The are the BEST Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies: the perfect size, thick, crispy on the edges, and soft and chewy in the middle. They are very easy to make with just 15 minutes of work required, and have a beautifully balanced cinnamon sugar flavor.
Read the full blog post below for detailed notes, tips, tricks, photos and videos.
Jump to:
- What are snickerdoodle cookies?
- Why are these the best snickerdoodle cookies?
- Why do snickerdoodles have cream of tartar?
- Do you have to chill snickerdoodle cookie dough?
- A few more tips to perfect this recipe
- Video tutorial
- Process with photos
- Frequently asked questions
- Related recipes
- Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe
What are snickerdoodle cookies?
Snickerdoodle cookies (or snickerdoodles) are very popular soft and chewy cookies with a cinnamon sugar coating. They are similar to sugar cookies, but use cream of tartar which adds a slightly tangy flavor, and have the cinnamon sugar coating on top which makes them crispy outside and adds a lovely warmth.
Their origin, or why they are called "snickerdoodle", is not abundantly clear. It is believed they were brought to America by Dutch-German immigrants, and the name may have been derived from the German word "Schneckennudel". However, I find that unlikely because Schneckennudel means snail noodles!
Why are these the best snickerdoodle cookies?
After carefully testing and developing this recipe, I truly believe these are the best chewy snickerdoodle cookies! Here are a few reasons why:
- They have the perfect amount of sugar. I find a lot of snickerdoodles to be too sweet, and have carefully perfected this recipe so they aren't overly sweet but still have a chewy texture. Using a mixture of dark brown sugar and white sugar is key!
- They have the perfect butter to flour ratio. It is tricky to achieve this balance because too much butter makes the cookies greasy and thin, while too much flour makes them dry and cakey. This recipe gets it right, with a wonderful buttery flavor, and less flour than most recipes so the cookies are extra moist and chewy
- The flavor is *chef's kiss*. These cookies are buttery, not overly sweet, slightly tangy, and wonderfully cinnamon-y
- The texture is heavenly. When you eat the cookie, you bite through a delightful thin crispy layer followed by a soft, moist interior which turns chewy. It's really quite the experience!
- They've got the shape and looks! Call me superficial, but just look at them! These snickerdoodles are the perfect size, are nice and thick so you can enjoy the chewy interior, and have a really pretty golden crinkly coating on top
Why do snickerdoodles have cream of tartar?
Snickerdoodle recipes use cream of tartar in them, which is an acidic powder used in baking, for a few important reasons:
- It gives snickerdoodles their distinctive tangy flavor. This subtle tang beautifully complements the sweetness from sugar and warmth from cinnamon
- It reacts with baking soda to create the right texture. Baking soda is alkaline, and reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to help the cookies both spread and rise, developing a crispy coating while remaining light and chewy in the middle
Luckily, cream of tartar is an inexpensive and easy to find ingredient, so I highly recommend getting your hands on it for this recipe! It will last you a long time.
Do you have to chill snickerdoodle cookie dough?
Most snickerdoodle recipes do not require chilling the cookie dough. As someone who has always found chilling cookie dough to be necessary, I wanted to test this for myself. So I compared the size and texture of cookies baked right away with those chilled for 30 minutes and 12+ hours in the fridge. The results are fascinating!
Comparing no chill, 30 min chill and 12+ hour chill
A quick note before I go into the comparison: the cookies chilled for 12+ hours look more craggy / crinkled because I did not smooth out the cookie dough balls! So ignore the coating.
- No chill: To my surprise, the cookies that were baked straight away had a good thickness and did not spread out too much. They were crispy on the edges and outside, and soft in the middle. However, they did not have a very chewy texture, and started to feel more dry and crumbly with time
- 30 min in the fridge: These cookies had a very similar spread and thickness as the no chill cookies, and had very negligible difference in texture
- 12+ hours in the fridge: These cookies spread just slightly less and were very slightly thicker, but the difference in size was negligible. The texture, though, was very different! These cookies had a thin, crispy exterior and very moist, chewy interior. They also did not get dry with time, and remained nice and chewy even 2 days later! I also found their flavor to be better
Conclusion
In summary, chilling snickerdoodle cookie dough before baking has negligible impact on the size or thickness, but a longer chilling time does significantly improve the texture and flavor, with cookies chilled overnight turning out the most moist and chewy and storing better.
Therefore, I personally do recommend chilling snickerdoodle cookie dough balls overnight for the tastiest, chewiest cookies. However, it is not as critical to chill snickerdoodle cookies as it is to chill chocolate chip cookies, so you can get away with less or no chilling if you're in a rush!
A few more tips to perfect this recipe
- Weigh the ingredients, especially the flour. Measuring cups are just not as accurate as a weighing scale, and will likely result in you adding too much flour which will make the cookies dry
- Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature (ideally 2 hours). This will ensure that the cookie dough is easy to pull together and smooth in texture
- Chill after scooping the cookie dough. Don't put the full batch of dough in the fridge as it will become too firm to scoop and shape into balls
- Do not overbake! The cookies should still be soft in the middle when you take them out of the oven, and will continue to cook as they cool down. I always recommend baking 1 test cookie first to see exactly how long you need to bake for your oven
Video tutorial
Here is a short video tutorial for this recipe that I recommend watching:
Process with photos
The detailed recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but let's go over the steps with photos to help you visualize everything.
Whisk the butter with the sugars until light, fluffy and creamy:
Whisk in the egg, egg yolks and vanilla until smooth:
Sift and mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Then add them to the wet ingredients in 2-3 batches, folding them in gently until no streaks of flour remain:
Use a 2" scoop to scoop the dough into balls, and chill (see the section above on chilling):
Once chilled, coat the cookie dough balls in cinnamon sugar and place on baking sheets:
Bake, serve and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
No, using brown sugar is important to get the chewy texture of these cookies. You can use either light or dark brown sugar.
No, you cannot skip cream of tartar in snickerdoodle cookies, as it is critical for both flavor and texture.
Yes, you may skip chilling and bake the cookies right away. They will still be good, but chilling does improve texture and flavor (see the experiment above!).
Snickerdoodle cookies actually store very well! You can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate them if keeping for longer.
Related recipes
If you like this recipe, also check out my other popular cookie recipes!
Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe
- Total Time: 25 min + chilling
- Yield: 18-20 cookies
Description
The BEST snickerdoodle cookies: crispy on the edges, soft and chewy in the middle, and easy to make with a beautifully balanced flavor
Ingredients
- 18 tbsp butter (1 cup + 2 tbsp, or 255g), room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed (200g)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 ⅓ cups flour (435g)
- 2 ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Cinnamon sugar coating: ½ cup granulated sugar (100g) + 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature if you haven't already
- Add the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar to a bowl. Whisk for 2-3 minutes until the mixture looks light in color, and fluffy and creamy in texture
- Add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla, and whisk for another minute or so until the mixture looks smooth and creamy
- In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 2-3 additions. Use a rubber spatula to fold them in, going around and pressing down gently. This will take some time and effort, but be patient and do not mix aggressively. Stop folding as soon as the dry ingredients are combined and no streaks of flour can be seen. You should have a soft, slightly sticky dough
- Use a 2" cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls. You should have 18-20 balls
- Place in the fridge to chill overnight or at least 2 hours (*see notes below on chilling)
- After chilling is done, pre-heat the oven to 375F (conventional, no fan) and line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in a bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball in the mixture to get it generously coated, and place on the cookie sheets, keeping at least 3" between each ball (**see notes below on crinkly vs smooth top)
- Bake at 375F for 11-12 minutes, or until the cookies feel set on the edges but still somewhat soft in the middle (***see notes below on baking time)
- Let cool down for 20 minutes, then serve & enjoy!
Video Tutorial:
Notes
- *Chilling: Please read the blog post above as it covers chilling in detail. In short, my recommendation is to chill the cookie dough balls overnight for the best texture and flavor. However, it is your decision and you can also skip the chilling, or chill for a shorter time. If you intend to bake the cookies right away, pre-heat the oven before you start working on the recipe
- **Crinkly vs smooth top: I personally love a more craggy, crinkly top on snickerdoodles as seen in the images of this blog post. For this, I do not smooth the cookie dough balls after scooping, and coat them in cinnamon sugar after chilling. However, if you want a more smooth look, gently roll each ball between your palms to smooth out the cracks, then coat in cinnamon sugar
- ***Baking time: The baking time will vary based on whether or not you chill the cookie dough. If baking without chilling, bake for ~10-11 minutes. If you are chilling, bake for 11-12 minutes. Always bake 1 cookie as a test first so you know exactly how long you need to bake for your oven and sheet type
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 11 min
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: American
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