This Easy Snickerdoodle Recipe is my favorite holiday cookie. These easy sugar cookies are rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and are soft when you bite into them. You can whip these up in 10 minutes and then just let the oven do the magic.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Snickerdoodle Recipe
Christmas is fast approaching and today I have a great treat to add to that list of holiday cookies, my classic snickerdoodle recipe. I make a simple sugar cookie dough, which I flavor with vanilla extract for extra depth. Then roll the balls of cookie dough in a cinnamon sugar before baking.
While I rarely turn a holiday cookie down, these cinnamon sugar cookies are my all time favorite cookie at Christmas. I love the soft, chewy texture of these and the cinnamon and sugar that surrounds the cookies.
The nice thing about these cookies is that they are really easy to throw together. It takes me about 10 minutes to create the dough, 15 minutes to chill it in the refrigerator and then 10 minutes to bake each sheet of cookies.
Here are more reasons to try these delicious soft sugar cookies:
- Easy Preparation: Only 10 minutes to prepare the cookie dough. Then after a quick bake in the oven you have warm cookies, ready to enjoy in just 30 minutes.
- Double the Recipe: If you have visitors over the holiday season, get ahead and bake a double batch of these cookies. You can even freeze some and take out when you need them.
- Baking with Kids: This is a great recipe if you want to do a bit of baking with the kids during the festive holiday. They can do most of it themselves, you might just need to lend a hand with the hot oven.
If you’re a fan of Snickerdoodles, you’ll also enjoy my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, or these Gluten Free Chocolate Snickerdoodles.
For some of my favorite recipes for treats over the holidays, look at my round-up of 26 Delicious Treats for the Holidays post.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter: I use unsalted butter and add salt to the cookies separately. If using salted butter you can leave out the salt.
- Sugar: I use superfine white sugar in these cookies, in both the cookie dough and to make the cinnamon sugar. You could also use regular granulated sugar.
- Eggs: use large eggs in this recipe.
- Flour: I use all purpose flour to make the cookies.
- Cream of Tartar: I use cream of tartar which gives the cookies a tangy flavor and chewy texture.
- Raising Agent: I use baking soda to help the cookies puff up and rise when baked.
- Salt: a little salt balances out the sweetness in the cookies.
- Cinnamon: the cookies are rolled in ground cinnamon and sugar to give them that distinctive cinnamon flavor.
- Vanilla: I use vanilla extract as it adds great depth of flavor to the cookie dough. You could also use vanilla paste.
For exact ingredient amounts and instructions, see the full recipe card below.
How to Make This Easy Snickerdoodles Recipe
Step 1: Preheat the Oven:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2: Cream Butter & Sugar
Mix softened butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
Step 3: Combine Dry Ingredients
Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
Step 4: Form a Dough
Blend dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Chill dough in the fridge in a large bowl. I also suggest chilling an uncreased cookie sheet for about 15 minutes in the fridge.
Step 5: Make a Cinnamon Sugar
Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
Step 6: Coat the Dough in Cinnamon Sugar
Scoop 1 inch balls of dough into the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
Step 7: Bake the Cookies
Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes or until just set and just turning golden brown. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack immediately.
Expert Tips For Perfect Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Don’t overcrowd the cookie sheet, space the cookies well, giving them space to spread while baking.
- If you have more than one cookie sheet, bake one batch at a time, as this will give you a consistent bake, ensuring they all have that chewy texture.
- Don’t overbake the cookies or you won’t get that all important chewy texture.
- The cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven, so place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and allow the cookies to firm up a bit. You can then remove them from the baking sheet onto the wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe FAQs
A snickerdoodle is a sugar cookie where the basic cookie dough is rolled in cinnamon and sugar before baking. The cookies puff up in the oven and have a soft and chewy texture.
Both cream of tartar and baking soda is used in the cookie dough to help the cookies rise and puff up in the oven. However, cream of tartar also gives these cookies a bit of a tang and also helps create the chewy texture we all associate with the snickerdoodle cookie.
If your snickerdoodles taste bitter the chances are you’ve added too much cream of tartar. Only use the amount recommended in the recipe below and no more.
Storage Tips
Store the cookies in an airtight container, on the counter top, for up to 5 days. A trick my mom taught me is to add a half slice of white bread to the container of cookies. The cookies will absorb the moisture of the bread and stay soft longer.
To freeze, ensure the cookies have cooled completely. Then store them in an airtight container in layers with a parchment paper in between each layer. You can freeze the cookies for up to 6 months.
When you are ready to serve the cookies make sure to thaw them overnight in the fridge and then let them come to room temperature right before serving.
More Cookie Recipes
- Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
- Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Snickerdoodle
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter,, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Mix softened butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
- Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
- Blend dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
- Chill dough in the fridge in a large bowl. I also suggest chilling an uncreased cookie sheet for about 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
- Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes or until just set and just turning golden brown.
- Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack immediately.
Recipe slightly adapted from Food.com
The title of this post made my mouth water. These look amazing! Happy Holidays 🙂
Alyssa @ Pure Living for Life recently posted..The Best Food Photography Props
Thanks Alyssa! They are my favorite cookie this time of year!
Love learning about everyone’s favorite treats this time of year. Looks like a perfect recipe to try with the kids when they are off for Christmas break!
Anna @ Garnish with Lemon recently posted..Wild Rice with Pistachios and Cherries
It is! Your kids would love them…I know my son did! (more than one of course!)
love your recipes !
Thanks Gennell! 🙂
You just can’t go wrong with snickerdoodles. Plus, it’s such a fun name to say, LOL.
Aimee @ ShugarySweets recently posted..Cheesy Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Agreed! It is a funny name to say!
I love snickerdoodles and these look especially fabulous! Happy holidays 🙂
Thanks Joelen! Happy Holidays to you too!
Snickerdoodles are always a major hit! Cinnamon and sugar = winning! 8 months pregnant means you can eat all the cookies. NO SHARING. 🙂
P.S.Love the plate! It’s super cute!
Thanks! I love fun plates like that–it is from Crate & Barrel! And yes, you are probably right–I have a good excuse to eat more than 1! 🙂
Nice recipe. I love these too.