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!
Ili
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. It’s got the perfect taste. They crumble very easily though. I did change something in the recipe, i used a third of white sugar and 2 thirds of brown sugar. Do you think it could have been that?
Brittany
Changing ingredient amounts means you’re throwing the chemistry off. So if you didn’t add anything to offset the extra sugar, then that is what caused your issue.
Rayne
Yes, sugar types can greatly determine how a recipe comes out. Baking is an exact science and even the seemingly smallest of changes can greatly affect the outcome
Chef Mike
I thought I would give this recipe a try. Being a chef I often question the balance of ingredients I find on the internet, especially when taking a small recipe and blowing it up to greater quantities. These were perfect! My first test was very successful taking your measurements and converting them all into weights which makes it easier to scale . Knowing that I make my cookies a little bigger at 54g I calculated this recipe x8 with the goal to get 12 dz. It was right on the money yielding me approx 144 cookies at 54g or 1.9 ozw. Its extremely rare that this happens. I served these for lunch today and they were gone in no time. I find that only 1 in 15 recipes I find on the internet comes out as planned when scaling up. I usually can spot issues when scaling to much larger quantities and adjust accordingly. It was refreshing to find a recipe that works with any quantity when scaling. Next time I'll be taking this up to 30 dz and am confident the results will be the same. Incidentally I also am testing different caramels with the stuffed snickerdoodle starting with the caramels you suggested - they are cooling as I type and will most likely try this addition next time. Thank you for sharing.
Jayne
I made these at Christmas for work. Were a big hit! One of my co-workers put in a special request to have them again, will be making them this weekend ????
Beth
I made this as a snickerdoodle newbie (and not particularly gifted baker) and theh were easy AND amazing! Making a double batch again now. Such a crowd pleaser.
Margo
My first coronavirus stress bake. so good and so comforting. thank you!
Celestine
I've been baking everything there is possible to bake in this time ahaha.
karin
what if i used salted butter? would it taste alright?
Kelly
I'm in the same boat and I've heard that you can - just reduce the amount of sale to about ¼ tsp instead.
Beautynu2
I made half of this recipe last week and OMG...they were delicious. I plan to try this recipe with Almond Flour and Monk Fruit sugar. I will let you know how it turns out.
S
I used salted butter and omitted salt later. tasted fine.
Brooke
I would not use salted butter for this cookie
Heather
I used salted butter and didn't add any salt. Tasted good to me.
Tamara
I'm not an advocate of writing alterations to recipes in review comments and am sure the original recipe is amazing but desperate times call for desperate measures folks. I'm pandemic baking, my kid is off school indefinitely and we're shut up in the house so...let's make cookies. Of course I didn't have enough white sugar on hand and I'm avoiding the grocery store if possible. So...I winged it, 1c white sugar, 1c brown sugar and 1/2 c maple syrup. Maple snickerdoodles! Amazing. So, so good! Can't wait to try the original recipe once I can go buy sugar. Thanks for the recipe, easy and delicious.
Tamara
I'm not an advocate of writing alterations to recipes in review comments and am sure the original recipe is amazing but desperate times call for desperate measures folks. I'm pandemic baking, my kid is off school indefinitely and we're shut up in the house so...let's make cookies. Of course I didn't have enough white sugar on hand and I'm avoiding the grocery store if possible. So...I winged it, 1/2c white sugar, 1/2c brown sugar and 1/2 c maple syrup. Maple snickerdoodles! Amazing. So, so good! Can't wait to try the original recipe once I can go buy sugar. Thanks for the recipe, easy and delicious.
Kina
This is my favorite snickerdoodle recipe
Brianna
Hello, can I use baking powder instead of baking soda? If so, how much would I use. Thank you!
Kristina Mitchell
Baking Powder is actually baking soda + cream of tartar!
Laura
So two teaspoons of baking powder to sub the baking soda and cream of tarter?
deeeeeee
This snickerdoodle recipe is so yummy . This is my favorite recipe!! 🙂
Lori
This is the second time I’ve made these cookies in a week. This is the absolute best name for these cookies. My son loves cinnamon did mention that he wished he could taste more cinnamon so I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the cookie batter and they Thurber out great. This is a great recipe and very easy to follow. I’m used to following recipes but if someone was just starting out with learning to read recipes this is a great one to start with. Yum!!!
Emily Marushko
I don't normally leave ratings, but I had to for these cookies. My boyfriend and I are in quarantine, and these cookies didn't stand a chance of lasting more than 48 hours. I'm sure we'll be baking another batch next week.
Rachel
Thanks! Made during #QuarantineBaking - I didn't bother to flatten the cookies and they still turned out fine.
Kristen
These are seriously the "best" snickerdoodles! Snickerdoodles are my favorite, so I have made them many times with many different recipes, and this is my new go to recipe for perfect snickerdoodle. My seven-year-old was able to do most of the baking herself, with just a little supervision, and the result was perfectly soft and chewy cookies with lot of cinnamon flavor and a buttery crisp to the edges. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!