This Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles recipe is easy to whip up in your kitchen and requires no chill time! That means you can enjoy these soft-baked, cinnamon-spiced cookies in just 25 minutes!
As far as classic cookies go, this snickerdoodles recipe is up there as one of my favourites. What is not to love about a cinnamon-spiced, pillowy-soft cookie?
These cookies are incredibly soft and tender. No flat and crispy cookies here. Just tender and super delicious cookies that are far too easy to make disappear quickly! It is seriously impossible to stop at just one. If you love cookies with soft and chewy textures, you are also going to love my Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies!
Not only do these snickerdoodles disappear quickly around here, but they are also super quick to whip up! Just 25 minutes are needed.
No seriously, that’s it. 25 minutes! This recipe requires no chill time at all so before you know it, you have a plateful of cookies in front of you.
So put on the kettle, and get ready to enjoy a batch of delicious cookies with your tea in less than half an hour. Let’s get baking!
Why you should make these snickerdoodle cookies
- These cinnamon spiced cookies are delicious!
- This snickerdoodles recipe takes just 25 minutes to make!
- You do not need to chill the dough.
- As far as cookie recipes go, these are pretty darn easy!
- This recipe makes soft and chewy cookies.
- What better way is there to use up that cream of tartar in your pantry?
- These cookies will stay soft for days, which makes them perfect for baking ahead for potlucks or gifting to friends and family.
Ingredients in this snickerdoodles recipe
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar is used in the cookie dough as well as to roll the cookies in before baking.
- Butter: softened, room temperature butter.
- Egg: This recipe uses just 1 large egg.
- Vanilla extract: adds flavour to the cookies.
- Flour: regular all-purpose flour.
- Cream of tartar: It wouldn’t be a classic snickerdoodle without it! Cream of tartar acts as a leavener in the place of baking powder. It provides a slightly tangy flavour to the cookies and also helps achieve that chewy texture that make these cookies so good!
- Baking soda: Also acts as a leavener.
- Ground cinnamon: used in both the cookie dough as well in the cinnamon-sugar coating.
- Salt: enhances the flavour of sweets.
Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make soft and chewy snickerdoodles
1. Combine the wet ingredients: In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl using a hand mixer), add the sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. Stir the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated (be careful not to over-mix).
4. Roll the dough into balls. Using a cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons), scoop out a portion of dough and roll into a ball.
5. Roll them in cinnamon sugar. Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a small bowl. Dip the dough balls in it and roll them to cover with sugar.
6. Bake and cool. Place onto the parchment paper leaving about a 2 inch space between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they begin to turn a nice golden brown around the edges and the tops begin to crack. Allow them too cool completely on the baking sheet.
Tips for making this snickerdoodles recipe
- Don’t over-mix your dough. As with all baking, over-mixing will result in tougher texture. To keep these soft, its important to mix in the dry ingredients and then stop once they are fully incorporated.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies. If you love the soft and chewy texture of snickerdoodles, then be careful not to over bake the cookies! I bake them for about 10 minutes so that they are just a bit under-baked. This helps them get that chewy texture.
- The cookies will look puffy at first. Okay this is not so much a tip, but more of a heads up. If you are looking to achieve the crinkly tops like you see in my photos, don’t expect them out of the oven. When the cookies come out of the oven, they will look puffed up. Once they begin cooling, they will start to deflate and get those crinkles.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan. When they are fresh out of the oven, the cookies will be super soft and impossible to scoop up with a spatula. There is no need to transfer them to a cooling rack. In order to avoid them breaking, I let them cool completely on the baking sheet. Once they are cooled, they can be handled much easier.
- Freeze unbaked dough balls. This recipe makes 24-30 cookies but that doesn’t mean you have to bake them up all at once. Go ahead and freeze some of the unbaked dough balls for future treats. For tips on how to do this, see my section on freezing this snickerdoodles recipe below.
How to store snickerdoodles
Leftover, cooled snickerdoodles can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If stored this way, they will remain soft and chewy for a few days.
Can you freeze snickerdoodles?
Yes, you can definitely freeze snickerdoodles. You can freeze both baked and unbaked cookies.
To freeze baked cookies, allow them to cool and then place them in a freezer safe container or bag.
To freeze unbaked cookies, roll the snickerdoodles into balls and then arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Pop the baking sheet in the freezer until the dough balls have frozen. Then transfer the dough balls in a freezer bag or container.
Freezing them this way is a great way to prep for the holiday season in our house. I whip up a couple batches and store the unbaked dough in the freezer until I am ready to bake the cookies. Then I can just pop out as many dough balls as I need when the time comes.
When you are ready to bake the snickerdoodles, allow them to thaw completely and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar coating before baking.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! I personally love these with a hot cup of tea, Hot Chocolate, or my personal favourite around the holidays, Gingerbread Latte!
Enjoy!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Gingerbread Cookies
Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies (Alfajores)
Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup butter room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup flour all purpose
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For rolling cookies:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl using a hand mixer), add the sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.
- Stir the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated (be careful not to over-mix).
- Using a cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons), scoop out a portion of dough and roll into a ball.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a small bowl. Dip the dough balls in it and roll them to cover with sugar.
- Place onto the parchment paper leaving about a 2 inch space between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they begin to turn a nice golden brown around the edges and the tops begin to crack. [Note: the cookies will look puffy at first but will begin to flatten and get more crinkly as they cool.]
- Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
This is a great base recipe. I adjusted it to be gluten free and reduced the amount of cinnamon in the cookie. But they turned out amazing!!
So happy you enjoyed them! Glad they work out as a gluten free cookie too! Did you use an all-purpose gluten free flour mix?
I made these cookies, because I love snickerdoodles, the taste was good but did not “sink” as yours did. I didn’t want to leave in the oven for fear they would dry out. I baked on center rack as I do all my cookies and breads. Was just surprised I guess.
I always underbake them a bit so they are soft and gooey in the middle. When they come out of the oven they look puffy at first but as they cool, they deflate and get the crinkled look to them. It’s possible your oven runs a bit hotter than mine so they baked up firmly. You could try taking them out of the oven just a bit earlier to see if that helps.