Snickerdoodle Cookies (2024)

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Super soft and full of cinnamon, these are our FAVORITE Snickerdoodle Cookies that we’ve made and enjoyed for decades.

MEREDITH: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “These are delicious! Definitely the best snickerdoodles I have ever made! The recipe was easy to follow and they turned out perfect. I will be using this recipe for years to come!”

How to Make Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodle Cookies are a classic cookie recipe we have made our whole lives, and our family is obsessed with them!

We first published this recipe over a decade ago and although we haven’t changed the recipe, we have shared more tips and tricks to make sure it’s NO-FAIL and always turns out EVERY TIME.

• PREP TIME: 10 MINS
• COOK TIME: 10 MINS

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour
• Cream of Tartar – Why have 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.
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Unsalted Butter – just softened! This is the key. Too soft, and the cookies will be flat, too cold and the cookies will be too puffy.
• Sugar
• Eggs – incorporate better than chilled eggs. To warm them up faster, place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
• Vanilla Extract
• Cinnamon Sugar Coating – Sugar + Cinnamon.

Step by Step: In Photos

STEP 1. DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

STEP 2. WET INGREDIENTS. Cream together the butter (barely softened) and sugar. Add the eggs until it is well blended.

STEP 3. SHAPE. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix well, and then shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll the dough balls into your cinnamon and sugar mixture.

STEP 4. BAKE. Place on an un-greased pan, bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

to chill or not to chill?

Many Snickerdoodle recipes call for CHILLING the dough. Ours DOES NOT, but you can if you’d like. This image above shows you what each cookie looked like basked on chilling and flattening the snickerdoodle dough.

• 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.

Why is it called a Snickerdoodle? From Wikipedia: The Joy of Cooking claims thatSnickerdoodlesare probably German in origin, and the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln (“snail noodles”), a kind of pastry.

Recipe FAQ

Variations?

• CHOCOLATE. We love to dip half in white chocolate and add sprinkles for holidays like our White Chocolate Snickerdoodles and Christmas Snickerdoodles.
• CHIPS. Adding white chocolate chips or cinnamon chips is another great addition.

How to Store SNICKERDOODLES?

• Keep cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They should be soft and chewy for up to 3-4 days.

How to FREEZE?

• 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.
• 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.