Active Time
15 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Whether you like your snickerdoodle cookies cakey or chewy, this recipe has you covered. The secret to changing up their texture lies in how long you beat the cookie batter. For classic snickerdoodles with a cakey bite, beat for a full 3 minutes after adding the eggs (set a timer: it’s longer than you think). This aerates the dough, leading to a striking crackly surface. For chewy snickerdoodle cookies, beat for just 30 seconds; their centers will be slightly more dense, preferable to some, and equally lovable in our books.
Either way, our snickerdoodle cookie recipe minimizes prep time by calling for melted butter (i.e., no waiting around for softened). Cream of tartar gives them their signature tangy flavor. As for the other ingredients, there aren’t many, so choose wisely: Seek out a warm, potent cinnamon (we like this one from Burlap & Barrel) and a plump, shiny vanilla bean (if you can’t find one, substitute 1 tsp. ground vanilla or 1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste or high-quality vanilla extract).
No need to refrigerate the dough: Just let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes to firm up before scooping. Roll the cookie dough balls in cinnamon-sugar and give the buttery beauties plenty of room on your cookie sheet since they’ll spread quite a bit. These blonde cookies shouldn’t take on much color; don’t be tempted to leave them in the oven, lest you wind up with crispy cookies, which is not the vibe here. If you have extras—we doubt you’ll have extras—store them in an airtight container or pack them in holiday cookie tins. ’Tis the season for sharing.
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What you’ll need
Electric Mixer
$40 At Amazon
Silicone Spatula
$13 At Amazon
#30 Cookie Scoop
$13 At Amazon
Wire Cooling Rack
$18 At Amazon
Ingredients
Makes about 32
2½
2
1
¾
1
½
1
1
2
1
Preparation
Step 1
Whisk flour, 2½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, and ¾ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium speed (a stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer are both fine), beat 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly, ½ cup (packed; 100 g) light brown sugar, and 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar in a large bowl, scraping down sides, until incorporated. Scrape in seeds from 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise; reserve pod for another use.
Step 2
Add 2 large eggs, room temperature, and continue to beat until mixture is pale yellow, begins to thicken, and falls from beaters in a ribbon-like stream, about 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and continue to beat, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl, until just combined. Let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes to fully hydrate dry ingredients; dough will be very loose but will thicken as it sits.
Step 3
Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon and remaining 2 Tbsp. (25 g) granulated sugar in a small bowl.
Step 4
Using a 1-oz. ice cream scoop or a generous, heaping tablespoonful, portion cookies and roll into 1½" balls. Toss in cinnamon-sugar mixture until well coated. Transfer to prepared sheet, spacing about 3" apart. Do not flatten; cookies will spread as they bake.
Step 5
Bake cookies until edges are lightly browned and firm but centers are puffed and soft, 8–10 minutes. Let cool on sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Do ahead: Cookie dough can be made 3 days ahead; cover and chill. Let dough come to room temperature before portioning and coating in cinnamon-sugar.
Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in April 2017. Head this way for more of our favorite cookies for the holidays, including our Ultimate Sugar Cookies and BA’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies →
Leave a Review
Reviews (133)
Back to TopDelicious once I cut back the cream of tartar from 1 tsp. to 3/4 tsp. With the full 1 tsp, the cookies had a weird aftertaste.
Amanda
Baltimore, MD
1/8/2024
This is a great recipe - but the written instructions left out the cream of tartar! And I forgot to put in the cream of tartar... which makes a difference. Love this cookie very tasty.
Anonymous
Halifax, NS
12/4/2023
I’m a beginner when it comes to cookie making, so I’m not comfortable making deviations in recipes yet. I followed the recipe exactly, but I need some help figuring out what went wrong! 1) When I got done putting everything together, I was left over with the Cream of Tartar. The recipe doesn’t say when to add it, so I had to add it at the end. Does it go in with the other dry stuff? 2) I weigh all my ingredients. Could you please add the metric conversion for the flour? I had to Google it. 3) The dough was so hard to work with after 30 minutes of sitting at room temperature (71F/22C-ish). So I put it in the fridge for another 30, and it was a little better. 4) The dough spread so far! I ended up with 4”-5” cookies. It didn’t have any of that nice crackling on top. My butter was not even warm. My oven temperature is even. I’m not sure what I did incorrectly. 🥲
Jinhee
Hampton, VA
10/15/2023
Yum!! Since this made soooo manyyyy cookies, I brought them to a picnic and then froze the leftovers. Pulled some out for a road trip the next week and they were just as yummy! Great cookies to keep in the freezer- raw dough or after being baked!
JL
Patterson, NY
8/31/2023
The recipe doesn’t mention when to add the cream of tartar, except for the ingredient panel. I added the cream of tartar with the dry ingredients.
Anonymous
8/6/2023
These were great tasting but fell very flat. Followed the recipe to a T, and I wanted more of a cake like texture so I blended longer. They spread quite a bit and no cracks on the top. 3rd tray I chilled in fridge so they didn’t spread as much but I won’t be adding g these to my list to remake.
Anonymous
Ohio
7/30/2023
Followed the recipe to the tee and they came out perfectly. This cookie was delicious. Made them for a party and they went pretty fast. No stickiness and the dough was easy to handle. This is now my go to snickerdoodle recipe.
CD
New Orleans, LA
3/29/2023
I didn't have cream of tartar on hand, so I substituted the 2 tsp of cream of tartar for 3 tsp of baking powder. (Basically, 1.5tsp to replace each 1 tsp of cream of tartar). I also creamed the butter instead of melting it. Otherwise, the recipe turned out amazing!!! Exactly the kind of snickerdoodle that I was hoping form. Crisp and chewy at the edges, soft and buttery in the middle.
Taran
Seattle
3/29/2023
I subbed 1 TBS of vanilla extract for vanilla bean and reduced butter by 1 TBS. Was out of parchment so I used silicone mats; baked perfectly at 9 minutes. Less cracking than pictured, but delicious/perfect texture. Thank you! 😊
Stephanie Willett
Newburgh, IN
1/3/2023
omg so delicious. and I made the following mistakes: forgot 1/2 C of flour til after the "let batter rest for 30 minutes" period and then stirred it in, scraped out most of the seeds of a dried vanilla bean pod then got frustrated and concerned it wouldn't be enough so added a tablespoon of vanilla extract and then noticed all the vanilla bean flecks in the batter so there was probably double the amount of vanilla, got distracted while the butter cooled and by the time I mixed it in it had congealed a lot (so I'm thinking ghee woudl be fine). and they are DELICIOUS. Exactly 8 min in my oven. At first I worried about the batter being soft but then realized I had left out the 1/2C flour. Then it was definitely 'roll-able". Not enough cinnamon /sugar to cover all of them so I had to make more. I woudl actually try to do this the same way again and use both vanilla beans and extract, etc. They're thin and soft with slightly firmer edges. Love them. Cream of tartar makes an important difference I think, i wouldn't skip it.
Rebecca Hart
NYC
12/23/2022
Great recipe and follow the directions! I was almost not going to make these based on some reviews- I think it’s an important step to let the dough sit for 30 mins. Some reviews said the dough was too sticky to roll in the cinnamon sugar, but letting it sit, mine wasn’t sticky at all. I also popped a batch in the fridge for another 30 mins so it could scoop out more easily. These turned out great- classic flavor and my kids loved them!
Anonymous
Denver, Colorado
12/23/2022
Excellent recipe. I made the following modifications: * 1tbsp of vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean * Salted butter as I didn't have unsalted butter & I omitted the salt * I creamed the butter and sugar instead of melting it and adding the sugar * Sifted the flour after measuring it out * Not a modification but some have asked, I left the dough uncovered during it's rest Results: Delicious. The dough came together as dough by creaming the butter. Easy to work with. I had two sheets, one dark grey nonstick, one aluminum silver shiny. Both had parchment paper laid down. Both cooked well, but the dark sheet produced a darker, more cakey cookie with a little more crispy bottom. I suspect melting the butter and cooking on a dark pan sheet will work. The silver sheet pan spread the cookies out much more, leaving them maybe 1/4 inch thick. I ended up adding 2 minutes to the cooking time too, as they seemed to need it. YMMV. So the sheet seems to have a strong impact on the end result of your cookie. I'm happy I got half and half. Should make everyone happy. My cookies didn't crack very much. I got what I'd consider light cracking. I might stick the dough in the fridge for that 30 minute rest to cool it off some and keep it in the fridge between batches. Using a cookie scoop I got about 40 cookies as well. It's a big batch.
SW
CA
12/14/2022
Followed the instructions to-a-tee. Unfortunately, the dough was way too sticky even after adding extra cornstarch, and flour. (I also refrigerated it for half an hour) overall a big waste of time and I'm ultimately disappointed.
Anonymous
11/5/2022
Absolutely fabulous!
Roselle Dae
DMV
9/12/2022
made the recipe and turned out great. not sure why others had wrong consistency with their dough. this is a family favourite
Anonymous
ontario
9/3/2022