Best Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe (2024)

This recipe is great for Soft and chewy classic Snickerdoodle cookies with crisp edges. They are coated with cinnamon and sugar. I include a special unique tip for making the perfect cookies every time.

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What is a Snickerdoodle?

You might think a Snickerdoodle is simply a sugar cookie, dusted with cinnamon and sugar…Well not exactly. The one defining ingredient which differentiates it from its sister sugar cookie is Cream of Tartar. If it doesn’t have Cream of Tartar, it’s really just a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon and sugar, not a Snickerdoodle. The origin is thought to be with the Pennsylvania Dutch. They said it's from the German word Schneckennudeln (lit. “snail noodles”) but others claim it’s simply a New England cookie with a “fanciful name.”

Let's look at a Pastry snail recipe and you can decide. This recipe comes from the Go-To, for German Cookbooks, Lüchow's.

What is Cream of Tartar?

Have you ever dipped your finger in some Cream of Tartar? It's tart and has a similar taste to baking soda. Cream of Tartar is a natural substance that is derived from crystals that form in the casks during the fermentation process of grape juice. However, I think it’s safe to say that Cream of Tartar is non-alcoholic! It will help to stabilize a baked good that contains egg whites.

I’ve tried a few recipes that claim to be the best, but every good vintage recipe can be better, and I hope that is what I’ve achieved here in my salute to the Snickerdoodle.

The Standard Ingredients

I like to use a butter and shortening combination for some baked goods, so I tend to favor recipes that use both. One of my favorite cookie recipes is here on the site and we use both for that recipe as well. Natural Peanut Butter Cookies.

The original recipe I worked on is a typical one found in cookbooks and online. It calls for two eggs, which I thought left the cookie with too much of an egg-scented essence, so I removed one yolk and reduced the flour. There were also two teaspoons of Cream of Tartar, which I thought overpowered the overall cookie.

It had an equal part butter and shortening component, which works well in some cookies but in this case, the cookies were hard by the end of the day. I increased the shortening and decreased the butter to leave us with a soft center and buttery crisp edge that is less greasy. A cookie that is too greasy is not suitable for dipping in tea or coffee!

I’ve tried a few recipes that claim to be the best, but every good vintage recipe can be better, and I hope that is what I’ve achieved here in my salute to the Snickerdoodle.

Instructions Preview

1. Cream together shortening, softened butter, and vanilla extract. Use a fork if you don't have a mixer.

2. Add one egg, plus one egg white to the mixture. Gradually add sugar. Stir and set aside.

3. Sift dry ingredients together in another bowl. (Flour, salt, cream of tartar, baking soda) With a spoon, stir the dry and the wet together to make dough.

4. Dip dough balls halfway into a cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on a baking mat or parchment-lined baking sheet. (Or a greased cookie sheet if you prefer.) Place the side without sugar, down. Bake as directed. For complete instructions, print the recipe and watch the video.

Sugar Burns Faster - Important Tip*

Finally, the instructions in every recipe I reviewed, say to roll the whole ball in cinnamon and sugar. In that method, the bottoms were easily scorched because of the sugar. For best results, just roll the top part of the cookie in the sugar mixture. Here is what happens when you roll the whole ball in sugar. These were baked together, for the same amount of time.

I hope you will enjoy a little classic cookie flavor from the past! Check out the video and recipe below!

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