This is a super easy snickerdoodle recipe that always turns out perfect. It is a family favorite that I have been making for years. Perfect cinnamon sugar cookie goodness every time!
What is a snickerdoodle?
A snickerdoodle is a cookie that is made from a sugar and butter base. It’s rolled in a cinnamon and sugar mixture, flattened slightly, and then baked until it’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The key ingredient is Cream of Tartar, which gives the snickerdoodle cookies their signature slightly tart flavor.
Ingredients for Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough
For the Snickerdoodles
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon & Sugar Mixture
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
How to Make Snickerdoodle Cookies
For the Cinnamon and Sugar Mixture
- Whisk sugar and cinnamon together in a pie plate or shallow dish.
For the Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
- Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
- Add milk and vanilla extract, beat until combined.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
- Mix until everything just comes together, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Check the consistency of the dough, you may have to add few tablespoons more flour. You should be able to touch it without it sticking too much to your fingers.
- Form dough into 2-inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place 12 balls per cookie sheet and gently press a cross-hatch into the top with a fork until the cookies are flattened to about 1/2 an inch thick.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes until the edges are set and the very middle still looks slightly under baked.
How to Freeze Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough
This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, which is actually too many for my small family to eat at once before they go stale.These cookies are great to freeze if you don’t need 4 dozen!
- Portion out the dough with a cookie scoop
, place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flash freeze it for about 30 minutes. - Remove the frozen snickerdoodle cookie dough from the baking sheet and place it in a freezer bag or container.
- Freeze for up to 6 months.
- When you want to bake up the frozen snickerdoodle cookie dough, just place 12 frozen dough portions per baking sheet (greased or parchment lined).
- Bake at 350 degrees F (instead of 375 degrees F like in the recipe) and halfway through baking briefly remove from the oven and gently press them down a bit.
- You’ll bake them a bit longer, 10-14 minutes. They will still turn out perfect!
, place it on a parchment-lined
baking shee
and flash freeze it for about 30 minutes.I always prefer freezing cookie dough instead of baked cookies, I don’t think those ever stay as fresh or thaw very successfully.
Also, I may have a slight obsession with my freezer. You can read more details about freezing cookies and cookie dough here!
Cream of tartar gives the snickerdoodles their unique tangy flavor, which is what separates them from a traditional drop sugar cookie.
Yes, you can follow this recipe as-is and leave out the cream of tartar. The snickerdoodle cookies will still turn out delicious, they will just be missing that slight tangy edge.
Snickerdoodle cookies become hard for a few reasons. First, they could be overbaked. Bake them just until the edges are set and the centers are still soft. They could also be getting stale in your storage container. Be sure to keep them in an air-tight container. If they are hard, stick 1 slice of sandwich bread in the container and they will soften over time.
If you’re looking for another great cookie recipe, be sure to check out these Better than Sex Cookies from my friend Aimee!
The Best Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Snickerdoodles
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon & Sugar Mixture
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the Cinnamon and Sugar Mixture
- Whisk sugar and cinnamon together in a pie plate or shallow dish.
For the Snickerdoodles
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
- Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
- Add milk and vanilla extract, beat until combined.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
- Mix until everything just comes together, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Check the consistency of the dough, you may have to add few tablespoons more flour. You should be able to touch it without it sticking too much to your fingers.
- Form dough into 2-inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place 12 balls per cookie sheet and gently press a cross-hatch into the top with a fork until the cookies are flattened to about 1/2 an inch thick.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes until the edges are set and the very middle still looks slightly under baked.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more delicious cookie recipes??
- Browned Butter Snickerdoodles
- Snickerdoodle Bars
- Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft Almond Sugar Cookies
- Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
- Homemade Brownie Cookies
- Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Molasses Ginger Cookies
- Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- The Best Pumpkin Cookie Recipe
- White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Christine says
Made these tonight for a Christmas okie exchange and they turned out perfect! Was a little nervous because I’ve never made snickerdoodles- but these turned out great! Thanks for sharing your recipe. Will def make these again!
Alli says
I’m so glad you liked them, Christine!
Anonymous says
I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, but is the flour all purpose or self rising?
Alli says
All-purpose, thanks for verifying!
Jannette says
I substituted stevia but otherwise followed recipe. My cookies were only 1″ circles with crisscross. Delicious thought.
Alli says
Hi Jannette! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Substituting Stevia will greatly alter the spread and texture of the cookie, but I’m glad you still thought they were good! You could experiment with making the dough a little looser next time or flattening out the cookies even more before baking. Thanks for giving the recipe a try! 🙂
Anonymous says
They were awesome!! My 2 year old granddaughter agrees!!!
Alli says
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed them.
Shellee says
I have tried countless snickerdoodle recipes- this one finally is perfect. I did sub 1/2 c shortening for 1/2 of butter. I hardly ever use shortening but for snickerdoodles I make an exception. This recipe is the perfect cookie.
Alli says
I’m so happy to hear that you liked it, Shellee!! Thank you! I often sub shortening for butter too, depending on how close I am to running out of butter, ha!
Melody Kulsic says
DELICIOUS!! One of my families favorites. I baked them today for our church’s COOKIE MINISTRY and I know these will be a hit! Thank you for this recipie.
Alli says
Thank you so much, Melody!! I’m so glad you loved them!! <3
Alli says
One of our favorite cookie recipes!
Regena Irvine says
Putting the cross hatch with a fork has always been the signal for peanut butter cookies for me.
Alli says
Hi Regena! Yes, the crosshatch can be indicative of peanut butter cookies. You can omit that step and instead slightly press the cookies with the bottom of a glass if you’d like 🙂
Destini says
Do you have to press them down? I wanted to stuff them .
Alli says
Hi Destini, if you don’t push them down they will be a little bit too puffy. I’ve never stuffed them but if you wanted to try that you could just leave out a little bit of the flour so the dough is a bit looser and will flatten out more in the oven. Let me know if you try it out! That sounds so delicious!
shelly says
This is the exact same recipe my mom always made with one exception. She always used 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable shortening. They turn out the perfect balance of crispy and chewy.
Alli says
It’s an amazing family favorite! You are so right Shelly, vegetable shortening is a great way to get that perfect chewy texture.
Cheryl Bisson says
YUMMY!!! So easy, first time making this type of cookie. I’ll make it again. Thanks for sharing. I got about 3-doz out of the recipe.
Alli says
I’m so glad you liked it Cheryl!! I so appreciate you letting me know.
Aisha harris says
This recipe is amazing! My husband loves snickerdoodles and these came out amazing. And such an easy recipe to follow, thanks for sharing
Alli says
Ah! I’m so happy to hear that Aisha!! Thanks for telling me 🙂
cynthia covarrubia says
I’m making these now but oven broke can I make the dough and refrigerate it for a day then bake
Alli says
Yes! This dough refrigerates and freezes well. If you are refrigerating it, just let it come to room temperature before baking. The post contains instructions for freezing :). Happy baking!
Romelly says
Tried this recipe and it was my first time making cookies. I’m more of a cupcake person. They tasted great but idk what I did that made the texture weird. I used a silpat, baked at 375 for 9 mins. I do however like that there was enough sugar mixture to roll onto the dough and it did make about 4 dozen cookies. They were crispy on the outside but kind of dry on the inside. I’ll have to try it again and see what I did wrong. But like I said, they tasted great. Thanks for the recipe!
Alli says
Hey! Thanks for trying it and letting me know how you liked it! My first recommendation would be to try baking them for a few minutes less and see how they turn out. Different ovens can vary in temperature so yours may just bake a little hot, or mine may bake a little cold – it isn’t anything fancy 🙂 . You could also leave them a little thicker before baking and see how that changes things as well. Something else that may help too is baking them on the middle racks and rotating the baking sheets halfway. Let me know how it goes!
Toni says
Can’t wait to try these! I LOVE snickerdoodles! 🙂
Alli says
They are a favorite in our house too! Let me know how you like them 🙂