This soft and chewy snickerdoodle cookie recipe are ready in less than 30 minutes! These soft baked cinnamon-sugar cookies are always a crowd favorite and disappear in seconds. So good – you may want to make a double batch!
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Why I Love This Chewy Snickerdoodle Recipe
Trust me when I say this is about to become one of your all-time favorite cookie recipes! My kids don’t agree on much, but they all think that this snickerdoodle cookie recipe is one of the very best things to ever come out of my oven. These cookies are chewy, cinnamon-y, sweet, and best enjoyed when they’re still slightly warm! Whether it’s a random weeknight or a Christmas cookie exchange, you’ll be glad you stumbled upon the only snickerdoodle recipe you’ll ever need. Here’s why I’m so obsessed:
- Warm Spices: The perfect balance of warm cinnamon and sweet sugar flavors with a slight tang you expect from a classic snickerdoodle.
- Quick and Easy: You do not have to chill the dough! Just beat to combine the batter, scoop the dough, roll in cinnamon-sugar and bake. Bonus: These cookies are ready in 30 minutes!
- Perfect Texture: Most important, these snickerdoodle cookies have an incredibly soft and chewy texture.
- Cookies Anytime: This cookie dough freezes great for freshly baked cookies anytime the craving strikes!
Looking for more classic cookie favorites? Try these decadent white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, chewy peanut butter cookies or these soft chocolate chip cookies!
Snickerdoodles are “cousins” to classic sugar cookies (the soft, chewy round ones – not cut out sugar cookies). While traditional sugar cookies are often sprinkled with white sugar or nonpareils, snickerdoodles are rolled and coated in cinnamon sugar – twice as nice!
The main difference lies in a key ingredient: cream of tartar. This, combined with baking soda, gives these cookies an unbelievably chewy, soft texture with a hint of tangy flavor.
Key Ingredients
Made with pantry staple ingredients, they’re the perfect cookie to whip up anytime. Absolutely no need to wait for a special occasion! Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this snickerdoodle cookie recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Flour: For the most consistent results, use all-purpose flour.
- Cream of Tartar: This gives the snickerdoodles their distinctive tangy taste, don’t skip it! While the cookies will bake up correctly, they will be missing that classic snickerdoodle cookie flavor.
- Butter: For even softer bakery-style cookies, swap half of the butter with shortening. I like to use butter flavored shortening to keep that same flavor, but make them softer.
- Sugar: I use a combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar for the best flavor and texture, but you can use all granulate sugar if you prefer.
How to Make Snickerdoodles
This classic snickerdoodle cookie comes together quickly, so have your ingredients ready to go. Using a hand mixer, or stand mixer, will make the dough come together easily! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions.
- Dry Ingredients: Whisk to combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Set aside.
- Wet Ingredients: Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat to combine, until just incorporated.
- Scoop and Roll: Scoop into golf ball-sized dough balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar coating. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving room for spreading.
- Bake: Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, taking care not to overbake. The cookies will firm up as they cool. Rest on a cooling rack for a few minutes and serve warm, or cool and store for later.
Chef’s Tips & Variations
- Don’t Over Bake: Take the cookies out just as they begin to turn golden. If they look a touch under baked in the center, they’re perfect! They will set up more as they cool.
- Properly Measure Flour: Fluff flour in it’s bag or container with a fork and spoon it into a dry measuring cup. Level with the back of a knife.
- Frost ‘Em: Add a sweet swirl of cream cheese frosting or drizzle with an easy vanilla glaze of powdered sugar and milk. You can also sandwich two cookies together with frosting in the center!
- Extra Soft: Want your cookies extra soft like from the grocery store bakery? Swap butter for shortening! For the best of both worlds, use half butter and half shortening.
- Picture-Perfect: If looks matter to you, immediately after baking, use a large biscuit cutter to swirl around the cookies edges. This will make them perfectly round with even edges.
Test Kitchen Review
The Best Snickerdoodle Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or silicone baking mats) and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugars until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until dough comes together.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.
- Shape 2 tablespoons of dough into rounded balls. Roll dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and set it onto prepared cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to firm up after they are removed from the oven. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
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I made these last night and went exactly by the recipe and they are so good ! At first I thought the dough was too sticky and I had done something wrong like maybe putting in 2 eggs and it only called for 1 … In your instructions it says “add the egg” not eggs and I hit the panic button. ha ha …….Anyway they are perfection. Thanks again for another wonderful recipe.
So glad you liked them Donna! I changed it to say “eggs” in the recipe directions so there will not be anymore confusion. 🙂
Loved these! Mine turned out to be super duper delicious (a little bit too big, as I had trouble with putting the dough on the baking paper whoopsi) and with a fantastic consistency :3 Great recipe!
Hi Jessica! I just wanted to let you know these are amazing! They are def the best snickerdoodles ever and i actually made them slightly better by adding cinnamon chips…..there isnt even one left over! Big hit! Also your measurements are always spot on! Thank you!!!
Mmm, these look absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
I wonder if there are actually people there who actually follow the instruction to bring eggs to room temp…because I never do! But I am a fan of no-chill cookie dough..so these sound heavenly.
Snickerdoodle cookies are my favorite! I’m with you I hate cookies that require all those extra steps, especially refrigerating the dough. I can’t be trusted with cookie dough in the fridge, I’ll eat it all before it even makes it to the oven! Saving this recipe for sure!
These reallllllly do look absolutely perfect. Yum!!
Oh man!! These cookies look perfect. I don’t mind if cookies are quick or long to make, but I DO like awesome cookies, and these totally fit the bill!
Yum yum yum!!! I don’t have much patience so I love that this recipe doesn’t require much waiting! Can’t wait to try these 🙂