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
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!
Barb Groennert
Can the dough be mix a few days ahead and then refrigerated before baking?
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!!
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!
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! 🙂
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!
Ali
These are amazing! My husband said they are the best he has ever eaten. Thank you for post this!
vivien
I made these for the first time for cookie exchange at work, huge hit!!! Mine did not turn out flat like in the picture but no one seemed to mind.
I will be making them again, thanks for the clear instructions!
Jim
For the cinnamon-sugar mixture, is 1 1/2 tablespoons of right? That seems like a bit much... Unless it's teaspoons.
Bloomingdale161
I found them to be much easier to “process” after I chilled the dough. I rolled the balls in a bowl of cinnamon sugar and flattened them with my thumb
Yummy
Carolyn Spradley
Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies. I have never been able to find a recipe that keeps them chewy...UNTIL TODAY. These were amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Jen
WOW! I've been wanting to try my hand at snickerdoodles for awhile now (become such a cinnamon fan in the last year). Figured Christmas cookie season was the time to finally start trying out some recipes and hope I can find "the one." Started with this one and I am definitely ending with this one. Came out absolutely perfect, just so freaking good! Everyone loved them.
Carmen Preddy
Very easy recipe to follow -- thank you! Snickerdoodles are some of my favorites too. This is only the 2nd time I've tried to make them myself. The first recipe I had used shortenting, so I was happy to find one that used butter instead.
One thing I didn't love about this one, however, was the slight salty taste. Can I eliminate the salt completely from the recipe without hurting the results?
Kelly
Recipe calls for flour.. is it self rising or all purpose?
Andrea
It’s always all purpose unless it states otherwise
Brianna
All purpose flour
DeLynn Thomas
Wondering if I can roll in Christmas colored sugar and they will come out more Christmasy?
Sherli
I adjusted the amount of cinnamon in the end. Did you mean to use 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS? That's a lot of cinnamon. I used half the amount and it was more then enough. JMO ....