Cindi Hilts
I made these Snickerdoodles for the first time this evening. They are remarkable! I followed the recipe exactly as written. I did not, however, choose to flatten the cookie prior to baking. They came out of the oven puffy and wonderful! The flavor is outstanding! Such an awesome recipe for the holidays or anytime!! Thank you so much!
blah blah
yummy
Laura B
I made these last night and they are absolutely amazing! They came out just like the picture and were so light. Love these and am now scouring your page for other cookie recipes!
Patty
Did anyone use salted butter? It is all I have!
Jeanne Joens
If you have salted butter, you can cut the salt in the recipe a bit. No idea how much, but I bet that info is online somewhere.
Mariah
Hi! I will be making this cookie. But I will shape the cookie thru letters. It will get bigger if I bake it? Or it will it stay on the same size the way you mold before baking? Thank you!
Little dreamer
It’ll spread! So yes, they will be bigger
MBerg
Just made these for the first time ever. I used an ice cream scoop so mine were rather large. I pressed gently on the dough ball with the bottom of a glass and baked for 12 minutes. Perfect recipe!
Tammy B
Made these today for my husbands birthday cause this is his favorite cookie. But i tweeked the ingredients a bit.
I added a dash of cinnamon, maybe an 1/8 cup of brown sugar, and a few light splashes of water to the dough because i substituted 1/2 of the vanilla extract with a vanilla bean. I left them unpressed so they were thicker and we were all amazed.
These were by far the best snickerdoodle cookies weve ever tasted. Your recipe is fantastic and will be my go to going forward.
Betsy
My 14 daughter used this recipe by herself, and she nailed it! Great recipe, delicious results!
Andrea
These really are the best snickerdoodle cookies. Perfect balance between sweet, salty and oh-so-buttery! I’m gonna get fat eating these!
Steve
These are the best snickerdoodles ever!!! I made them for an event at my church and everyone raved about the flavor.
Sabrina
This was my first time making snickerdoodle cookies and I am so glad that I had this recipe because they were much fun to make. I bearly even got them out of the oven before my father-in-law ate half of them. They were so good! I even gave some to my colleagues and they all loved them and they asked me to make more of them and bring them in. Thank you so much for always posting such great recipes!!????❤❤❤????????????
Sabrina
This was my first time making snickerdoodle cookies and I am so glad that I had this recipe because they were much fun to make. I bearly even got them out of the oven before my father-in-law ate half of them. They were so good! I even gave some to my colleagues and they all loved them and they asked me to make more of them and bring them in. Thank you so much for always posting such great recipes!!????❤❤❤????????????