Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies

Soft and fluffy Snickerdoodle Cookies are full of comfort and deliciousness. Covered in cinnamon sugar, no one can resist these sweet, flavorful cookies. Makes 16 cookies.

Hey, hey! It’s the first day of 2022’s The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange, my yearly celebration of sugar, butter and cookies.

I’ll share more about it below the recipe card, but this year’s virtual cookie exchange is going to be incredible. My fellow bloggers and I are raising funds for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer!

But first: let’s talk SNICKERDOODLES.

Easy Snickerdoodle Recipe

There is nothing more comforting to me than a warm snickerdoodle cookie straight out of the oven.

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Fluffy, soft and chewy, and covered in sugar and spice, these classic cookie recipes are a wonder to behold and taste.

These cinnamon cookies are perfect for holiday cookie plates but you can enjoy them all year long. (And I definitely do, every time I get the hankering.)

What are snickerdoodles?

Snickerdoodles are a beloved classic cookie. They are soft cookies with chewy centers that are rolled in a cinnamon-sugar topping.

The end result is a slightly crisp outer crust and a chewy interior. Truly, they are a perfect cookie.

While the exact origin is unknown, chewy Snickerdoodles are generally thought to have been brought over by Dutch-German immigrants.

They were popular with Mennonite and Amish communities. The rest of the world fell in love with them when the recipe was published in a newspaper in the late 1800s.

Love snickerdoodles? Try snickerdoodle bars or Apple Snickerdoodles!

Why I love this recipe:

This is a classic recipe for a reason.

Homemade Snickerdoodles are fluffy and beautiful. The exterior is chewy with a little bite of crispness while the interior is soft and melts in your mouth.

At my house, we make ‘em large (with a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop) so that they’re big and fluffy.

Here are some more reasons why these are our family’s new favorite Snickerdoodle recipe:

• This classic snickerdoodle cookie is always welcome on a cookie tray or in a cookie tin for the holidays. It’s also wonderful any time.
• They are easy to make and only need a 1-hour chill time in the fridge before you bake them.
• This recipe is easy to double (or triple) if you’re sharing them with a crowd.

More cookie recipes to try: Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies | Hot Cocoa Cookies | Pumpkin Drop Cookies | Peanut Butter Blossoms

Let’s talk about The Sweetest Season and Cookies for Kids Cancer!

The Sweetest Season is my annual holiday cookie week.

In 2011, I decided it would be fun to share my favorite Christmas cookies… then I invited other bloggers to join me. The celebration grew, we changed the name to make it more inclusive (because that matters!), my friend Susannah stepped up to assist with all the things and the rest is history.

And now, every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.

This year, we’re raising money in support of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.

Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. More than 35 treatments that are available to kids battling cancer today have been stemmed from these grants.

We’d love for you to help us raise money for this important cause! You can donate through our fundraising page.

Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2022, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!

What you need to make this recipe:

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• Rimmed sheet pan or baking sheet
• Nonstick baking mat or parchment paper
• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Mixing bowl
• Rubber spatula
• Cookie scoop — 1 tablespoon or 1.5 tablespoon

Here’s what you’ll need:

• All purpose flour — we keep unbleached AP flour at our house, but you can use the regular kind, too.
• Cream of tartar — this gives these cookies their light, fluffy texture and a subtly tangy bite of flavor.
• Baking soda — this is our leavening agent and will give our cookies some lift. Make sure that yours is fresh.
• Kosher salt — I like to use a medium-grain kosher salt here. You could also use a similar size of sea salt, too.
• Unsalted butter — this is the fat for our cookie recipe. It’s important that it is unsalted so we can control the amount of salt added to the cookie batter. Set it out the butter 30-45 minutes before you plan to mix the batter so it blends easily.
• Granulated sugar — also known as white sugar, it adds a nice sweetness to our cookie dough. It will go in the cookie dough, as well as roll on the exterior of the cookies.
• Egg — not only does this help bring the ingredients together, but it also helps give the cookies a little fluff.
• Ground cinnamon — check your spice cabinet before baking these because spices do go bad. I go through mine every holiday season. Fresh spices = the most flavor, and that’s what we want from cinnamon in these cookies!

Customizations and substitutions

Make them dairy-free. This soft Snickerdoodle cookie recipe can be made dairy free by swapping the butter for vegetable shortening. The texture of the cookies will change a bit, resulting in crispier cookies, but it works!

No cream of tartar? Cream of tartar gives these cookies a light and fluffy texture. Also, it gives them some tangy flavor. But if you don’t have it on hand, no sweat. You can use 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for every ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar. But keep in mind they won’t be as fluffy and might actually create flat cookies.

Snickerdoodle variations:

• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
• Chai Snickerdoodles
• Caramel Apple Snickerdoodles
• Cocodoodles (with coconut)

How to make Snickerdoodles

Making these snickerdoodles is easy peasy. They are especially fun to make with kids, who will love rolling them and dunking them in cinnamon sugar.

Here’s what to do:

Get out a medium bowl and stir together your dry ingredients: the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and kosher salt. Set aside.

Cream together the softened butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar and the egg until light and fluffy. You can do this with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or another bowl with a hand mixer.

You want the mixture to be lighter in color than when you started.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is incorporated!

Next, sprinkle the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or the bowl’s lid and refrigerate the dough for at least 1-2 hours. You can let it chill for longer, too.

When you’re ready to bake these easy Snickerdoodle Cookies, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Combine the additional granulated sugar (1½ tablespoon) and the cinnamon in a small bowl to make cinnamon sugar. Stir to combine. You want them thoroughly mixed without any streaks of cinnamon or sugar.

Scoop the cookie dough using a 1- or 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop. (I use a 1.5-tablespoon scoop.) 

Roll the cookie balls between your palms gently to round out each ball, then place them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Gently roll the cookie dough in the sugar-cinnamon mixture until coated, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown and delicious. (If you’re making 1-tablespoon cookies, the bake time will be closer to 8-9 minutes, so keep an eye on them.)

Transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool, then enjoy. They are delicious warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a tall glass of milk, just sayin’.

How to store:

Store your best snickerdoodles ever in an airtight container. They will taste freshest if enjoyed within 3-4 days. I like to use these containers* (affiliate link) for cookies because they have the most wonderful airtight lids.

How to freeze and bake from frozen

If you want to freeze cookie dough to make cookies later, you can! You should freeze the cookie dough 1-2 weeks in advance, then bake them fresh just before guests arrive.

Here’s how to do it:

• Chill the dough, then roll out the dough balls. Store them in the freezer until ready to bake, then roll them in the cinnamon sugar just before baking.
• I let the dough sit on the kitchen counter while I preheat the oven. Once the oven is ready, the outsides are sticky enough for the spice mixture. 
• Bake frozen for 11-12 minutes, or a little longer. Keep an eye on them!

Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips

We love cookies like this one because they’re so easy to share!

Here are some things I’d do if I were entertaining with these Snickerdoodles:

• Take the time to chill the dough. Chilling the dough for at least an hour results in the perfect crackled look.
• Bake the cookies in advance. These cookies are delicious at room temperature or slightly warm.
• Make a double batch for a crowd. You can always send friends home with extra cookies if you don’t want them in your house. This is also great for a cookie exchange and perfect to have on hand for snacking at a cookie decorating party.
• Watch out for flavor creep! Since the cinnamon sugar mixture is fragrant, the Snickerdoodles should be stored separately from other cookies. (But really, all cookies should be stored separately and then put out together later.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick tips and tricks to making the best snickerdoodles

• Plan ahead. Set your ingredients out on the counter at least an hour before baking. Room temperature ingredients make a huge difference!
• Double the recipe for more cookies! These are great for sharing, and they freeze well. Everybody loves a snickerdoodle.
• Use a cookie scoop. Not only will this make your cookies more uniform in size, but it’ll be a little less messy.
• How to store: Store at room temperature for 3-4 days in an airtight cookie container.
• How to freeze the cookie dough: Freeze in rounds on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. Transfer to a freezer bag once frozen solid. Roll the dough in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake frozen for 11-12 minutes, or a little longer.

More snickerdoodle-flavored recipes:

• Snickerdoodle Banana Bread
• Snickerdoodle Muffins

More classic cookie recipes to try:

• Lemon Drop Cookies
• M&M Sugar Cookies
• Tea Cake Cookies
• Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies