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This is the Best Snickerdoodle Recipe! They are soft and chewy with that characteristic tangy flavor. These easy cookies come together in under 30 minutes and don’t need to be chilled before baking! The cinnamon sugar is just a touch crunchy and adds a little extra sweetness.

The best Snickerdoodle Cookie tall stack.

My original snickerdoodle recipe was delightful and was based on a vintage cookbook recipe but they weren’t thick or chewy enough by my standards. In my professional pastry chef life I test and tweak every single recipe until I deem it perfect. This is how I bring you the best snickerdoodle recipe! They are thick, soft and still chewy. There is the perfect ratio of cinnamon sugar on the outside with just a little crunch.

I used the same regimented magic on these chewy sugar cookies (with the perfect amount of spread and chew), peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and double chocolate cookies. I even went through a phase where I was obsessed with perfecting classic yellow cake, white cake and a one bowl chocolate cake.

Why This is the Best Snickerdoodle Recipe

  • Developed by a professional chef. These cookies were developed in a commercial kitchen for my bakery business. They were tested, tweaked and retested until they were perfect!
  • Thick, chewy cookies that you don’t have to chill! These easy cookies can be made start to finish in under 30 minutes!
  • 3 secrets to the best texture. The addition of milk after creaming the butter and sugar adds just enough extra moisture to the dough to create extra soft, pillowy cookies. The high ratio of the flour and sugar to butter also contribute to the thickness, and lastly the cream of tartar and the baking soda react more intensely than baking powder, giving you that tall, puffed cookie!
snickerdoodles broken open and stacked.
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies melty chocolate
The Ultimate Pastry Chef's Guide to Perfect Cookies
Get all professional tips you need whether you want to bake thick, thin, chewy or crunchy cookies!

Professional Tips for Making Snickerdoodles

  • Do not store the cookie dough for longer than 1 month frozen. Baking soda reacts once (instantly) in the presence of an acid (cream of tartar) and produces carbon dioxide. Once this reaction is over and the resulting gas has dissipated, the dough will not rise at all in the oven. Trust me, I learned that the hard way on a large scale.  
  • Chilling the dough does make a better cookie. Baking right after mixing will make an amazing cookie BUT chilling the dough before baking will make an exceptional cookie! They will be thicker and more chewy than cakey.

Ingredients Needed

best snickerdoodle cookie ingredients on marble.
  • Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar is obviously here for sweetness, but if you add too much in proportion to the butter and flour, the cookies will spread rather than stay tall and chewy.
  • Butter: I use unsalted butter for baking, because you want to control the amount of salt you are adding. Every brand is different and it makes adjusting the recipe a challenge.
  • Whole Egg: The eggs are here to add fat, moisture and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and helps keep the cookies chewy. Beating in the eggs just enough will add a little or a lot of leavening depending on the desired texture. Eggs also emulsify the batter and keep everything texturally perfect.
  • Milk: Just the right amount of whole milk pulls the dough together but not so much to make them tough. The addition of a liquid means we have to be extra careful not to over mix the dough and activate the gluten in the flour.
  • Vanilla Extract: Vanilla Extract adds a beautiful flavor itself but it also boosts the flavor of other ingredients around it.
  • All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make the best snickerdoodle cookie that is soft, chewy and thick.
  • Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is a bi-product of wine making and is very acidic. It adds that characteristic tanginess to the dough and also reacts with the baking soda for the dramatic pillowy texture!
  • Baking Soda: Baking soda reacts with an acid, cream of tartar in this instance, to leaven the cookies. It reacts more powerfully than baking powder and will create a more dramatic rise, but will not continue to react in the heat of the oven or without the presence of an acid.
  • Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is lass salty than table salt and a teaspoon weighs less than other finer ground varieties. It heightens the flavor here and will keep your cookies from tasting dull or flat.
  • Cinnamon Sugar: Cinnamon sugar is essential for snickerdoodles. The dough is rolled in the sugar mixture just prior to baking.

Variations

  • Mix up the Mix: use a different spice mix like my pumpkin pie spice mix, apple pie spice or speculoos spice mix with the exterior sugar coating  for a different twist! You could also brown the butter like I did in these brown butter cardamom snickerdoodles. Phenomenal.
  • Triple Cinnamon: Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough and toss in some cinnamon chips for a cinnamon party!
  • Stuffed Snickerdoodles: Wrap the dough around a dollop of cream cheese (frozen) or a caramel candy for an easy stuffed cookie!
  • Snickerdoodle Bars: Press the dough into a baking dish then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar like Averie does here. Or just dispense with the cookie all together and make snickerdoodle cake!

True snickerdoodles must have cream of tartar in the dough and a beautiful coating of cinnamon sugar on the outside. It is also my personal opinion that there is no cinnamon in the dough itself, but that is a much debated opinion. Snickerdoodles are thick and have a slight chew to them. This will be contentious but I’m going to put it out there: snickerdoodles without cream of tartar are just sugar cookies.

How would it change the taste to omit the cream of tartar?

Omitting the cream of tartar in snickerdoodles will eliminate that classic tangy flavor and it will also change the texture. Cream of tartar is very acidic and it reacts powerfully with the baking soda to create the soft, subtly chewy texture. Omitting it will produce more flat cookies with a denser texture.

Snickerdoodle Cookies on marble.

Use these instructions to make the perfect snickerdoodles every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325°F convection or 350°F conventional (no fan). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Step 2: In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; set aside.

Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Step 4: Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and under the bottom to ensure an even creaming. The image below still needs to be mixed a bit before continuing to the next step. You want it to be emulsified.

creaming butter and sugar.
adding eggs to mixing bowl.

Step 5: Add the milk and vanilla and beat to combine.

It’s a little unconventional but be sure to follow the order of mixing. Add the milk with the vanilla extract before the dry ingredient mixture. This will ensure pillowy, soft cookies rather than tough cookies.

Step 6: Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients in several additions. Add the next portion when the last addition is almost incorporated. After adding all the flour, mix just until just incorporated.  

Step 7: Scoop with a medium cookie scoop or roll about 2 tablespoons sized pieces of dough into balls.

This step is optional but for the best cookies I recommend chilling the dough completely before baking. This will only take about 30 minutes or wrap and chill overnight.

Step 8: In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon and sugar. Roll the chilled dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.

snickerdoodle dough fully mixed.
snickerdoodle cookie dough ball rolled in cinnamon sugar.
snickerdoodles ready to bake on brown parchment.

Step 9: Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes or until puffed and set around the edges. The centers will look matte and no longer shiny.

Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip

For the perfect texture I use soft, pliable but still cool butter. It shouldn’t be room temperature and it should still feel cool to the touch. Warmer butter will still work but the cookies will be cakier.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you store snickerdoodles?

Store baked cookies up to 5 days at room temperature or freeze cookie dough in balls. Store in plastic bags in the freezer for up to 1 month. The longer the dough sits, the flatter the cookies will be.

Can you bake them from frozen?

Roll and freeze cookie dough balls in a gallon storage container or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Store cinnamon sugar in an airtight container at room temperature. Roll frozen cookie dough in cinnamon sugar and bake according to the recipe instructions. They will take an additional 5 minutes to bake.

Will these cookies ship Nicely?

Snickerdoodles are great shipping cookies! They stay soft and won’t shatter like lace cookies. Package with thick chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and chewy peanut butter cookies for the perfect gift!

If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!

snickerdoodles broken open and stacked.
4.50 from 4 ratings
This is the Best Snickerdoodle Recipe! They are soft and chewy with that characteristic tangy flavor. These easy cookies come together in under 30 minutes and don’t need to be chilled before baking! The cinnamon sugar is just a touch crunchy and adds a little extra sweetness.
Prep: 18 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 28 minutes
Servings: 36 Cookies

Ingredients 
 

For the Cookies:

For the Cinnamon Sugar:

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 325°F convection or 350°F conventional (no fan). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and under the bottom to ensure an even creaming.
  • Add the milk and vanilla and beat to combine.
  • Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients in several additions. Add the next portion when the last addition is almost incorporated. After adding all the flour, mix just until just incorporated.
  • Scoop with a medium cookie scoop or roll about 2T sized bits of dough into balls.
  • This step is optional but for the best cookies I recommend chilling the dough completely before baking. This will only take about 30 minutes or wrap and chill overnight.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon and sugar. Roll the chilled dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
  • Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes or until puffed and set around the edges. The centers will look matte and no longer shiny.

Video

Notes

Yield – 36 cookies
Technique – It’s a little unconventional but be sure to follow the order of mixing. Add the milk with the vanilla extract before the dry ingredient mixture. This will ensure pillowy, soft cookies rather than tough cookies.
Storage – Store baked cookies up to 3 days at room temperature or freeze cookie dough in balls. Store frozen for up to 1 month. The longer the dough sits, the flatter the cookies will be.

Nutrition

Calories: 137kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 68mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 0.004mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 137
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Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed cookie recipes!

Hi, I’m Chef Lindsey!

I am the baker, recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Chef Lindsey Farr. I believe in delicious homemade food and the power of dessert!

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