Here is my reader favorite recipe for soft and thick snickerdoodles. These soft-baked snickerdoodle cookies only require about 30 minutes start to finish!
Snickerdoodles are a timeless classic, just like a good batch of chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies. Like drop sugar cookies wrapped in a cinnamon sugar hug, these irresistible cookies never go out of style. My recipe yields the softest and thickest snickerdoodles you’ll ever taste. I like to call them snickerdoodle pillows because they are perfectly fat and puffy! Much too often you’re left with flat, crispy, and thin cookies. The only remedy is to submerge them in a tall glass of milk. But what about starting out with a kitchen tested recipe for soft-baked snickerdoodles? You’ve come to the right place. 🙂
How to Make Soft Snickerdoodles
How do you make snickerdoodles puffy and soft? The secret’s in the ratio of butter to leavener to flour to egg. Don’t use shortening here; you’ll miss the flavor of butter. Slightly under-baking the snickerdoodles also guarantees a softer cookie. Take them out of the oven after about 10-11 minutes. This will keep the interior of the cookie soft and chewy.
Why is Cream of Tartar in Snickerdoodles?
Instead of baking powder, use cream of tartar and baking soda in snickerdoodles. Sure, you could use 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of the cream of tartar + baking soda, but then you won’t really have a snickerdoodle. Cream of tartar adds a unique tangy flavor to the cookie, which sets it apart from sugar cookies and makes it a classic snickerdoodle. You also use it for the best flavor in maple pecan snickerdoodles. It’s absolutely delicious!
No Cookie Dough Chilling!
Great news! You can skip the cookie dough chilling step with this snickerdoodle recipe. There’s enough flour in this cookie dough to create a strong and sturdy cookie without the crutch of chilling the dough first. There’s also no fancy-pants ingredients required. These snickerdoodles are EASY. Shortbread cookies are another easy no chill recipe to keep in your back pocket.
A medium cookie scoop is helpful to divide up the dough. Roll each dough ball in cinnamon sugar, and arrange on a lined baking sheet:
These snickerdoodle cookies aced the true “soft test” meaning they remained soft on day 2! In fact, they were still soft on day 4. (And I’m surprised there are any leftover by that point, but I was trying to make a point!) Since they remain so soft, snickerdoodles are the perfect cookie for gift-giving. I know there are many snickerdoodle lovers out there!
If you’re looking for other snickerdoodle favorites, here are my pumpkin snickerdoodles, peanut butter snickerdoodles, chocolate snickerdoodles, and snickerdoodle blondies. And are you craving cake? Here’s my snickerdoodle cake & swirled snickerdoodle cupcakes recipes.
This recipe also joins 30+ others in my collection of Quick Dessert Recipes—ready in 1 hour or less!
Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 26-28 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Here is my reader favorite recipe for soft and thick snickerdoodles. These soft-baked snickerdoodle cookies only require about 30 minutes start to finish! No dough chilling required.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/3 cup (267g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (always recommended for cookies). Set aside.
- Make the cookies: Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough will be thick.
- Make the topping: Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of cookie dough each. I recommend this cookie scoop. Roll the dough balls in cinnamon-sugar topping. Sprinkle extra cinnamon-sugar on top if desired. Arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes. The cookies will be very puffy and soft. When they are still very warm, lightly press down on them with the back of a spoon or fork to help flatten them out. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies remain soft & fresh for 7 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: There are a few options here! First, you can prepare the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure that you let it come to room temperature before rolling and baking the cookies. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Roll the dough into balls then freeze the balls for up to 2-3 months. You can freeze the cookie dough balls with the cinnamon sugar coating or without, but I recommend freezing without the topping. When you are ready to bake, remove the balls from the freezer, let sit for 30 minutes, pre-heat the oven, then roll into topping. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is required for this recipe. Please see the text of the post for more information.
- Extra Egg Yolk: To bring this dough together so it isn’t quite as crumbly use 1 large egg, plus 1 extra large egg yolk. I’ve been doing this recently and the snickerdoodles taste even softer, moister, and richer.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These are clearly the BEST snickerdoodles ever, and my husband agrees, and he is a pastry chef!
If I could give you 10 stars, I would. I’m known as the baker to people who know me but one thing I could never seem to get a handle on, was the elusive Snickerdoodle cookie…..UNTIL NOW! I have had several recipe disasters with Snickerdoodles and had almost given up. Today, I found your recipe, read the reviews and began my journey of what I thought would be another disappointing cookie. I could not have been more pleased! They are incredible. I will say that my dough was initially very crumbly, but due to your responses in reviews, I knew to add one more egg. The other thing I would say is that one minute did make a difference in the fluffiness of the cookie. I got busy and actually added 1 minute to the final pan of cookies. This did lead to a flatter cookie but believe me, it did not change the amazing taste of this cookie! Thank you so much, Sally….I will be back for another recipe soon.
Without a doubt, the best snickerdoodle recipe. The additional sprinkling of cinnamon on top of the rolled balls really heightens they flavor of the cookie. Perfectly pillowy soft and chewy at the same time. Excellent. Thank you, Sally!
I live in South Korea and Cream of Tartar isn’t available here. Snickerdoodles have been requested by one of my husband’s homesick soldiers for the cookie drop. Don’t want to disappoint him. I’m seeing that lemon juice is an acceptable sub for CoT. Do you have any input or advice for me? Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Hi Michelle! You can leave the cream of tartar out or replace with a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Merry Christmas to you as well!
I just have to say I spent some time searching for a recipe and when I came across this one I was surprised that you didn’t have to use shorting. It was a must try and my goodness am I thankful I did! These are the best cookies I have eaten/made. Thank you so so much for sharing. My husband and kids looooved them. Definitely a keeper for my book.
Very good recipe, happy to report that the recipe also works great with only half the amount of sugar (in the dough) being used.
I love that you don’t have to chill the dough! These are incredible! Love all your recipes, Sally!
almost a 5 star, but I am not a good baker so I am certain it is my fault. they taste really good but came out very tiny they didn’t spread at all. i bet i had too much flour. flavor is spot on, texture is pretty good just look more like snowball cookies instead of snickerdoodles.
My Snickerdoodles just came out of the oven and they look and taste fantastic. Such an easy and quick recipe! Don’t know why I waited so long to try this recipe!
I absolutely love this recipe! I ended up using only 2 & 1/2 cups of flour I also added a hint of nutmeg and one tsp of eggnog and they were delicious!
I did not grow up with Snickerdoodles so really don’t have a basis to judge them on but I must say… these are the best I’ve ever made! I have made different recipes over the last 5 or 6 holiday seasons and while the family loves them (as they do every homemade cookie :D), Snickerdoodles, for me, have always seemed a little lackluster. Like, what’s all the fuss about? There were always cookies I’d rather have instead.
So, thank you, thank you, thank you, Sally, for really great recipes, all the wonderful tips and tricks. I love the one here about lightly pressing the cookies when they are still warm from the oven. This gave me very uniform, bakery-looking cookies AND helps more of the cinnamon sugar dusting stay on for neater eating. I had one with coffee this morning and they are still delicious on day 4!
All to say, this is a very good cookie recipe that has been written with the idea of the reader’s success in mind. Thank you again, Sally, for all you do for us.
These are the best snickerdoodles I have ever made or eaten! Crisp outside and soft inside. Thank you, Sally, so much for your delicious recipes!
Good morning Sally!
I’ve made your delicious snickerdoodles so many times before and they are a hit! Somehow this morning I got a little scatter brain and used two eggs instead of one.
Will the cookies still come out good?
Your recipes are much appreciated
Hi Ana, If the dough is already made, go ahead and bake one to test it out! They will likely spread more from having more liquid and will be a bit different in texture.
Saw this on your Instagram and had to try them after reading all the comments! These are the best snickerdoodles. Great flavor and very soft! We’re making another batch today! Thanks Sally!
I know that you recommend not freezing the dough with the topping, but is it okay to chill it for a few hours with the topping?
Absolutely. The cookie dough balls may not spread as much if they’re super cold though.
Hi! I apologize if this question was already asked, but I can’t read through all the comments. Can this recipe be doubled?
Sure can! Simply double all of the ingredients.
Can you use gluten free flour for this?
Hi Debbie, I haven’t tested these with gluten free flour but let me know if you try it!
I just made these using gluten free flour! They work pretty well but definitely take longer to bake. After 10 minutes mine were still very pale and raw but around five minutes longer seemed to work pretty well! I used the Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour.
Sally;
Hi,I just copied down your soft&thick snickerdoodles recipe and I love the picture of your cookies.
Is there a possibility that your snickerdoodle cookies can be made with swerve granules instead of sugar?I am a diabetic so regular sugar is very limited that I can use in recipes.I use stevia powder and liquid,agave,swerve products in my baking recipes.
Hi Kim, I have not tested this recipe with Swerve or any other sugar substitutes, but please let me know if you try it!
Made these today and they are absolutely the best snickerdoodle I’ve ever made. Thank you Sally for another terrific recipe…your recipes never disappoint!
I have made snickerdoodles before. They have been good. But they were not *this* good. Once again, Sally, you show why I always choose your recipe over anyone else’s!
I made these over the weekend and they turned out perfectly! I did have a bit of trouble mixing the last of the flour mixture in. I have a hand mixer and it was not up for the challenge. So I used a wooden spoon and then my hands to get the dough together, and it seemed to work out in the end. One of these days maybe I’ll finally get a stand mixer!
I made this recipe it tastes great! HOWEVER while making the batter I felt that it was too crumbly that i couldn’t even make them into balls and put on a tray so i added one more egg and the consistency was SO MUCH BETTER. On the tray I placed small balls and they ended up spreading I did not make them so small but smaller than the rest. The bigger balls didn’t flatten out as much. Also the snickerdoodles are veryyyyyy soft when they come out of the over so its kinda hard to tell if its ready but u just need to carefully check to see if the bottom is brown. The cookies came out crumbly but HARDEN AS THE COOL to where you can pick them up without crumbling. VERY GREAT RECIPE THANK YOU!
Great cookies! I followed the recipe exactly even after reading all the reviews of a crumbly dough. It did look crumbly at first but I just scraped the bowl down as instructed and it combined beautifully. Super tasty and easy cookie recipe, will definitely be making it onto my cookie plates this year!
Hi! I need 3 batches of these to give to our teachers at my son’s school. Will they turn out the same if I triple the recipe or would it be better to make 3 separate batches? Thanks for your help!
Hi Heather! For best taste and texture, I always recommend making separate batches. Doubling is OK for these, but tripling could affect the final result.
Hi,
I love this recipe but im dying to make them with pumpkin. Any recommendations on how I could do that? Thank you
Hi Carla! Here is my pumpkin snickerdoodles recipe. Feel free to leave out the white chocolate chips.
I am a cinnamon lover and can’t believe I have never made Snickerdoodles! These are my new favorite cookie! They came out perfectly, big, soft, thick and so much cinnamon flavor! Says later, there’s only a few left and they’re still soft & yummy! This recipe is a keeper!
I just made these. Exactly as your recipe calls. They turned out fabulous. Thank you. Oh so easy, oh so good.
Sally, if I wanted to turn these into cookie bars and press the dough into a 9×13-inch pan, should I 1.5x or double the recipe, or use as is? I would like the bars to be pretty thick…and how long would you estimate the bake time to be (same oven temperature I presume)? I was thinking of covering them with homemade caramel sauce for an extra special treat 🙂 Also, to be aure they are soft and thick instead of crispy, would you suggest adding a teaspoon or two of cornstarch to the dough? Thanks, Sally!
Hi Erin! Happy to help. I recommend 1.5x the recipe for a nice thick batch of snickerdoodle cookie bars. No need to add cornstarch as the bars would be pretty soft as is. (However, feel free to add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with the dry ingredients if desired.) Same oven temperature. The bake time will be about 35 minutes, but that’s just as estimate. Keep your eye on them.
These cookies are so delicious! They were crumbly as dough, but I followed your direction and they came together nicely when baked. But, they became very hard, within a day. What should I do to keep them soft. I had stored them in a gallon ziploc bag.
Thanks!
Hi Lindsay! My recommendation to keep cookies soft is to store them in a tightly closed container with a slice of plain bread– nothing crazy flavored or anything. The cookies soak up the moisture from the bread, it’s incredible! I swear by this.