Soft, buttery, chewy, classic Snickerdoodle Cookies that all but melt in your mouth. This recipe is super simple, includes a special ingredient for extra-soft cookies, and requires no chilling, which means you can have perfect warm Snickerdoodles in under 30 minutes!
Snickerdoodles are a traditional Christmas Cookie in my house and one of my family’s all-time favorites!
Snickerdoodles
Christmas cookie season was always serious growing up. Every year my mom would (and still does!) mass-produce the classics: Snickerdoodles, oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies.
While I was happy to eat my weight in the other cookies she made, the Snickerdoodle cookies never really impressed me. My mom is a great cook and a great baker (she helps with testing and perfecting so many of my recipes) but the Snickerdoodle cookies she made would always be a bit… dry and crumbly. If you know how I feel about cookies, they should always be soft, buttery, and chewy. The word “dry” shouldn’t even be a thought in your mind.
It took a lot of tweaking and taste-testing, but I’m so excited to share my tested and perfected (Mom-approved) Snickerdoodles recipe. This one is made with butter instead of shortening (my mom’s used shortening, but if you recall from my peanut butter blossoms I’m a butter kind of person!) and a few key tweaks that make the cookies extra soft.
Ingredients for Snickerdoodles
What You Need:
- Butter. I use unsalted and add salt so that we have better control over the flavor of our cookies. Make sure your butter is softened before beginning.
- Sugar. Granulated.
- Eggs. We’re using one large egg and one egg yolk. This extra yolk helps make the cookies particularly soft and tender. Using two whole eggs would make the cookies a bit too puffy and cakey.
- Vanilla extract. Just a splash.
- Flour. Use all-purpose (“plain”) flour.
- Corn starch. My favorite secret ingredient for super soft cookies! It helps make the cookies tender while at the same time keeping them from spreading too much. I use this ingredient in so many of my favorite cookies (like my peanut butter cookies!).
- Baking soda.
- Cream of tartar. This is a critical Snickerdoodle ingredient and provides that signature tang. In the past I have had mixed results using cream of tartar substitutes but as a rule I don’t recommend substituting the cream of tartar. It’s what makes a Snickerdoodle a Snickerdoodle!
- Salt. For flavor, of course!
You’ll also need an electric mixer or stand mixer for creaming your ingredients together.
How to Make Snickerdoodle Cookies
These cookies are easy and the printable recipe is below, but here are a few key steps and tips that might be helpful!
- Cream together wet ingredients. Start by creaming together (with an electric mixer) your butter and sugar (I know, sugar appears dry but in baking it is actually considered a “wet” ingredient. Stir in an egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. For best results all of your ingredients should be at room temperature.
- Stir together dry ingredients. Do this in a separate bowl. Make sure they are thoroughly combined.
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. When making cookies it is less critical that you avoid over-beating your ingredients than it is with cakes, but I still recommend you avoid beating your ingredients on too high of a speed for too long, which can contribute to puffy, cakey, dry cookies.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, then roll through cinnamon/sugar before baking. Space your cookies at least 2″ apart as they will spread a bit in the oven. I recommend baking cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, it makes cleanup much easier!
- Allow to cool before enjoying! When your cookies are finished baking they should have pretty crackly centers and they may also appear just a touch under-baked. This is good! You want to let your cookies cool completely on the baking sheet (they would be too fragile to move, anyway) and they will finish baking all the way there. If your cookies were to come out of the oven fully baked, they would continue to bake as they cooled, which actually leaves you with over-baked, dry, crumbly cookies. My method of cooling them and letting them finish baking on the cookie tray leaves you with soft, chewy cookies!
These Snickerdoodles will stay soft and fresh for up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature.
If you’re a fan of crunchy cookies (is anyone?) or puffy, cakey cookies, I’m afraid these might not be for you. I like my Snickerdoodle cookies soft, buttery, crinkly and chewy and these are just that, nearly melting in your mouth with each bite. Enjoy!
More Classic Cookie Recipes to Try:
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226g) softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (see my post on how to measure flour properly to avoid cookies that are dry) (375g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For rolling
- ½ cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F¹ (175C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper
- In stand mixer or with hand mixer cream butter and sugar together on medium-low speed until combined.
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, stirring again until combined. Pause to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In separate bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- With mixer on low speed, gradually stir flour mixture into your butter mixture until completely combined (the dough becomes fairly thick, and you will need to scrape the sides/bottom of the bowl several times to ensure it is well combined).
- In a separate small bowl, stir together cinnamon and sugar for rolling.
- Roll dough into 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized balls and roll in your cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Place on prepared cookie sheets and bake on 350F (175C) for 11-12 minutes, the centers may appear slightly under-done still and that is OK! Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet where they will finish baking without drying out or becoming hard or crumbly.
Notes
¹Recipe Update Note:
When I originally published this recipe I recommended baking the cookies at 375F (190C) for 10 minutes. That will still work (and work well!), but I've found that baking them at 350F (175C) for 11-12 minutes yields even softer, chewier cookies and now recommend that.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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This Snickerdoodle recipe was originally published 04/18/2016.
Melissa
These are the best snickerdoodle cookies I’ve ever had! Thank you for another great recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s so nice to hear, Melissa! We’re so happy you like them ❤️ Thanks for coming back to leave a review–enjoy!
Cindy C.
I’ve made these in the past and they were delicious! I would like to make the batter a day ahead and refrigerate over night before baking, Would that work or mess with the chemistry?
Thanks Sam!
Sam
Hi Cindy! I’m sorry for the delayed response! You could certainly make them a day ahead of time. 🙂
Nicole
I’m not criticizing your recipe, Ssm, I think you’re brilliant! However, just a note, I always add ground nutmeg instead of cinnamon to the dough and then of course roll these in cinnamon/sugar…makes them taste like eggnog!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds delicious, Nicole! We’ll have to try it sometime 😊
Nyaziah
I’m planning my my Christmas Eve cookie boxes and I wanted to know how I can get a flatter snickerdoodle. Is that possible?
Sam
Hi Nyaziah! These aren’t a very thick cookie, if yours come out thicker make you are measuring your flour properly. Enjoy! 🙂
Christina B
I’m working on my Christmas cookie exchange & these were easy & most delicious! They came out perfectly! Thank you Sam!
Jessica McGee
If I wanted to make these cookies ahead of time and freeze them would they still come out okay? and should I roll them in the cinnamon sugar before freezing?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jessica! That should work just fine. We would roll them dough into balls and wrap individually then store in an air tight container. You can roll them in the cinnamon before or after freezing. 🙂
Bruce
Absolutely the best Snickerdoodles ever. That 1/2 tsp of cinnamon in the dough increases the richness of the flavor. The texture is amazing (which is a hallmark of your recipes). I weighed the flour and sugar, so the texture would be sure to come out right. These will be a big hit at my accordion band’s rehearsal tomorrow- our first in a year and a half.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! I hope everyone else will too, but something tells me they will. 😉
Rebecca
I have baked many if your cookie recipes with great success. I use gluten free one to one flour from Outrageous Baking made in Longmont, Colorado. I have tried every GF flour on the market and this one is the best for easy substitution. I can’t believe it took me 65 years to learn about cornstarch in cookies. Best advice ever! Thank you for your recipes🤗
Sam
Thank you for the feedback, Rebecca! I’m glad you have enjoyed everything. 🙂
Lynn Larson Deer
Do you think I could add chopped pecans to the recipe?
Sam
Hi Lynn! That should work just fine. Personally I would coarsely chop them and add about 1.5 cups. 🙂
Lynn
Will be making these again!! The texture is PERFECT and what differentiates a great cookie from a good cookie. I used salted butter and just added less salt than what the recipe calls for but I think more salt would have been fine too. 4 sheet pans worth of cookies with this recipe with them well spaced out. A winner!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lynn! 🙂
Marques
I melted the butter like I melted it for the pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe. Why didn’t the melted butter work for this recipe too? The dough is very, very stiff and looks like biscuit dough. Seems like it still set up in the oven though. I see cracks.
Sam
Hi Marques! For best results you really need to cream the butter and sugar together. If your dough is too stiff you may have accidentally over measured the flour. I hope they still turn out for you. 🙂
Pam
I just made these and they are very good. I am wondering how come some have cracks on top and some don’t?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Pam! We’re so glad you loved them! We’re sorry to hear that some of the cookies were missing their signature cracks…that’s frustrating. Cracking occurs from several chemical reactions during the baking process. If some aren’t cracking, it could be because those dough balls were less round than others, the dough became too warm, the oven wasn’t heating evenly where they were located on the sheet, or their cinnamon sugar coating was applied more sparingly. Hopefully they still tasted just as good! 🙂
Da'Maris Tinajera
These cookies are exactly what you need right now…. at any time actually! I had never baked with cream of tartar before so I was a little intimidated with the recipe. BUT… I tried it anyway… PEOPLE… these cookies are delicious! A little crunch on the outside and chewy on the inside. Trust me. Just. Go. For. It.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! The cream of tartar is essential for the classic snickerdoodle taste. I’m glad you took the plunge! These are totally worth it. 🙂