Snickerdoodles Recipe (2024)

By Samantha Seneviratne

Updated Feb. 29, 2024

Snickerdoodles Recipe (1)

Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
5(3,632)
Notes
Read community notes

These classic, tender cookies taste of sweet butter, cinnamon — and not much else. Since ground cinnamon plays such an important role, be sure to check that it's still fresh and spicy before making these treats. The cookies' secret ingredient, cream of tartar, is an acidic salt and a byproduct of wine making. Often used to help stabilize egg whites for meringues or as the acidic component of baking powder, it helps these cookies stay soft and chewy.

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Ingredients

Yield:About 1½ dozen cookies

  • cups/180 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ½teaspoon baking soda
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • 10tablespoons/140 grams unsalted butter (1¼ sticks), at room temperature
  • ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
  • 1large egg
  • ½teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1tablespoon ground cinnamon

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (18 servings)

136 calories; 7 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 73 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Snickerdoodles Recipe (2)

Preparation

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  1. Step

    1

    Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and ¾ cup sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. Beat in the egg until creamy, and then add the vanilla, again scraping down the sides. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until just combined.

  3. Step

    3

    In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll the dough into golf-ball-size balls, then roll each one in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

  4. Step

    4

    Transfer the dough to parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets, at least 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies until just set and dry in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Transfer each sheet to a rack to cool for a few minutes, then transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely.

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3,632

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Allura

These cookies are delish! I swapped out a 1/4 cup of white sugar for 1/4 cup of brown sugar to increase the chewiness of the cookies! I took them out of the oven a little early to keep them soft and buttery! So simple and so delicious!

Bubikon

This is a nice simple recipe. I recommend putting the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes to make the rolling into balls easier. Also, at "golf ball size" you will be lucky to get 12 cookies. I recommend slightly smaller, maybe a heaping tablespoon size if you want to get 1 1/2 dozen.

Harry B.

You can substitute 2 teaspoons baking power for the soda and the cream of tartar.

Elizabeth

Fascinating how different people have different takes on the techniques. I tried several variations here, and nothing came out as well as the straight recipe as written. My biggest enemy was any crumbliness in the dough, so I suggest making sure your butter is fully room temperature and that you use the full 2 minutes to create a whipped quality with the butter and sugar before anything else. Once you do that, you are home free. Simple ingredients, easy to bake, and a big hit with the family.

Brooke

Excellent recipe. I made smaller cookies, utilizing a small Oxo cookie scoop, which yielded over two dozen bite-sized cookies and baked for a total of 8 minutes. I'll definitely make them again.

Rebecca

I've made a lot of snickerdoodle recipes and these are the best. I used the suggestions of freezing for 10 minutes for perfectly puffy cookies, and for using a mix of white and brown sugars. Cinnamony bliss!

EvaW

After the first batch, I tried adding some nutmeg into the sugar-cinnamon mixture for the next batch. It brought out the cinnamon flavor more.

Tessa

That's a lot of butter for that amount of flour, so these cookies will flatten when baking. Tweak if you like your cookies less flat. Also, snickerdoodles are a great project if you have bored kids around: they have fun rolling dough into balls and then rolling it in cinnamon sugar and they get to eat the results.

Leslie

Since these cookies are not very pretty, after I rolled them in cinnamon and sugar, I made a shallow slices --- in the shape of a star/ asterisk ---on the top of each one. The baked cookies looked like pretty sand dollars. Just like when I was a kid!

Starr

A snickerdoodle should be soft and chewy and must be made with half sold shortening /half butter. A common error is overbaking them. They need to come off the pan and onto newspaper to cool, while they still appear slightly underbaked in the center. What!? Crisco!? Newspaper instead of racks? Yes , as Betty Crocker's original 1950's recipe directs, locate an older BC cookbook, the recipe for 'real', addictive snickerdoodles is there. Anything else may be tasty, but not a snickerdoodle!

norma

Gooooooood coooookies! I put the sugar/cinnamon mix in a small zip-lock bag. Toss a dough ball in the bag to get a really even coating and preserve its nice round shape.

Carol

I like my snickerdoodles crispy, so I leave out the secret ingredient!

Me

I made this recipe today and the cookies were delicious. But, strangely, only two cookies in the whole batch flattened completely like the picture. The rest stayed round and puffy. Anybody know why?

Su

Substantially more butter than usual for this amount of flour, so cookies will be flat and a bit greasy (not my preference) IF you measure your flour correctly. For those with round cookies, you may be adding more flour than the recipe specifies by scooping with the measuring cup. Try weighing it, or fill the cup gently with a spoon (don't pack!). The cream of tartar isn't just for texture; it dramatically alters flavor and is part of what makes these snickerdoodles instead of sugar cookies.

Jeanette

I didn't have cream of tartar, so used lemon juice instead (2:1 ratio of lemon juice to cream of tartar). They turned out perfectly!

65th Street

Excellent. These are the lightest snickerdoodles I've ever eaten. I put the dough in the fridge overnight since I didn't have time to bake them. I did add about 15 gratings of nutmeg to the cinnamon sugar mixture. Then as another baker did, I made smaller cookies (about 15 grams/each), which took about 8 minutes to bake, a bit longer when the dough was still cold.

NJ baker

Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, 1956, 2nd ed.: "1 cup soft shortening (part butter)," 1 1/2 c sugar, 2 eggs, 2 3/4 c sifted flour, 2 tsp cream of tartar, 1 tsp soda, 1/4 tsp salt. "Roll into balls the size of small walnuts." Roll balls in 2 T sugar + 2 t cinnamon. Bake 8-10 min. at 400F. Makes 5 doz. 2-inch cookies. Newspapers not mentioned.

NJ baker

Video shows two equal pieces of butter being dropped into the bowl. Beware--do not follow blindly and use two sticks! According to the recipe, each piece would represent 5 T, not 8 T.

Livi

This was so good…and simple!!

CBFVA

Easy, quick and delicious, with just the right amount of chewiness. So good!

k

I just made these cookies for the second time and can’t say enough about how delicious they are. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. The second time I made a change. I took out 3 TBSP of flour and added 3 TBSP of BLACK COCOA. If you never had it find it and make a switch. It’s a great surprise to your taste buds.

KathyinStL

My grandma made these during the Depression and through rationing in WWII. She used Crisco instead of butter and they are great! If you want to use colored sugar/sprinkles for rolling, add the cinnamon to the batter.

SOPHIAGIRL

Never had a Snickerdoodle, made exactly, they are OK.

cheeseluvr3

Actually do 12 mins at 300!

tips

Baked 11 minns at 180 degrees

Sheila Pulver

My 8-year-old granddaughter and I made a double batch of these buttery, spicy cookies. It was an easy recipe for a child and fun for her to roll the balls of dough and coat them in cinnamon sugar. They stayed puffy and tender and were delicious, though I'd probably reduce butter a tad and add a bit of nutmeg and cardamom next time.

Melissa

These are delicious, and they turned out like the picture. Just a personal preference, but I prefer the eggnog snickerdoodles (also on NYT Cooking) which have a puffier texture with a rum and nutmeg flavor. My brother who loves snickerdoodles prefers these.

Anne N

I live at 7,000 feet so to adapt this recipe for altitude:Cut cream of tartar to 3/4 tspCut baking soda to a scant 1/2 tspAdd 1 T waterAdd 4 T flour

babs

I love this recipe! Thank you. I preferred using chilled batter and a small cookie scoop

Lisa S.

I followed the directions carefully, only making the cookies a bit smaller so I got 24-26 cookies. They turned out flat but tasty. I'm wondering if making them larger would have made them fluffier or if I refrigerated them, as some suggested, would have improved them?

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Snickerdoodles Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why didn't my snickerdoodles flatten out? ›

If your oven is too hot or too cold, it may influence whether or not your cookies spread properly. If you didn't preheat your oven to the correct temperature before placing your tray of cookies in the oven, it will be too cold and your cookies won't have enough time to spread.

How do you keep snickerdoodles from spreading? ›

“When chilled cookies bake, the butter stays in a solid form longer, slowing the spread,” says Dawn. “30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator does wonders, and you can bake the cookies right from the fridge.” Not only will chilling help the fats firm up and the flour hydrate, but it also helps the flavors develop.

Why didn't my snickerdoodles crack? ›

Cracking occurs from several chemical reactions during the baking process. If some of your cookies aren't cracking, it could be because those dough balls were less round than others, the dough became too warm, your oven isn't heating evenly, or (most likely) the cinnamon sugar coating wasn't applied as thoroughly.

Can I skip cream of tartar in a recipe? ›

You can use 1.5 teaspoons (6 grams) of baking powder to replace 1 teaspoon (3.5 grams) of cream of tartar. This substitution is ideal because it can be used in any recipe without modifying the taste or texture of the final product.

Can I skip using cream of tartar? ›

This type of acid closely resembles vinegar and lemon juice, so if you don't have any cream of tartar, you can either skip it or simply replace it with an acidic substitute.

Why do my snickerdoodles get hard? ›

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake – when the edges are set but the centers are still soft and puffy, they are done. Also, make sure you're not adding too much flour.

What happens if I put too much butter in my cookies? ›

Too much butter makes cookies turn out just as you'd expect: very buttery. This batch of cookies was cakey in the middle, but also airy throughout, with crispy edges. They were yellow and slightly puffy in the middle, and brown and super thin around the perimeter.

Why do my snickerdoodles sink in the middle? ›

Cakes sink in the middle due to several factors, including overmixing of the batter, opening the oven door too soon, or not baking at the right temperature. Expired leavening agents or incorrect proportions of ingredients can also cause sinking.

Why did my snickerdoodles come out cakey? ›

Generally when baking, cakey texture is from more flour and less sugar. The ratio of fat, sugar and flour is what achieves the texture of the cookie. Also, when you are whipping the eggs in the recipe as well.

Why are my snickerdoodles raw? ›

If the cookie tastes raw or doughy, it needs more time in the oven. Flavour development: Cookies often develop more flavour as they cool down. If the taste is slightly lacking, allow them to cool entirely before finalising.

Why are my snickerdoodles always flat? ›

If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure. Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.

Are snickerdoodles supposed to be undercooked? ›

Slightly under-baking the snickerdoodles also guarantees a softer cookie. Take them out of the oven after about 10-11 minutes. This will keep the interior of the cookie soft and chewy.

Why are my snickerdoodles runny? ›

Kind of like how crumbly dough is usually because there's too much of the dry ingredients, runny cookie dough comes from having too much of the liquid ingredients.

What does adding cream of tartar do to cookies? ›

Cream of tartar makes cookies chewy, as it precludes the sugar in the dough from crystalizing, which would lead to crispiness (ie: the opposite of chewiness).

Why do my Snickerdoodle cookies get hard? ›

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake – when the edges are set but the centers are still soft and puffy, they are done. Also, make sure you're not adding too much flour.

What is the purpose of cream of tartar in this recipe? ›

The most common recipes that call for cream of tartar are those that call for egg whites to be whipped, like angel food cake, genoise cake, meringue, and macarons. Jampel says that is because cream of tartar works as an egg white stabilizer that increases both the volume and shelf life of the meringue.

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