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Snickerdoodles

A quick chill and a pale bake give these cinnamon-sugar cookies lightly crisp edges and soft, tangy centers.
A stack of cinnamon-sugar snickerdoodles has lightly golden edges and soft centers.

Snickerdoodles rely on cream of tartar for their familiar gentle tang and tender texture. The dough comes together like a simple butter cookie, then gets rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking.

Cream for a soft bite

Beating the butter and sugar until pale incorporates air that helps the cookies rise. Once the flour goes in, mix only until it disappears so the baked centers stay tender rather than bready.

The classic tang

Cream of tartar gives snickerdoodles their distinctive mild acidity and works with baking soda to lift the dough. Keeping these two ingredients in the dry mixture distributes that rise evenly through each batch.

Even dough balls are coated in cinnamon sugar before they are placed on a lined baking sheet.
Even dough balls are rolled generously in cinnamon sugar before baking.

A brief chill helps

Twenty minutes in the refrigerator makes the soft dough easier to portion consistently. If the room is warm and the dough still feels sticky, a few more minutes of chilling can make rolling neater without needing to harden it completely.

Coat every side

A generous cinnamon-sugar layer creates the cookies' lightly crackled outer crust. Roll each ball until no dough shows through, then leave room between portions so the edges bake instead of steam.

A broken snickerdoodle reveals a tender pale crumb beneath its cinnamon-sugar crust.
A cinnamon-sugar crust surrounds a soft, pale center.

Take them out while pale

The cookies are ready when their edges look set and their centers are puffed but still pale. Waiting for the centers to brown can push the texture from soft to dry, so let the baking sheet provide the final few minutes of gentle heat.

Serve or save

After the brief rest on the pan, move the cookies to a rack so their bottoms do not keep browning. Serve once cooled, or store them airtight at room temperature to preserve their soft centers.

Snickerdoodles

24 cookies
55 minutes total

Ingredients

  • •  2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • •  2 tsp cream of tartar
  • •  1 tsp baking soda
  • •  1/2 tsp fine salt
  • •  1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • •  1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • •  2 large eggs, room temperature
  • •  2 tsp vanilla extract
  • •  1/4 cup granulated sugar, for coating
  • •  1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Heat the oven

    Set a rack in the middle of the oven, heat to 375 F, and line two baking sheets with parchment so the dough can go straight into a hot oven.

    Look for: The oven is fully preheated and both pans are lined.

  2. Combine the dry ingredients

    Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl until no streaks of leavener remain.

    Look for: The dry mixture looks uniform with no small clumps of baking soda.

  3. Cream butter and sugar

    Beat the softened butter and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar in a large bowl on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping once, until pale and fluffy.

    Look for: The mixture is lighter in color and holds soft ridges from the mixer.

  4. Add eggs and vanilla

    Beat in the eggs one at a time, letting each disappear before adding the next, then mix in the vanilla until the batter is smooth.

    Look for: The mixture looks cohesive and no egg streaks remain.

  5. Make the dough

    Add the flour mixture in two additions on low speed and stop as soon as the last dry patches disappear; scrape the bowl so no pockets of flour remain.

    Look for: The dough is soft and slightly tacky, with no visible dry flour.

  6. Chill briefly

    Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes, just until it is easier to scoop and shape without losing its softness.

    Look for: A scoop leaves a clean portion and the dough is still pliable.

  7. Make the cinnamon sugar

    Stir the 1/4 cup coating sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl, then portion the dough into 24 balls of about 1 1/2 tablespoons each and roll each one generously in the mixture.

    Look for: Each dough ball has an even cinnamon-sugar coating with no bare patches.

  8. Bake until the edges set

    Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on the lined sheets and bake at 375 F for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the pans halfway, until edges are set but centers look puffed and slightly underdone.

    Look for: The edges look matte and lightly golden while the centers remain pale and soft.

  9. Cool and set

    Leave the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes so their centers finish setting, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Look for: The cookies lift without bending and have tender centers with lightly crisp edges.