Soft, chewy, buttery cookies coated in cinnamon and sugar. These Snickerdoodles bake up super thick and turn out perfect every single time!
I’ve mentioned it before, but one of my main goals on the blog is to start sharing some classic dessert recipes with you. Because while everyone loves over the top desserts every now and then, you just can’t beat a classic recipe. Today’s snickerdoodle recipe is one that I’ve been working on for a while now, and I’m happy to say that I finally cracked the code to perfect snickerdoodle cookies!
I actually attempted snickerdoodles last year for Christmas and was not happy with the results. The cookies tasted good, but they flattened out like pancakes. Actually more like crepes, they were just thin and pretty lifeless.
So a couple of weeks ago I decided to really work on perfecting this snickerdoodle cookie recipe and I have to say, they turned out better than I had hoped. These cookies bake up soft, chewy, and pretty thick too.
In fact, I made a test batch of 50 cookies and sent them with my husband to work and they were gone by the end of the day. Now that’s when you know a recipe is good!
The first thing that I found when it comes to creating thicker snickerdoodle cookies is that you need a slightly higher amount of flour in your recipe, so you’ll be using three cups of flour. The mixture may seem a little crumbly when you first start mixing in the dry ingredients, this is normal so just keep mixing and I promise the cookie dough will come together.
And I know I sound like a broken record when it comes to measuring your flour correctly, but it’s absolutely crucial with this cookie recipe. Avoid scooping your flour from the container, instead, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. If you scoop the flour from the container, your cookie dough may be too dry and not hold together very well.
Along with the flour, you’ll be using some cream of tartar which adds that classic tanginess we all know and love when it comes to snickerdoodles as well as some baking soda and salt. I also add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon inside of the cookie dough because cinnamon makes every cookie better, especially snickerdoodles!
Along with the dry ingredients, you’ll be creaming together some butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Most snickerdoodle recipes just call for granulated sugar, but brown sugar helps to keep the cookies from spreading as much and it also adds some moisture to the cookie dough.
This recipe also uses 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, you can save the leftover egg white and use it in these candied pecans or these strawberry turnovers.
Once you’ve mixed up the cookie dough, I suggest letting it chill for about 30 minutes. The dough chilling allows the butter to firm back up so the cookies bake up thicker and don’t spread as much. Dough chilling is almost always a must for thicker cookies, so don’t skip this step!
Once the dough is chilled, you’ll measure out the cookie dough and roll them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. One important thing, make sure to only measure out about one tablespoon of cookie dough or 1 and 1/4 inch balls of cookie dough.
I find that snickerdoodles any larger than that just don’t tend to bake up nearly as thick. Be sure to measure the first few scoops of cookie dough, then you can just eyeball the rest from there!
Baking Tips for Snickerdoodles
- When measuring your flour, don’t scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- The cookie dough may seem a little crumbly once you add the dry ingredients, but this is normal! Keep mixing the dry ingredients and the mixture will come together just fine.
- Make sure to chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes so the butter is chilled as the cookies go into the oven. This will prevent the cookies from spreading as much and ensure a thicker cookie.
- Be sure to measure out the cookie dough, you only need one tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie. You can either use a one tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon. Each ball of cookie dough should measure about 1 and 1/4 inches wide once you roll each one.
Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for about 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Each ball of cookie dough should measure about 1 and 1/4 inches once you roll it into a ball.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon for the coating. Roll each ball of cookie dough into a ball, then coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place back on the baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each one.
- Bake in separate batches at 350°F for 7-10 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Love snickerdoodles? Try my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles next!
Followed the recipe exactly- spooned and leveled flour, refrigerated dough, measured out cookie size, etc. and they still came out flat and a bit mushy in the middle. Had to extend the bake time on my second tray by 5 minutes and that seemed to help a bit, but they were still flat like pancakes :(. Any thoughts on what went wrong? The taste was great and these are hubby’s favorite cookie so I want them to be perfect!
So sorry to hear that, Kristen! Did you make sure to just measure out a tablespoon of dough? I find that anything larger than that tends to bake up a little flatter. Or do you think the dough was too warm when you put it in the oven? I’m glad you liked the taste of the cookies!
I had the same issue with the cookies coming out flat – I divided the dough so I would get exactly 48 cookies and had the balls chilled before baking – still flatter than a pancake 🙁
I’m honestly not sure what could be happening, I’ve never had any issues with these cookies spreading too much. Did you make any changes to the recipe? Do you think the cookie dough was too warm before you put it into the oven?
@Sue
Do you think maybe that even after you chilled your dough, your room temperature was a tad warmer than normal?
This has happened to me a few times and I think maybe adjusting your kitchen temperature or working a bit faster might help.
P.S. I love these cookies!! These just became my new birthday tradition!!
I made these for my friends and they loved them! I got asked for the recipe multiple times and everyone thought I was a baking legend. 10/10 would recommend.
Our family loved these cookies. I can’t bake them fast enough for them. My problem is the cookies didn’t flatten enough. They turned out delicious, just more round than inexpected. I had the same problem earlier this month making PB blossoms. Might be my ingredients? We loved the flavor regardless. Thank you!!
So glad your family liked the cookies, Steve! If you find that the cookies aren’t flattening, you can skip the dough chilling or just slightly flatten them before you bake them and that should help.
This was my first try at Snickerdoodles, turned out great. It was so delicious and my family loved it. I used my smallest cookie scooper and only got 41 in total. Question though…some of the cookies have cracks on the edge…did I over cook it? When I did 7 mins it was too soft so I baked it for another 3 mins total of 10 mins. May I would try 8 mins. I have it on convection btw, not sure if that made a difference. Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you for sharing your recipe
So glad you liked the cookies, Mari! If the cookies cracked on the edges it’s likely that they were baked a little too long. I would try reducing your baking time 1-2 minutes and that should help.
Were they hard and flat? Snickerdoodles are naturally flatter cookies. I have never had one that wasn’t flat. I also did not refrigerate the dough and it came out perfect soft in the middle.
One thing you should keep in mind is that cookies will continue baking for a few minutes after you take them out of the oven as they are still hot and continue to absorb heat from the pan. It’s okay if they’re still soft when they first come out, they’ll firm up after a few minutes. The best way to tell if your cookies are done is to stick a toothpick in them. If the pick comes out clean then they’re ready to leave the oven, if dough is clinging to it then leave them in for a while longer.
Hi! Planning to make these for Xmas. Can I prepare and the dough and keep it refrigerated, for about 2 days, until I’m ready to bake them?
Yes, that would be fine. If it’s too hard to scoop you can leave it on the counter for 20-30 minutes and that should help. Or you can go ahead and scoop the cookie dough balls and cover them tightly until you’re ready to bake them.
I have never commented on a blog that I got a recipe before but these were sooooo fantastic! I had to say something. I made mine a bit bigger and subbed the tartar for baking powder but they still turned out AMAZING! Thank you for an awesome recipe. I’m bookmarking it!
So glad you liked the cookies, Nicole!
I made these a couple days before Christmas and my husband had most of them eaten before Christmas Eve. Will make this recipe again they are a big hit! I used green and red sugar instead of regular white sugar for a festive decoration.
Such a fun idea, Andrea! So glad you liked the cookies!
These are fantastic! I did have to extend my baking time by 3 min, but they are plump and soft as described…not flat at all. The flavor is perfect. I did keep them pretty small because I have a small scoop, but I doubled the size for the last dozen and they still cooked up really nicely. Thanks for the recipe!
My dough is gooey, too sticky to roll. I followed the recipe and chilled it longer than 30 minutes. Leveled my flour, I did add extra vanilla because I used imitation rather than pure vanilla. Gonna let it chill longer. But if that doesnt work how bad would adding more flour be?
I don’t find this cookie dough to be too sticky, but I don’t think the extra vanilla you used would cause that. If you chill the cookie dough longer that should help make it easier to work with. I would bake a test cookie and see how it looks before adding any flour to the dough. If the cookies turn out pretty flat then you may want to incorporate a little more flour, maybe 2-4 tablespoons.
These cookies are excellent! New favorite recipe, will absolutely be making them again.
I have made snicker doodles all my life! But I have never ever made one as good as these!!!!
I have Shared these with all my family and boy howdy was it at big hit!!!! Every one said they were The best they had ever had….
So happy to hear that, Sandra!
This was my first attempt at the Snickerdoodle and I cannot tell you how happy I am with this AND all of my peeps! I have a TON of compliments and have even been asked to share the recipe! I did of course so thank you thank you thank you!
So glad they turned out great for you, Gwendolyn!
If i just want to make half of the batch in the recipe, how many eggs should be used?
Because of the egg yolk, this recipe doesn’t halve very well. I would suggest making the full recipe and then freezing any leftover cookie dough. You can bake the balls of cookie dough from frozen for an additional 1-2 minutes.
I see many people had problems with flat cookies myself included. My problem I discovered was old baking soda. hope that helps.
Thanks for sharing, Alan!
Still baking, so far my family loves them. However they are a little too plump lol. I was hoping they would spread out a bit. They are delicious!! My 2 year old gave it two thumbs up!
Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? If so, try slightly flattening them before you put them in the oven and that should help. I’m glad you liked the cookies though!
Could I add toffee to this recipe and how much would you recommend?
Do you mean toffee baking bits? If so, I would start with about 1 cup and then add more if needed.
Yes, toffee baking bits. Thank you for your advice! I can’t wait to try these. 🙂
My cookie dough was very crumbly so i added more butter then they hardly flattened out at all
Sorry to hear that, Shauna. Did you make sure to spoon & level the flour?
Best snickerdoodles I have ever made! I followed the recipe to a T, with the exception of adding a little sea salt on top prior to baking. Thank you for the tips on measuring flour, adding brown sugar and chilling the cookies. I have made MANY cookies for my husband, and hands down, he said these were the BEST cookies I had ever made for him, period. And it was for his birthday. Thank you so much!!!!
So happy to hear that, Ashley!
Oh, so good. My husband was eating them as I was putting them on the racks to cool!! Recipe is perfect. Followed it to a T.
Thank you, Joanne! Glad to hear that!
I haven’t made the recipe yet but I was wondering if you could include a calorie count per snickerdoodle as it would be useful for those out there who need to watch their weight!
I don’t typically add nutritional information since it can vary some based on which products you use. I would suggest plugging everything into an app or website like My Fitness Pal to get a more accurate estimate.
First time making snickerdoodles- turned out great. Thanks for the recipe 💕
I recently made these and shared them at work. They were gone in nothing flat!!! Everyone complimented on them. Making them again today. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe!!
So glad everyone liked the cookies, Carol!
My daughter and I made these for my wife. We substituted 1:1 Gluten Free baking flour and they still turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Perferct cookies. Made them for my girlfriend as snickerdoodles are her favorite cookies. And these here are her absolute favorite. Question isnthere a way to add cocoa powder to the cookie mix without messing anything up? Or not even attempt thank you for the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe ever😊😊
I haven’t tried it, but you may be able to replace some of the flour with cocoa powder (maybe 1/3-1/2 cup).
Great recipe but I accidentally left out the brown sugar and I think they were perfect without it. I’ve made many recipes looking for my perfect snickerdoodle and I’m so glad I found this one!
Wowzers these were AMAZING!! They turned out perfect! No issues with the dough. These are officially my sons new favorite cookie and trust me, he is not easy to please. My new go to snickerdoodle recipe!
Just tried this recipe and made Snickerdoodles for the very first time. Followed your recipe to the letter and they turned out perfect! I am very pleased. They look beautiful, have the right amount of softness and chew. They taste even more delicious than I expected. I am taking them to as part of a hostess gift to a friend’s house tomorrow. I think they will enjoy them. I let my husband try a few and he loves them. Thanks!
So happy to hear that, Arell!