Snickerdoodle cookies are my husband’s favorite, for good reason. He grew up enjoying this classic cookie with a special recipe that has been in his family for generations. That’s right, generations of love have gone into perfecting this recipe, so you know it’s going to be crazy good.

Snickerdoodles are known for their soft and chewy texture, warm flavors of cinnamon, and subtle sweetness. They’re often described as a soft, cinnamon sugar cookie, which begs the question - what exactly is the difference between a sugar cookie and a snickerdoodle? The first, and most obvious, is snickerdoodles are covered in a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking. The second is snickerdoodles are made with cream of tartar. This dry powder not only adds depth of flavor, giving snickerdoodles their subtle tanginess, but also makes the cookies perfectly soft (the cream of tartar prevents the sugar in the cookie dough from fully crystalizing and becoming crunchy).

The best part? Not only does every bite taste comforting and cozy like home, but it’s a super simple cookie to make. This recipe is ideal for families (kids love rolling the cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar), school bake sales, parties, or when you just need a quick, go-to cookie recipe that is a total a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

Recipe yields ~36 cookies.

Cookie Dough

• 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl or Kitchenaid mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on high speed for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. If you’re using a Kitchenaid mixer, I recommend starting with a towel over your bowl to catch anything that may try to fly out.

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for one minute.

4. Add dry ingredients, mixing on low speed just until the dough forms. Do not over mix.

5. Wrap cookie dough tightly in Saran Wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

6. Remove dough from refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, moving oven racks to the top and center of oven.

7. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. Using a small cookie scoop or spoon, create balls of cookie dough approximately 1 tablespoon big. One at a time, place the cookie dough in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, generously coating all sides.

8. Place cookie dough balls on a lined baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.

9. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Snickerdoodles may appear overly soft when you remove them from the oven, which is perfectly normal. They will firm up when cooling.

10. Allow cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the pan before moving to a wire rack to cool further.

Recipe Notes

• Snickerdoodles are good for up to 5 days if kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

• My wonderful mother-in-law introduced me silicon cookie sheet liners and they are a game changer. You will never have a cookie stick to the cookie sheet ever again. Definitely worth trying out!

• Wondering why you chill the cookie dough before baking it? It solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled dough takes longer to melt, and the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread.

• Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.