Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe 

My daughters love baking cookies with me, and lately my oldest has been asking for a snickerdoodle cookie recipe — and who am I to say no to a request like that?

Snickerdoodles are a classic for a reason. Soft, chewy, coated in cinnamon sugar… it’s just basic cookie goodness.

They’re also one of the best cookies to make with kids because there are so many hands-on moments. Rolling the dough into balls, tossing them in cinnamon sugar, sneaking bites along the way… it’s the kind of baking that feels messy in the best way.

This soft and chewy snickerdoodle cookie recipe is easy to make, cozy, and perfect for making memories with your kids alongside the cookies.

Why You’ll Love These Snickerdoodle Cookies

• soft and chewy texture
• cozy cinnamon sugar flavor
• simple pantry ingredients
• fun to make with kids
• easy classic cookie recipe
• perfect for holidays or cozy weekends at home

What Is a Snickerdoodle?

Snickerdoodles are classic cinnamon-sugar-coated cookies with a soft texture and a slightly tangy flavor thanks to the cream of tartar.

(Unless you completely forget to add the cream of tartar like I did 😅)

The biggest difference between sugar cookies and snickerdoodles is the signature cinnamon-sugar coating and the slight tanginess. They’re simple, nostalgic, and one of those recipes that never really goes out of style.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Dry Ingredients

• Flour
• Sugar
• Light Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Baking Soda
• Cream of Tartar
• Cinnamon

Wet Ingredients

• Butter
• Eggs
• Vanilla

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• Cinnamon
• Sugar

How to Make This Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

Step 1 — Prep the Oven & Baking Sheet

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep your baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. 

Step 2 — Make the Cookie Dough

Start by creaming your butter. Ideally, your butter is softened beforehand… but if you’re like me and forget to pull it out ahead of time, I just microwave mine in short 15–20 second increments and flip it around until it softens enough. Is it the “correct” baking method? Probably not. Does it still work? Absolutely.

Add in both sugars and mix until smooth, then add the eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cream of tartar. (And maybe don’t leave the cream of tartar sitting on the counter like I did 🙃)

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully combined. Just don’t overmix the dough.

Step 3 — Mix Cinnamon Sugar

Mix your sugar and cinnamon mixture together in a small bowl until evenly blended.

Step 4 — Roll Dough Balls in Cinnamon Sugar

Make slightly larger balls, about 1.5 – 2 inch diameter.  Roll them into spheres and then toss them in your cinnamon sugar.   Add to your baking pan.  For larger cookies I usually do 3 x 4 cookies so they have about 2 inches of space between them.

Step 5 — Bake Until Soft & Set

Bake for 9–11 minutes. I usually start checking around 10 minutes.

You want the cookies to look mostly done but still slightly soft in the center. Once you pull them out, let them sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes so they can finish setting up.

Then comes my favorite part — the double dip.

While the cookies are still warm, toss them back into the cinnamon sugar for an extra coating. You can coat just the tops or both sides depending on how cinnamon-sugary you want them. 

Step 6 — Cool & Enjoy

Cool the rest of the way on a wire rack after their second dip into the cinnamon sugar and enjoy.

Tips for Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles

The biggest thing? Don’t overbake them.

For soft and chewy cookies, you want the centers to still look slightly underdone when you pull them out of the oven. They’ll continue setting up on the baking sheet while they cool.

Cookie size also matters. Larger bakery-style cookies may need closer to 11 minutes and more spacing on the baking sheet, while smaller cookies may only need 8–9 minutes.

And don’t skip the double dip in cinnamon sugar after baking. It makes the cookies extra cozy, extra cinnamon-y, and prettier too.

Variations to Try

One of my favorite things about baking cookies is that once you have a good base recipe, like this snickerdoodle cookie recipe, you can have fun with it.

You can brown the butter first for a richer flavor, add white chocolate chips, or mix in butterscotch chips like my daughter kept requesting while we were baking these 😅

You could also make smaller mini snickerdoodles for little bite-sized cookies, or make larger bakery-style cookies if you want them extra soft in the center.

Even simple things like adding extra cinnamon sugar on top or turning them into ice cream sandwiches would be delicious.

If you try a fun variation, let me know because now I want to see what combinations people come up with 😂 

How to Store Snickerdoodle Cookies

The ideal storage method is obviously a beautiful aesthetic cookie jar.

But realistically? Mine usually end up in whatever Tupperware container is clean… or a Ziploc bag shoved on the counter.

As long as they’re stored airtight, they’ll stay soft for several days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do snickerdoodles use cream of tartar?

Cream of tartar gives snickerdoodles their classic slightly tangy flavor and helps create that soft, chewy texture. It also reacts with the baking soda to help the cookies rise properly and stay soft instead of turning crispy.

That said… full transparency 😅 I accidentally forgot to add it when I made this batch, and they still turned out delicious. They tasted a little less tangy and more like a cinnamon sugar cookie, but nobody in my house was complaining.

What makes snickerdoodles soft?

The biggest thing that keeps snickerdoodles soft is slightly underbaking them. You want the centers to still look a little soft when you pull them out of the oven because they’ll continue baking on the pan while they cool.

Using enough butter and not overmixing the dough also helps keep the texture soft and chewy.

Can I freeze snickerdoodle dough?

Yes! Snickerdoodle dough freezes really well.

I recommend rolling the dough into balls first, then freezing them on a baking sheet before transferring them to a freezer bag or container. When you’re ready to bake, let them sit out for a few minutes, roll them in cinnamon sugar, and bake as normal.

Why did my cookies flatten?

Usually flat cookies happen because:

• the butter was too melted
• the dough got too warm
• there wasn’t enough flour
• or the baking sheet was overcrowded

If your kitchen is warm, chilling the dough for 20–30 minutes before baking can help keep the cookies thicker.

Are snickerdoodles the same as sugar cookies?

Not quite. Snickerdoodles are similar to sugar cookies, but they have a cinnamon sugar coating and traditionally use cream of tartar, which gives them their signature tangy flavor and chewy texture.

Sugar cookies are usually sweeter, softer, and more buttery without the cinnamon coating.

More Easy Dessert Recipes

Internal links:

• Oatmeal Cookies
• The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
• Easter Blossom Cookies
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sourdough Discard Banana Bread

Baking Memories > Perfect Cookies 

Baking with my girls is genuinely one of my favorite things to do.

Maybe it’s old-fashioned, but I really do think homemade cookies and baking with your mom are part of a good childhood. My girls love helping in the kitchen, and even though it always takes longer and makes a bigger mess, it’s one of those things that feels worth slowing down for.

In a world where everything revolves around screens, using your hands to create something together feels really special.

And this is mom life. The imperfections are part of the memory too.

Sometimes baking with kids means flour everywhere, uneven cookie sizes, and forgetting ingredients until it’s way too late to fix it — like when I realized the cream of tartar was still sitting on the counter after everything was already mixed 😅

But the cookies still turned out delicious, the girls had fun, and the memories mattered more than making the “perfect” batch anyway.

If you’re looking for an easy recipe to bake with your kids, this snickerdoodle cookie recipe is such a fun place to start 🤍