Here is my reader favorite recipe for soft and thick snickerdoodles. These soft-baked snickerdoodle cookies only require about 30 minutes start to finish!
Snickerdoodles are a timeless classic, just like a good batch of chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies. Like drop sugar cookies wrapped in a cinnamon sugar hug, these irresistible cookies never go out of style. My recipe yields the softest and thickest snickerdoodles you’ll ever taste. I like to call them snickerdoodle pillows because they are perfectly fat and puffy! Much too often you’re left with flat, crispy, and thin cookies. The only remedy is to submerge them in a tall glass of milk. But what about starting out with a kitchen tested recipe for soft-baked snickerdoodles? You’ve come to the right place. 🙂
How to Make Soft Snickerdoodles
How do you make snickerdoodles puffy and soft? The secret’s in the ratio of butter to leavener to flour to egg. Don’t use shortening here; you’ll miss the flavor of butter. 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 is Cream of Tartar in Snickerdoodles?
Instead of baking powder, use cream of tartar and baking soda in snickerdoodles. Sure, you could use 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of the cream of tartar + baking soda, but then you won’t really have a snickerdoodle. Cream of tartar adds a unique tangy flavor to the cookie, which sets it apart from sugar cookies and makes it a classic snickerdoodle. You also use it for the best flavor in maple pecan snickerdoodles. It’s absolutely delicious!
No Cookie Dough Chilling!
Great news! You can skip the cookie dough chilling step with this snickerdoodle recipe. There’s enough flour in this cookie dough to create a strong and sturdy cookie without the crutch of chilling the dough first. There’s also no fancy-pants ingredients required. These snickerdoodles are EASY. Shortbread cookies are another easy no chill recipe to keep in your back pocket.
A medium cookie scoop is helpful to divide up the dough. Roll each dough ball in cinnamon sugar, and arrange on a lined baking sheet:
These snickerdoodle cookies aced the true “soft test” meaning they remained soft on day 2! In fact, they were still soft on day 4. (And I’m surprised there are any leftover by that point, but I was trying to make a point!) Since they remain so soft, snickerdoodles are the perfect cookie for gift-giving. I know there are many snickerdoodle lovers out there!
If you’re looking for other snickerdoodle favorites, here are my pumpkin snickerdoodles and peanut butter snickerdoodles. And are you craving cake? Here’s my snickerdoodle cake & swirled snickerdoodle cupcakes recipes.
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Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 26-28 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Here is my reader favorite recipe for soft and thick snickerdoodles. These soft-baked snickerdoodle cookies only require about 30 minutes start to finish! No dough chilling required.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/3 cup (267g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (always recommended for cookies). Set aside.
- Make the topping: Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Make the cookies:Â Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough will be thick.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of cookie dough each. I recommend this cookie scoop. Roll the dough balls in cinnamon-sugar topping. Sprinkle extra cinnamon-sugar on top if desired. Arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes. The cookies will be very puffy and soft. When they are still very warm, lightly press down on them with the back of a spoon or fork to help flatten them out. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies remain soft & fresh for 7 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: There are a few options here! First, you can prepare the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure that you let it come to room temperature before rolling and baking the cookies. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Roll the dough into balls then freeze the balls for up to 2-3 months. You can freeze the cookie dough balls with the cinnamon sugar coating or without, but I recommend freezing without the topping. When you are ready to bake, remove the balls from the freezer, let sit for 30 minutes, pre-heat the oven, then roll into topping. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cream of Tartar:Â Cream of tartar is required for this recipe. Please see the text of the post for more information.
- Extra Egg Yolk: To bring this dough together so it isn’t quite as crumbly use 1 large egg, plus 1 extra large egg yolk. I’ve been doing this recently and the snickerdoodles taste even softer, moister, and richer.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Are you able to use brown sugar instead of white sugar? Or a mix of both?
Hi Natalie, we haven’t tested these cookies with brown sugar but you can certainly try it. Keep in mind that brown sugar has more moisture than white and may change the consistency of the dough and how the cookies spread.
How long can I freeze these?
See recipe Notes! You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months.
Hey Sally, I was wondering if you or someone from your team could help me troubleshoot these. They spread a bit more than your video and were a bit flatter than I would have liked. I don’t think it was the temperature of my butter because when I measured it it was about 63F. I also used a scale for the flour. My dough ended up being pretty sticky. Is that normal? Anyway they still taste amazing, so thank you!
Hi Lindsey! Could your oven run a little hot? You can try adding 2 Tbs additional flour to the dough as well. Here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
Followed your recipe exactly and these turned out perfectly! Thanks!
First time baking this , I’m in the UK Liverpool
Thank you so very much for sharing this recipe! I finally made puffy Snickerdoodles! I’ve tried dozens of recipes and your was the only one that they came out puffy! Very grateful!
Have you ever added cinnamon chips to the recipe? Would you recommend this as a good addition?
Hi N., cinnamon chips would be delicious here! You can add 1-1.5 cups to the dough.
Can I freeze the cookies?
Hi Erika, absolutely—see recipe Notes for full freezing details.
I make these every year for the ladies’ cookie exchange at church. Easy and delicious!
I made this recipe instead of snickerdoodles, because I don’t have cream of tartar. These turned out so yummy! I rolled the dough balls in cinnamon and sugar. I have never made browned butter before, so I was a little nervous, but everything went smoothly. These cookies have a unique taste and were easy to make. I shared this recipe with a few of my friends. Highly reccomend!
These are the best Snickerdoodles I have ever made. The flavor was perfects and the fact that they did not flatten made them look like they came from a bakery! Thank you!
I’m excited that I don’t have to wait the usual “refrig” time, thank you for that. Also, I’ve learned by putting a slice of bread into my Ziplock {yep that’s how I store my cookies on the counter} that seems to help keep my cookies nice & moist, whether they’re supposed to be or not, and I’m sure that’s not the first time you’ve heard that….thank you for the scoop link, I’ve been wanting one.
These turned out perfect!!!
I made these today and substituted the vanilla with Fireball Whiskey for my friend who loves it.. They are perfect!
This turned out amazing I didn’t use cream of tartar and it is still amazing
Your receipts are the greatest
I always make snickerdoodle cookies for my husband’s birthday, and these are the BEST I have found!! Thank you for sharing a recipe I’ll be using for life!
I love this recipe so much !
I only have salted butter. Can I just leave oit the salt? Or how would I adjust? Thanks.
Hi Vicki, if using salted butter, reduce the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
These cookies were inedible! They were a weird texture and had an awful aftertaste, probably from all the cream of tartar!
Hi Deb, can you describe the weird texture? Cream of tartar is a common ingredient in snickerdoodles. Did you by chance over-measure it by accident?
Love this recipe! I’m wondering if I can put caramel in the middle and bake?
Hi Sandi, here is our similar soft caramel snickerdoodles recipe instead!
This recipe is a go to during the holiday season! It’s perfect.
I made this snicker doodle last year and it was great. I made it tonight and the cookies turned out flat. I made 1 tray of them and they were disappointing. I put the rest of the dough in the fridge until tomorrow and review the recipe for the 5th time. The only thing that differs that I can see is butter sold at Aldi verses Costco? Please advise.
Hi Linda, was your butter a bit warmer than room temperature? That’s often the main culprit for over spreading cookies. This post with 10 tips to prevent cookies from over spreading will also be a helpful resource to review. Hope this helps!
These are the best and easiest Snickerdoodles ever! I was wondering, could you add cocoa powder to make them chocolate snickerdoodles? If so, how much?
So glad you love them! We haven’t tested a chocolate version of this cookie, but you can add 1-1.5 cups of chocolate chips into this cookie dough after you combine the wet and dry ingredients without making any other changes. Let us know if you try anything!
I’m wondering if I can roll out and use cookie cutters?
Hi Christine! This dough is not ideal for cookie cutters. You may enjoy these pecan sugar cookies or maple cinnamon star cookies for a cut-out cookie with a little extra flavor.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, love it! I had a question, if I freeze the snickerdoodle cookie dough balls, should I add on extra 1 or 2 minutes to the bake time? I noticed in the notes, it’s mentioned to let the cookies set for thirty minutes.
Hi Radia, we recommend letting the frozen dough thaw for 30 minutes and then rolling in the topping before baking. We don’t recommend rolling in the topping then freezing, as we find the coating tends to melt and disappear during the freezing and thawing process.
So, no extra minutes in the oven required?
They make take an extra minute or two.
I need 5 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange and wanted to make these cookies. Can I double the recipe or do you suggest I make two individual batches of dough. Thanks for your help.
Hi Laura, you can double this cookie recipe. Enjoy!
These cookies turned out perfect! I have yet to be anything but amazed by all her recipes!
I’m just wondering I only have salted butter. Would these cookies be to salty if I use it?
Hi Cindy, just reduce the added salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
This recipe has brought many compliments! It’s my go-to for Snickerdoodles from now on.