Snickerdoodles. Those delicious, yet simple, cookies. And in my opinion the best type of snickerdoodles are soft and chewy snickerdoodles.
I manged to live most of my life without ever having tried a snickerdoodle. Crazy really. It was only a few years ago when I tried to find a snickerdoodle at Disneyland for a friend, and they didn’t have any, that I made, and tasted, my first snickerdoodles. I always passed up snickerdoodles for cookies with “stuff” in them, but there is something so delicious about the simplicity of a snickerdoodle.
I shared my first snickerdoodle recipe here about three years ago when I was trying to recreate the Disneyland Snickerdoodle recipe. Since then I’ve tweaked the recipe a little bit. I really prefer a soft and chewy snickerdoodle, and some very small changes have helped make that happen.
The main things I’ve changed are upping the amount of flour, just a bit, adding in a touch of baking powder and increasing the baking soda and cream of tartar (yes, it’s necessary) and chilling the dough.
I’m not a fan of dough chilling, in that I’m always so rushed for time that the extra step is often a no go for me with recipes. But if you can chill this dough, even for an hour or two, it helps create that soft chewy cookie. I’ve never managed to chill my snickerdoodle dough for more than 4 or 5 hours, but if you can, I’m sure it only makes them even better. Now if you are in a rush, you can skip the dough chilling, you’ll still have delicious snickerdoodles, I’ve made them many times without chilling, you just get a slightly thicker snickerdoodle from the chilling part.
These are a hit with everyone in our family and a great option for your holiday baking. I also have a great white chocolate snickerdoodle you can try!
Let’s make some soft and chewy snickerdoodles!
Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- For the dough:. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cream of tartar. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix well.
- Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Cover bowl (or remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic wrap) and chill for 2+ hours. You can chill for up to 24 hours if you have time.
- When ready to bake, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into 1 inch balls. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and roll each ball of dough through the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat well.
- Place on a greased baking sheet or a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or silicone baking mat.
- Bake 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake. Allow to cool on baking sheet for at least ten minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
I store my snickerdoodles in an airtight container. These ones always go fast in my house!
Make sure to check out my Cookie Pinterest Board for everything cookie related and all of the awesome recipes I have my eye on. You can follow along on Instagram for more cookie fun and a peek behind behind the scenes. And my fun book, SMART COOKIE, makes an awesome holiday gift! 🙂 Cookies, cookies and more cookies! I’ve have lots of great cookie recipes in store for you the next few weeks!
Melissa says
Snickerdoodles were always a favorite growing up. I will have to try your recipe! (Plus, what a fun name for a cookie! I wonder who dreamed it up!)
Christi says
I don’t know how I went so many years without trying them, they are so good! And yes, a fun name, though I always feel like I’m spelling it wrong! 🙂
Anna says
Can I put wax paper in the oven?
Christi says
Anna, make sure to check your box. Mine is safe to 425 degrees.
Rachel says
Thanks for the recipe ^_^ I had to bake them for just a bit longer, but you know how ovens are. All finicky and such.
Delicious!
Ellen says
These turned out SO GOOD!!!! Took them to a gathering last night and everyone loved them. They are still super soft today! I made the dough Friday night, baked them Saturday late morning. Perfection!
Ennellay says
Does this recipe call for large eggs or medium eggs? I have been looking for a soft and chewy snickerdoodles recipe and this might just be the one. I will be making a batch once I hear from you (about the eggs). Can’t wait!
Thank you
Christi says
Ennellay, I usually buy large eggs. Hope that helps!
Frida says
Hi,
I’ve never had snickerdoodles and this sounds like a great recipe to try but, is there a way to make it dairy free? And if so, which ingredients do you recommend for substitution? Almond milk, margarine?
Christi says
Frida, I really never replace the dairy in my recipes so I’m probably not the best person to ask. If those substitutions work for you in other recipes, they will probably work in this as well, but I can’t say for certain having not made them that way. Good luck!
Tiffany S Thomas says
When I bake I normally substitute almond milk instead of milk. I have tried using margarine instead of butter, however it normally doesn’t work well, depending on the recipe. What I have found to work was using half margarine and half butter. My son has a dairy intolerance, although I have found that if it’s a really low amount of dairy he’s normally fine. I substitute almond milk in practically everything I cook and bake though and everything has turned out well. Although, I prefer the almond and coconut blend with vanilla is our personal preference. I hope that helps!
Christi says
Thanks so much. Unfortunately my daughter has life-threatening tree nut allergies, so almond milk is something I’m totally unfamiliar with using.
Amanda says
My mom and I always made either Toll House cookies or Snickerdoodles when I was growing up and they ended up being too crispy for me. I am so glad I found this recipe as I prefer a chewy cookie. My first batch is about to come out of the oven right now. Mmmmmm…..
Felicia says
We’ve tried many snickerdoodle recipes over the years, but I think this one is our go-to from now on. Thanks for the recipe!
SEA says
I got really excited when I saw your sentence that said you have a great white chocolate shickerdoodle recipte, but the link goes to ebay. I tried searchign your site manually and don’t see anything either. Is this just this recipe with white chocolate chips added? I neeeeeed to try this. 🙂 THansk!
Christi Johnstone says
Hi SEA. So sorry about that. Myself and a number of other bloggers used to write for eBay, and had a lot of great recipes on their site. Unfortunately they ended the program, and took down all of the content without warning. 🙁 You can absolutely add in white chocolate chips, I believe it was about a cup. It’s a great flavor combo! 🙂