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
The best soft, chewy, and thick Snickerdoodle Recipe, with tender centers and perfectly crisp edges!
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (Optional, but recommended!)
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter melted & cooled to room temp.
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2-3/4 cup white all-purpose flour (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 white sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- MELT BUTTER: In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then let it cool to room temperature. Ensure it's not hot to avoid greasy cookies.
- MIX DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, salt, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- ADD WET INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl, mix melted and cooled butter with white and brown sugar until well emulsified. Add whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- COMBINE: Mix the dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined, ensuring there are no streaks of flour. Avoid over-mixing. Cover dough tightly and refrigerate it for 1 hour.
- PREHEAT OVEN: Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Stir together white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- ROLL DOUGH BALLS: Portion dough into 45-gram balls (2 packed tablespoons) and shape them into tall balls. Roll dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Return shaped dough balls to the fridge for 15-20 minutes, or until they firm up.
- BAKE: Place dough balls on a parchment/Silpat-lined sheet with ample spacing (about 6 at a time); bake for 9-12 mins. Avoid over-baking; slight under-baking is ideal! After baking, if any cookies have uneven edges, gently press them inward with a metal spatula. Remove tray from the oven and let cookies rest on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack
- STORAGE: Keep cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. (Note 2).
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.
Note 2: Shape dough into balls, roll in cinnamon sugar, and freeze on a sheet pan. Transfer frozen dough balls to an airtight container or bag. Baking from Frozen: No need to thaw; bake frozen dough, adding extra minutes as needed. Bake until edges set and center is soft.
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: 31mg | 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 am trying to do this for the first time and it was fine at the beginning of the rolling in to balls and then the dough became too sticky that I just had an attempted ball of dough stuck to my hands. Can you please help me figure out what I did wrong?
It’s likely the dough is just sitting out too long (in perhaps a warmer environment) and the heat from your hands are melting the butter! I’d suggest rolling the dough in batches and keeping the rest of the dough in the fridge. You’ll also probably want to return your dough balls to the fridge (before baking) depending upon your home’s temperature.
can I use brown butter?
Yes, this recipe works with brown butter! They’ll likely need an extra 20 minutes or so for the chilling time though!
We love this recipe! My kids ask me to make these snickerdoodles all the time. I recently found out I can’t eat lactose anymore so I tried the recipe tonight with coconut oil instead of butter. It solidified a little more, so probably doesn’t need as much refrigerating as the original recipe. I had to cook them longer and they didn’t spread out as much. But they taste basically the same! What a great surprise! I’m so glad I can eat these snickerdoodles again because I love them as much as my kids do. Thanks for the great recipe and the cooking tips!
Oh yay!! I’m thrilled to hear these worked out for you without dairy 🙂 So glad they were a hit! Thanks for the comment!
Tried baking for the first time ever and decided to make these for a school project. I have to say I’m very impressed with this recipe. So simple and easy, nothing was too difficult, yet so tasty and delicious! Definitely gonna make this again!
Love hearing that!! 🙂 So happy these were a hit and worked for the school project! Thanks Lisa!
I almost never comment on website, but I had to. These are the BEST snickerdoodles I have ever made. I followed your ingredient and chilling directions exactly and baked for about 12 minutes. They are soft, moist, and chewy in the middle. Me and my husband just devoured too many to count. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Yay!! I’m so thrilled to hear you loved these Jen 🙂 Thank you for your kind comment!
I am so not a fan of snickerdoodles but my husband loves them. They are fabulous!
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment Linda 🙂
The dough was way too sticky to roll into a ball. The cookies came out like biscuits and the flavor was alright
Sorry you didn’t love this recipe! If you’re looking for trouble shooting: Did you chill the dough? They shouldn’t be too sticky after being chilled. Also for the cookies to end up like biscuits, the flour may have been over measured or the cookies over-baked.
Followed this to the mark – have a Wolf oven – 9-11 minutes at 1.7 ounces are underbaked – had to waste a dozen. The recipe also only makes about 16 at that weight (my digital scale is new). Trusting my instincts on what’s left not to undertake these – flavor is excellent.
Hey Tyler; do you have your oven calibrated? Definitely feel free to bake longer as desired; we love them slightly underbaked best!
Same experience! They were huge. I’m trying them halved in size. Flavor is excellent, though.
The recipe sounds great. I read through the comments hoping to find someone saying something about baking these at high altitude. I just make some chocolate chip cookies and had to add 1 extra cup of flour. Baking cookies at 5200 ft is sometimes challenging. Do you have any words of wisdom? Or, do I just add more flour until I get a certain consistency with the dough?
So sorry to not be of more help Rosann, but I don’t have a whole lot of experience with high altitude baking. Hopefully someone else can chime in here! As far as dough consistency, it’s a tacky, slightly wet dough before being chilled.
Hi! So excited to try this recipe! Is it ok to chill them 4 hours instead of 1? I have to run out and come back.
That’s totally fine! 🙂