Super soft and full of cinnamon, these are our FAVORITE Snickerdoodle Cookies. They always get rave reviews!
Snickerdoodle Cookies are a classic cookie recipe we make all the time! We enjoy these almost as often as our Chocolate Chip, Sugar, or M&M Cookies!
The Best Snickerdoodle Recipe
I LOVE Snickerdoodle Cookies! My family searched for the best Snickerdoodle recipe for a long time, and we finally found THE ONE.
We’ve been using it for as long as I can remember now. It’s just as classic as our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies and Sugar Cookies recipes.
Why is it called a Snickerdoodle? From Wikipedia: The Joy of Cooking claims that Snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln (“snail noodles”), a kind of pastry.
Not sure how that word adapted, but I do admit that there is something sweet and fun about the word.
If you fall under the Snickerdoodles loving category, I suggest giving this cookie recipe a try. Or, to change it up a bit, try White Chocolate Snickerdoodles or Cake Mix Snickerdoodles!
How to Make Snickerdoodles
We love that these cookies are so simple, even the kids can help out!!
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
WET INGREDIENTS. Cream together the butter (barely softened) and sugar. Add the eggs until it is well blended.
SHAPE. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix well, and then shape dough into 1 inch balls. Mix these balls into your cinnamon and sugar mixture.
BAKE. Place on an un-greased pan, bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.
These cinnamon cookies are baked to perfection, and result in the easiest, most delicious cookie!!
The perfect cinnamon/sugar ratio: In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons sugar with 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
recipe tips
Cream of Tartar. Many people debate whether it’s even a Snickerdoodle without the cream of tartar. It’s a key ingredient that transforms the cookies into a tangy, chewy cookie, differentiating it from a typical butter sugar cookie.
Although cream of tartar is typically used in Snickerdoodle Recipes to add a unique tangy taste and chewy texture, you can still use a substitution.
Cream of Tartar substitution. To make Snickerdoodles without cream of tartar:
- replace the 2 teaspoons cream of tartar AND the 1 teaspoon baking soda with 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- mimic the tangy taste by also adding a splash of lemon juice or white vinegar
Unsalted Butter. Make sure your butter is barely softened. Too soft and the dough will be too soft. Cold butter won’t be incorporated all the way and will result in a thicker cookie.
Room temperature eggs incorporate better than chilled eggs. To warm them up faster, place them in a bowl of warm-hot water for a few minutes. You can also use this post on How to Soften Butter Quickly.
Sifted ingredients. It may seem unnecessary, but be sure to sift the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, before mixing it into the creamed mixture. The less the gluten in the flour is activated by mixing, the softer the cookies will be.
Scoop. Use a cookie scoop to spoon out the dough. This will help ensure that all the cookies are uniform in size.
Soft Snickerdoodles
A soft Snickerdoodle is essential. There are a couple tricks to make and keep your Snickerdoodles soft and chewy:
Do NOT over bake them! Our recipe says to bake for 8-10 min. Depending on how soft you want them:
- Take them out of the oven after 8 minutes.
- Let them sit on the baking sheet for a minute, then place on a cooling rack.
Eight minutes cook time will insure a soft chewy cookie – even after they have cooled.
Store in an airtight container. Throw a piece of bread into the container with your cookies. The bread will absorb the extra air in the container, and make the cookies stay fresh for longer! Most cookies can stay fresh, when stored in an airtight container at room temp, for about 3 days.
to chill or not to chill
Many Snickerdoodle recipes call for CHILLING the dough. Ours DOES NOT, but you can if you’d like.
First cookie – CHILLED. The result is usually a thicker cookie, without as many cracks as are usually found on the tops of Snickerdoodles.
Center cookie – CHILLED + FLATTENED. This cookie was chilled, rolled into a ball, rolled into the cinnamon sugar mixture, then flattened a little bit with the bottom of a cup. If you like a more flat, chewy cookie, try this method.
Last cookie – NOT CHILLED + NOT FLATTENED. This is our classic recipe. No chilling, no flattening, and baked to perfection. This is how we prefer our cookies, but use the above methods if you like your cookies more thick or flat.
Storing Info
STORE. Keep cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll last for 3-4 days.
FREEZE. Store in a freezer bag, or air-tight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. When you’re ready to eat or serve them, let them thaw in their container on the counter. They will taste just as yummy the day you made them!
FREEZE the dough. Once you have shaped and coated the cookie dough balls with the cinnamon and granulated sugar mixture, line them up on a small baking sheet (one that will fit into your freezer). Place the dough balls in the freezer until they are solid, then transfer to a freezer Ziploc. Freeze for up to 2 months.
- To bake – line dough balls on a baking sheet and allow them to thaw for about 20 minutes before baking. You may need to add a minute or two to the bake time to compensate for the cooler starting temperature.
Nothing can beat a warm, cinnamon and sugar covered cookie. That is why we love these Snickerdoodles so much! We hope you love them as much as we do.
For more snickerdoodle recipes:
- White Chocolate Snickerdoodles
- Snickerdoodle Bars
- Snickerdoodle Bread
- Snickerdoodle Puppy Chow
- White Chocolate Dipped Snickerdoodles
- Eggnog Snickerdoodles
Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, just softened
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
- Mix cinnamon mixture by combining the ⅓ cup cinnamon and 2 tablespoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Using a small cookie scoop to scoop out dough, roll into a ball and then roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture – twice.
- Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a few additional minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
I love to try out new versions of recipes I thought I would give this one a go. The differences between my old family recipe and this are butter for shortening and oven temperatures. I mixed up a batch and baked the first sheet with disappointed results. The cookies tasted very good but the overall shape of the cookie spread all over the cookie sheet and needed much more time in the oven. (I was careful not to let the butter get too soft). I added some more flour and set them in the fridge to chill. Second batch, the same. I decided to put the remainder in the fridge overnight and wait until morning to decide what to do. I made a second batch the next morning with shortening and added my refrigerated batch to it so part butter and part shortening. I upped the oven temp to other recipe instructions (400 degrees) and baked. Much better! I finished baking and these tasted just as good and looked better than the all butter batch. They had more substance and it was evident in a side by side comparison. Just thought I would share my experience.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the cookies a try!
I feel terrible to leave a negative review, but I must. I misplaced my favorite snickerdoodle recipe and decided to try this. The cookies spread all over the baking sheet, despite me refrigerating the batter for 20 minutes prior to popping the prepared sheet in the oven. The flavor is okay. The texture not so much. Save your ingredients for another recipe.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try!
Oh noooo, After just leaving a 2 star review, I realize I forgot to add the baking powder. Please disregard my previous review! Duh! No wonder the cookies spread out all over the pan and the texture was poor! So sorry!
I appreciate you responding back! You’ll have to let us know how they turn out if you make them again.
Very Good! Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome!! Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
I just made these for my 77 year old mom. She said they are the best cookies she’s ever had!! That’s a huge compliment considering her mother was an amazing baker!
Oh that makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing. So glad the cookies were a hit!
Soft and chewy with lots of cinnamon flavor, these were a hit with my family!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks for trying the recipe!
Outstanding recipe. The ladies that had trouble with the “batter” may have done what I almost did, which was using 1 and 3/4 cup of flour instead of 2 and 3/4. cups,
Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Most recipes include the total amount of an ingredient, indicating how it’s divided on the same line. Didn’t notice that you have sugar listed in your ingredients twice. As a result, I used way less sugar than I should have, and they did not turn out well.
Thanks for the feedback! We’ll look into that. Sorry to hear the cookies didn’t turn out well, but thanks for giving them a try!
I’m wondering what I did wrong because the inside of the cookies had hollow pockets even though I used a thermometer to make sure the oven was ok and followed the recipe? Thank you for your help, they still tasted great though lol.
Hmmm I’m not quite sure why they were hollow. Maybe chilling the dough could help prevent that next time? I’m glad they tasted great! Thanks for giving the recipe a try.
There is a typo for when adding the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Followed this recipe exactly as written. Rolled out big dough balls and double dipped in cinny-sugar and then chilled in fridge for about 30 minutes while the oven heated up. Baked for 8 minutes on conv bake. They are AMAZING!! Perfect thick and round cookies, chewy on the inside, crisp on the outside. Thank you for another yummy recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe! These snickerdoodles are absolutely delicious and they turned out perfect!