The best soft, chewy, and thick Snickerdoodle Recipe, with tender centers and perfectly crisp edges!
Why We Love This Snickerdoodle Recipe
- Foolproof: Easy to follow steps ensure success every time.
- Perfectly Spiced: Just the right amount of cinnamon for the best flavor.
- Melt-in-Your-Mouth: Soft interior with crisp edges.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Loved by all, making them perfect for gatherings and events.
- Tangy Twist: Subtle tanginess from cream of tartar.
Snickerdoodle Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: Opt for unsalted for better salt control.
- Sugar: We’re combining white and brown for the perfect sweetness.
- Eggs: Use 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk for richer flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances overall flavor.
- Flour: Measure accurately for the right consistency.
- Cream of Tartar: Provides tanginess and stabilizes the dough.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise.
- Cinnamon: Adds extra flavor in both dough and topping.
Quick Tip
Our favorite way to bake? Simply use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients in grams. It eliminates guesswork that can come with less precise measuring using cups.
How To Make This Snickerdoodle Recipe
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk melted butter with sugars until smooth. Add remaining wet ingredients.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients.
- Chill dough.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Roll dough into large balls and coat with a mixture of white sugar and cinnamon.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes,.
- Cool cookies on a rack after resting on sheet for 5 minutes.
Tips For Success
- Correctly measure flour: Measure flour accurately to avoid dry or crumbly cookies.
- Room temperature eggs: Use room temperature eggs for a lighter texture and even dispersion.
- Kitchen Tools: Use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper for this Snickerdoodle Recipe.
- Press edges inwards: After baking, gently press any uneven edges inward with a metal spatula.
- Roll tall cookie dough balls:Roll taller, skinnier dough balls for cookies with crisp edges and a chewy center.
- Keep the dough cold: Maintain cold dough for better texture.
Storage
Storage
- Store Snickerdoodle cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Freeze dough balls, place them on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer to a sealed container or freezer bag. Bake straight from the freezer as needed, adding extra a few extra minutes to the baking process.
Variations
Love this Snickerdoodle Recipe? Try our Pumpkin Snickerdoodles or Caramel Snickerdoodles!
More Delicious Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
Snickerdoodle Recipe
This is the ultimate Snickerdoodle recipe! Soft, thick, and chewy with perfectly tender centers and crisp, cinnamon-sugar-coated edges.
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale optional, but recommended!
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper or silicon baking mat
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3/4 cup flour see note 1
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then let cool to room temperature. Ensure it’s not hot to avoid greasy cookies.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, salt, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, mix melted and cooled butter with granulated and brown sugar until well emulsified. Add whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined, ensuring there are no streaks of flour. Avoid overmixing. Cover dough tightly and refrigerate 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir together cinnamon sugar coating ingredients in a small bowl.
- Portion dough into 45-gram balls (2 packed tablespoons) and shape them into tall balls. Roll dough balls generously in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Return shaped dough balls to the fridge for 15–20 minutes or until they firm up.
- Place dough balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silicon baking mat with ample spacing (about 6 at a time); bake 9–12 minutes. Avoid overbaking; slight under-baking is ideal! After baking, if any cookies have uneven edges, gently press them inward with a metal spatula. Remove tray from oven and let cookies rest on the sheet 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Proper flour measurement is crucial. Excess flour can lead to dry cookies, while too little can cause spreading. Consider using a kitchen food scale and switch to “metric” for accuracy. Aim for 395 grams of flour for this recipe.
Storage: Keep cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 2–3 days, or freeze cookie dough up to 3 months: Shape dough into balls, roll in cinnamon sugar, and freeze on a sheet pan. Transfer frozen dough balls to an airtight container or bag. When baking from frozen, no need to thaw; bake frozen dough, adding extra minutes as needed.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 157kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 86mg | Potassium: 53mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 230IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I want to make these but I don’t have unsalted butter. Can I use salted butter and then omit the salt?
That should be fine 🙂 Depending on how salty (or not salty) the butter is, you might want to still add an extra pinch to the cookies!
I just made them w/o checking my pantry first. Ended up using 1 stick unsalted butter and 1 stick salted – just reduced the added salt in the dry ingredients a bit. I didn’t have light brown sugar, so I used dark brown. I didn’t have enough flour, so 3/4 cup of the 2 3/4 cups was gluten free flour. I wanted smaller cookies, so used .8 oz dough balls and baked for 7 minutes. They came out great!
Yay!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! And way to work with what you got! That’s awesome! Thanks Alyssia 🙂
I made these as one of the desserts at my parents’ 65th anniversary celebration dinner. My brother’s eyes rolled as he savored the cookie, and then he declared it the best snickerdoodle cookie he’s ever had in his entire life! Thank you for the wonderful contribution to our celebration.
YAYYYYY!!! This makes me sooo happy to hear!! Thanks Vanessa! And congrats to your parents, that’s soooo awesome! 🙂
Just started making them but don’t have cream of tartar! Can I still make them? Use substitutes??
I haven’t ever tried a substitute for cream of tartar in these cookies, but maybe this article could help! https://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/substitute-for-cream-of-tartar
I had to use lemon juice tonight in place of the cream of tartar (1:1 ratio). The cookies turned out great and I don’t even taste a hint of lemon! (Side note though the only time I tried this I also used coconut oil in place of butter to avoid lactose. I’m not sure if that changes things anything but I did also read online that you can substitute lemon juice for cream of tartar if necessary for any recipe.)
Would it be best to use an ‘airflow’ type of pan or regular sheet pan to bake on?
I use a regular sheet pan!
Amazing cookies!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!! 🙂
Can i half the recipe
Absolutely!!
I baked these for 20 minutes and they still were just dough in the middle. What did I do wrong?
I’m not sure; was your oven properly heated? (Is it calibrated so you know it was the right temperature?)
I made an account just so I could rate these cookies. I’ve been baking since I was about 8yrs old. These hands down are the best cookies I’ve made! And I can make some pretty darn good cookies! I followed all of her tips (from rolling them oblong to fridging them), and the cookies turned out so chewy! Yet not raw tasting. This will be a recipe that will likely get passed down in the family. Thank you!!!!
This is the sweetest comment ever! Thanks Autumn. I’m so glad you liked them. 🙂
I just made these and they turned out absolutely fantastic! My husband loves snickerdoodles and I wanted to surprise him with some really good homemade cookies. I don’t bake often, so I’m a bit of a novice. I accidentally melted the butter to probably about 95% but they still turned out absolutely perfect. The edges are crisp/chewy and the inside is soft and delectable. Mine were perfectly baked at about 10 and a half minutes. Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ll definitely be using it in the future. 🙂
Ahh i’m so glad to hear you guys enjoyed!! Thanks Alissah! 🙂