Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Recipe
Soft, chewy, buttery cookies coated in cinnamon and sugar. This snickerdoodle cookie recipe is delicious, easy to make, and turns out perfect every time!
I’ve mentioned it before, but one of my main goals on the blog is to update and share some of my favorite classic recipes with you. Because while everyone loves over the top desserts every now and then, you just can’t beat a classic. Today’s snickerdoodle recipe is one that took me several attempts to get just right, but it’s by far the best snickerdoodle recipe I’ve ever tried!
What Exactly Is A Snickerdoodle?
Snickerdoodle cookies are similar to sugar cookies since they’re soft, chewy, and flavored with vanilla. The main difference is that a snickerdoodle uses cream of tartar which adds a little but of tanginess to the cookies and then they are coated in a cinnamon sugar mixture.
And yes, they’re just as delicious as they sound! In fact, I made a test batch of cookies and sent them with my husband to work and they were gone by the end of the day. Now that’s when you know a recipe is good!
Ingredients For This Recipe
For this recipe, you’ll need just a few simple ingredients. Here’s a simple breakdown of each ingredient and what it does in these cookies:
- All-Purpose Flour: When it comes to creating thicker snickerdoodle cookies you need a slightly higher amount of flour in your recipe, so you’ll be using three cups of flour.
- Cream Of Tartar: Adds that classic tanginess we all know and love when it comes to snickerdoodles. This is also one of the ingredients that reacts with the baking soda.
- Ground Cinnamon: There’s some cinnamon in the cookie dough for flavor and in the cinnamon sugar coating too.
- Baking Soda & Salt: The baking soda helps lift the cookies and the salt balances out the sweetness.
- Unsalted Butter: This is what gives your cookies that beautiful, buttery flavor. If using salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon.
- Sugar: Traditionally snickerdoodle cookies are made with just granulated sugar, but I prefer to use a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar adds moisture to the dough, keeps the cookies soft, and makes them chewy.
- Egg & Egg Yolk: I found that two eggs were too much, so there’s one egg and one egg yolk. You can save the leftover egg white and use it in these candied pecans or these strawberry turnovers.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor, pure vanilla extract is always best.
How To Make Snickerdoodle Cookies
To make this cookie dough, you’ll start by whisking together your flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. This will help ensure that everything is evenly dispersed when you mix it into the wet ingredients.
Next, you’ll cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Once the butter and sugars are well combined, mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. I suggest stopping at this point to scrape down the sides of your bowl and mix again to ensure that all of the wet ingredients are well combined.
Then, you’ll add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix them together until just combined. The mixture may seem a little crumbly when you first start mixing in the dry ingredients, this is normal, just keep mixing and I promise the cookie dough will come together.
Once you’ve mixed up the cookie dough, I suggest letting it chill for at least 1 hour. The dough chilling allows the butter to firm back up so the cookies bake up thicker and don’t spread as much. Dough chilling is almost always a must for thicker cookies, so don’t skip this step!
Once the dough is chilled, you’ll measure out the cookie dough and roll each ball of dough in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. One important thing, make sure to only measure out about one tablespoon or 1 and 1/4 inch balls of cookie dough.
I find that balls of cookie dough any larger than one tablespoon don’t tend to bake up nearly as thick. If you don’t have a one tablespoon cookie scoop, just measure the first few scoops of cookie dough with a measuring tablespoon, then you can eyeball the rest from there!
FAQ’s
Do I have to use cream of tartar?
The cream of tartar is one of the ingredients that reacts with the baking soda in these cookies. If you don’t have any on hand, you may replace the cream of tartar and baking soda in this recipe with 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Why are my cookies flat?
There are a couple of reasons that these cookies can turn out flat. First, if the butter is too warm the cookies will spread more in the oven. If you experience your cookies spreading too much, simply chill the rest of the cookie dough longer. The second reason could be because your baking soda isn’t fresh. I wrote a full post explaining the difference between baking soda and baking powder here which also explains how to test your baking soda to ensure that it’s fresh. I also recommend using a silicone baking mat if have one, the mat helps to grip the cookies better so they don’t spread as much in the oven.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, don’t scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- The cookie dough may seem a little crumbly once you add the dry ingredients, but this is normal! Keep mixing the dry ingredients and the mixture will come together just fine.
- Make sure to chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour so the butter is chilled when the cookies go into the oven. This will prevent the cookies from spreading too much and ensure a thicker cookie.
- Be sure to measure out the cookie dough, you only need one tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie. You can either use a one tablespoon cookie scoop or a measuring tablespoon. Each ball of cookie dough should measure about 1 and 1/4 inches wide.
More Cookie Recipes To Try!
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Classic No-Bake Cookies
Video Tutorial
Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Recipe
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (230 grams, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together for about 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Each ball of cookie dough should measure about 1 and 1/4 inches once you roll it into a ball.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon for the coating. Roll each ball of cookie dough into a ball, then coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place back on the baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each one.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Followed the recipe exactly- spooned and leveled flour, refrigerated dough, measured out cookie size, etc. and they still came out flat and a bit mushy in the middle. Had to extend the bake time on my second tray by 5 minutes and that seemed to help a bit, but they were still flat like pancakes :(. Any thoughts on what went wrong? The taste was great and these are hubby’s favorite cookie so I want them to be perfect!
So sorry to hear that, Kristen! Did you make sure to just measure out a tablespoon of dough? I find that anything larger than that tends to bake up a little flatter. Or do you think the dough was too warm when you put it in the oven? I’m glad you liked the taste of the cookies!
I had the same issue with the cookies coming out flat – I divided the dough so I would get exactly 48 cookies and had the balls chilled before baking – still flatter than a pancake 🙁
I’m honestly not sure what could be happening, I’ve never had any issues with these cookies spreading too much. Did you make any changes to the recipe? Do you think the cookie dough was too warm before you put it into the oven?
@Sue
Do you think maybe that even after you chilled your dough, your room temperature was a tad warmer than normal?
This has happened to me a few times and I think maybe adjusting your kitchen temperature or working a bit faster might help.
P.S. I love these cookies!! These just became my new birthday tradition!!
I think the butter melted during prep. Try taking it from frozen if you’re a very careful prep cook. Either that, or it could be that it was over mixed. Mix a little less when adding each ingredient, much like making brownies, cake, and biscuits.
okay I packed them really light into the tablespoon scooper for a few then I packed them super tight do they would slide right out as a tight scoop. This gave them MUCH for height. Could this have been your problem? Cheers!
My cookies came out SUPER flat too…. why?? I followed the recipe exact.
Sorry you had trouble with the recipe, Bethany. There are a few reasons that they could have flattened – the dough may have been too warm when the cookies went into the oven or your baking soda may not have been very fresh. Did you double-check the ingredients too?
I made these for my friends and they loved them! I got asked for the recipe multiple times and everyone thought I was a baking legend. 10/10 would recommend.
Our family loved these cookies. I can’t bake them fast enough for them. My problem is the cookies didn’t flatten enough. They turned out delicious, just more round than inexpected. I had the same problem earlier this month making PB blossoms. Might be my ingredients? We loved the flavor regardless. Thank you!!
So glad your family liked the cookies, Steve! If you find that the cookies aren’t flattening, you can skip the dough chilling or just slightly flatten them before you bake them and that should help.
This was my first try at Snickerdoodles, turned out great. It was so delicious and my family loved it. I used my smallest cookie scooper and only got 41 in total. Question though…some of the cookies have cracks on the edge…did I over cook it? When I did 7 mins it was too soft so I baked it for another 3 mins total of 10 mins. May I would try 8 mins. I have it on convection btw, not sure if that made a difference. Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you for sharing your recipe
So glad you liked the cookies, Mari! If the cookies cracked on the edges it’s likely that they were baked a little too long. I would try reducing your baking time 1-2 minutes and that should help.
Were they hard and flat? Snickerdoodles are naturally flatter cookies. I have never had one that wasn’t flat. I also did not refrigerate the dough and it came out perfect soft in the middle.
One thing you should keep in mind is that cookies will continue baking for a few minutes after you take them out of the oven as they are still hot and continue to absorb heat from the pan. It’s okay if they’re still soft when they first come out, they’ll firm up after a few minutes. The best way to tell if your cookies are done is to stick a toothpick in them. If the pick comes out clean then they’re ready to leave the oven, if dough is clinging to it then leave them in for a while longer.
Hi! Planning to make these for Xmas. Can I prepare and the dough and keep it refrigerated, for about 2 days, until I’m ready to bake them?
Yes, that would be fine. If it’s too hard to scoop you can leave it on the counter for 20-30 minutes and that should help. Or you can go ahead and scoop the cookie dough balls and cover them tightly until you’re ready to bake them.
I have never commented on a blog that I got a recipe before but these were sooooo fantastic! I had to say something. I made mine a bit bigger and subbed the tartar for baking powder but they still turned out AMAZING! Thank you for an awesome recipe. I’m bookmarking it!
So glad you liked the cookies, Nicole!
I made these a couple days before Christmas and my husband had most of them eaten before Christmas Eve. Will make this recipe again they are a big hit! I used green and red sugar instead of regular white sugar for a festive decoration.
Such a fun idea, Andrea! So glad you liked the cookies!
These are fantastic! I did have to extend my baking time by 3 min, but they are plump and soft as described…not flat at all. The flavor is perfect. I did keep them pretty small because I have a small scoop, but I doubled the size for the last dozen and they still cooked up really nicely. Thanks for the recipe!
My dough is gooey, too sticky to roll. I followed the recipe and chilled it longer than 30 minutes. Leveled my flour, I did add extra vanilla because I used imitation rather than pure vanilla. Gonna let it chill longer. But if that doesnt work how bad would adding more flour be?
I don’t find this cookie dough to be too sticky, but I don’t think the extra vanilla you used would cause that. If you chill the cookie dough longer that should help make it easier to work with. I would bake a test cookie and see how it looks before adding any flour to the dough. If the cookies turn out pretty flat then you may want to incorporate a little more flour, maybe 2-4 tablespoons.
These cookies are excellent! New favorite recipe, will absolutely be making them again.
I have made snicker doodles all my life! But I have never ever made one as good as these!!!!
I have Shared these with all my family and boy howdy was it at big hit!!!! Every one said they were The best they had ever had….
So happy to hear that, Sandra!
This was my first attempt at the Snickerdoodle and I cannot tell you how happy I am with this AND all of my peeps! I have a TON of compliments and have even been asked to share the recipe! I did of course so thank you thank you thank you!
So glad they turned out great for you, Gwendolyn!
If i just want to make half of the batch in the recipe, how many eggs should be used?
Because of the egg yolk, this recipe doesn’t halve very well. I would suggest making the full recipe and then freezing any leftover cookie dough. You can bake the balls of cookie dough from frozen for an additional 1-2 minutes.
I used one whole egg and on egg yolk and whisked together then put in a Pyrex measuring cup. It was a quarter cup. I poured some into a 1/8 measuring cup and used that. I hope this helps.
I see many people had problems with flat cookies myself included. My problem I discovered was old baking soda. hope that helps.
Thanks for sharing, Alan!
It helped me. I’m going to try these now. Thanks, Alan, for taking the time to make note about the old baking soda.
Still baking, so far my family loves them. However they are a little too plump lol. I was hoping they would spread out a bit. They are delicious!! My 2 year old gave it two thumbs up!
Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? If so, try slightly flattening them before you put them in the oven and that should help. I’m glad you liked the cookies though!
Could I add toffee to this recipe and how much would you recommend?
Do you mean toffee baking bits? If so, I would start with about 1 cup and then add more if needed.
Yes, toffee baking bits. Thank you for your advice! I can’t wait to try these. 🙂
My cookie dough was very crumbly so i added more butter then they hardly flattened out at all
Sorry to hear that, Shauna. Did you make sure to spoon & level the flour?
Best snickerdoodles I have ever made! I followed the recipe to a T, with the exception of adding a little sea salt on top prior to baking. Thank you for the tips on measuring flour, adding brown sugar and chilling the cookies. I have made MANY cookies for my husband, and hands down, he said these were the BEST cookies I had ever made for him, period. And it was for his birthday. Thank you so much!!!!
So happy to hear that, Ashley!
Oh, so good. My husband was eating them as I was putting them on the racks to cool!! Recipe is perfect. Followed it to a T.
Thank you, Joanne! Glad to hear that!
I haven’t made the recipe yet but I was wondering if you could include a calorie count per snickerdoodle as it would be useful for those out there who need to watch their weight!
I don’t typically add nutritional information since it can vary some based on which products you use. I would suggest plugging everything into an app or website like My Fitness Pal to get a more accurate estimate.
First time making snickerdoodles- turned out great. Thanks for the recipe ?
I recently made these and shared them at work. They were gone in nothing flat!!! Everyone complimented on them. Making them again today. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe!!
So glad everyone liked the cookies, Carol!
My daughter and I made these for my wife. We substituted 1:1 Gluten Free baking flour and they still turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Perferct cookies. Made them for my girlfriend as snickerdoodles are her favorite cookies. And these here are her absolute favorite. Question isnthere a way to add cocoa powder to the cookie mix without messing anything up? Or not even attempt thank you for the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe ever??
I haven’t tried it, but you may be able to replace some of the flour with cocoa powder (maybe 1/3-1/2 cup).
Great recipe but I accidentally left out the brown sugar and I think they were perfect without it. I’ve made many recipes looking for my perfect snickerdoodle and I’m so glad I found this one!
Wowzers these were AMAZING!! They turned out perfect! No issues with the dough. These are officially my sons new favorite cookie and trust me, he is not easy to please. My new go to snickerdoodle recipe!
Just tried this recipe and made Snickerdoodles for the very first time. Followed your recipe to the letter and they turned out perfect! I am very pleased. They look beautiful, have the right amount of softness and chew. They taste even more delicious than I expected. I am taking them to as part of a hostess gift to a friend’s house tomorrow. I think they will enjoy them. I let my husband try a few and he loves them. Thanks!
So happy to hear that, Arell!
Rather than say use a tablespoon of dough or make the cookies 1 1/4″ , do you have a weight measurement in grams for each cookie?
Thank you! Pam
Hi, Pam! I don’t have a weight measurement for the cookies. Sorry!
I’m answering my own question 🙂 For anyone interested, the weight of each cookie in grams was 21 grams. Also, I chilled the cookie sheet and the dough between each round of baking, and put 12 cookies on a sheet, baking for the full ten minutes. When the dough was well chilled, the cookies were plumper and more like the illustration above. The taste is so good! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Thank you for sharing, Pam! Glad they turned out great for you too!
The first time i did it they turned out flat, they still tasted good. The second time i made sure the butter wasn’t melted like the first trial. They turned out perfect. My younger siblings were the only ones who didn’t enjoy them. Everyone else, including younger children, loved them and asked what i did to make them puffy and not flat like pancakes. Thank You for the recipe!
These are some of the best tasting cookies I have ever made they are super cake-y and light. The only problem I have had is they get eaten too fast! Thanks so much for the great recipe! : ) -Fiona age ten
So glad you liked the cookies, Fiona!