If you’ve been on the hunt for the perfect Snickerdoodle, your search ends here. These soft and chewy cookies are everything a Snickerdoodle should be—pillowy centers, crisp edges, and that signature tangy cinnamon-sugar coating that makes them absolutely irresistible. They’re easy to whip up and perfect for everything from holiday cookie plates to everyday sweet cravings. This classic recipe delivers bakery-style results with minimal effort, making it a must-save for your collection.
Want to make one giant Snickerdoodle? You’ve got to try this.
Ingredients & Equipment Needed
- sugar
- ground cinnamon
- all-purpose flour
- cream of tartar
- baking soda
- salt – if you’re using salted butter, you can omit this!
- butter
- vegetable shortening
- eggs
- beater blade – if you have a Kitchen Aid, one of these is a must!
How to Make Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- Preheat oven to 375°F; line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- Mix ¼ cup sugar with cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside.
- Whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat butter, shortening, and remaining 1½ cups sugar until light and fluffy (3–6 mins).
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping bowl as needed.
- On low speed, mix in dry ingredients until just combined; stir to ensure no flour remains. The dough is very soft; but whatever you do, don’t add more flour!
- Roll 2 tablespoons of dough into balls, coat in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
- Bake one sheet at a time for 10–12 mins, until edges are set but centers look slightly underdone.
- Cool on pan for 10 mins, then transfer to wire rack. Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.
Storage & Other Tips
- The dough is very soft; it’s supposed to be that way, don’t add more flour.
- These cookies spread quite a lot, so give them space.
- Cooking time here is pivotal; if you overcook these Snickerdoodles they will be “thin and crispy” instead of “soft and chewy”. The trick is to watch the edges first; they should be just set, but the centers should still look raw between all of those cinnamon cracks. The cookies will be pillowy and puffy looking while in the hot oven, and when they come out they’ll start to fall, which is what they’re supposed to do! That’s how they get those beautiful crackly tops. After they’ve cooled, they’ll flatten out even more and those slightly under-cooked centers become perfectly cooked and yield a soft, chewy, buttery, interior.
- Store in an airtight container for 3 – 5 days at room temperature, or freeze for 1 – 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Shortening plays a key role in this cookie. Combined with the butter it gives optimal texture while allowing the flavor of the butter to come through. If you leave the shortening out, cookies will spread more, have a crispier texture, and lack chewiness.
Yes! Cream of tartar gives Snickerdoodles their signature tangy flavor and chewy texture. Substituting it will change the flavor and consistency. If you don’t like cream of tartar, then guess what? You don’t like Snickerdoodles! Make a sugar cookie instead.
That’s actually what you want! Pull them from the oven when the edges are set and the centers look slightly underdone—they’ll finish setting as they cool.
Technically yes. Scoop dough balls, freeze on a tray, then transfer to a bag. Bake straight from frozen—just add an extra minute or two. However, I always recommend cookie dough be baked fresh.
Yes, this recipe doubles well—just be sure not to overcrowd your mixing bowl and baking sheets.
Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt omit if using salted butter
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 stick, softened to room temperature
- 8 tablespoons vegetable shortening
- 2 eggs large
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon in shallow dish and set aside. Whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.
- Beat butter, shortening, and remaining 1 ½ cups sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
- Reduce speed of mixer to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give dough final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain.
- Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls. Working in batches, roll dough balls in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time until edges of cookies are set and just barely beginning to brown, but centers are still soft and puffy, about 10-12 minutes. The cookies should look raw between the cracks and seem underdone.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
Questions & Reviews
I just made these for our PTA’s Literacy Night Bake Sale. I used 1/2 cup unsalted butter and 1/2 cup coconut oil. Plus I made them into gigantic cookies (4-5″)across because I don’t always want to spend all my time putting cookie sheets in and out of the oven. The recipe made 12 gigantic cookies and one regular sized cookie for product control consumption-YUM.
I am going to a cookie exchange and want to bake these. But the host is askign for 7 dozen cookies!! Do you think the cookies will turn out if I make them smaller to try to get 7 dozen out of 2 batches? I am assuming I should shorten the cooking time by a couple of minutes. I just don’t want them to turn out overly crispy. Or should I multiply the recipe?
This IS the Snickerdoodle I hadn’t been able to replicate from my childhood.
Exactly as pictured – really delicious. Funny how just tiny differences make such a difference. Thank you.
I made these cookies tonight for a cookie swap party, they were delicious. I don’t know if there will be any left for the party. Will probably have to make another couple batches Thanks for sharing your recipe.
These were by far the best cookies I have ever had! But I’m curious with the holidays coming… Do you think there’s anyways I could make them into Pumpkin Snickerdoodles?
I recommend subbing pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon- I would not recommend adding pumpkin puree, it will drastically change the texture of the cookie and turn it cakey.
High altitude? Any change in the recipe? My mom tried to make some snickerdoodles yesterday with my son and they turned out kind of hard but didn’t spread… Any advice on what went wrong so I can send my mom some good snickerdoodles? Gotta out do grandma ya know.
If they didn’t spread, I’d say there was a mis-measurement somewhere. I’m not really sure, sorry!
Made them. And loved them. Thanks!!
I know I’m a girl and I’m already blissfully married, but I still feel the need to marry you so you can make me these cookies! 🙂
Thanks for the cream of tartar lesson. I have always used it without knowing a thing about it.
Sara, I did not have shortening so I went ahead and used 2 sticks of butter. Because u said they may turn out hard I used a little trick that I had learned with making chocolate chip cookies. Instead of putting the baking sofa in with dry ingredients I mixed the 1 tsp. baking soda with 2 tsp. hot tap water until the baking soda is dissolved. Then mixed it in with the wet ingredients. The cookies came out fantastic!
Really yummy! The cream of tartar made a huge difference. I’m happy I found a chewy cookie recipe that followed through especially in my crappy old oven.
I will be making these forever! Thanks!