Snickerdoodle Cookies

If you only plan to make one special cookie for the holidays, make it snickerdoodles! The cinnamon-coated cookies are always a huge hit, and they are delicious. Their soft, chewy texture and cinnamon and sugar coating and flavor makes them irresistible. Cream of tartar is the ingredient that gives snickerdoodles their distinctive tangy flavor, and it helps leaven the cookie. While the holidays are the perfect time to make a snickerdoodle cookies, you don’t have to wait for a holiday. Make a batch today!

This version is made with shortening, which gives them a crackled appearance and lightly rounded tops. Feel free to use butter, but keep in mind that they will flatten and spread a bit more and timing may be slightly less.

The cookies are best cooked for 8 to 10 minutes. They should look set but slightly moist in the crackles. They will be soft in the center, crisp around the edges, and slightly chewy. However, if you cook them a bit longer, they will be crisp. If you like crisp cookies, perfect, but if you like a softer cookie, there’s a solution. Wrap a cookie loosely in a paper towel and microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds.

What You’ll Like About This Recipe

• Soft, tender centers. Using shortening instead of butter and chilling the dough helps the cookies keep their shape and stay soft in the center instead of turning thin and crispy. You get that classic snickerdoodle chew every time.
• Classic tangy flavor. Cream of tartar is the secret to a real snickerdoodle. It gives a gentle tang and slightly different crumb than a standard sugar cookie, so these taste nostalgic and just a bit more interesting.
• Reliable, big-batch recipe. This dough makes a generous number of cookies, perfect for sharing, gifting, or stocking the cookie jar. The dough also chills well, so you can bake some now and some later.
• Simple pantry-friendly ingredients. Everything in the recipe is easy to keep on hand, and there’s no special equipment beyond a basic mixer and baking sheets—ideal for quick baking sessions whenever the craving hits.

Ingredient Notes

• Granulated sugar – Provides sweetness and structure in the dough and helps the cookies spread just enough. Using white sugar keeps the flavor clean and lets the cinnamon coating stand out.
• Vegetable shortening – Shortening makes the cookies soft and fluffy with a more tender crumb and less spreading than butter. It’s also neutral in flavor, which keeps the focus on the cinnamon and vanilla.
• Eggs – Add richness and help bind the dough. They also contribute to the cookies’ soft, slightly cakey interior. Room-temperature eggs incorporate more evenly into the fat and sugar mixture.
• Vanilla extract – A small amount of vanilla rounds out the flavor of the dough so it doesn’t taste like plain sugar. Use real vanilla if you have it; its warmth comes through even under the cinnamon.
• Cream of tartar – Essential for classic snickerdoodles. It adds that subtle tang and works with the baking soda to create the distinctive texture—slightly puffy with a soft, fine crumb.
• Baking soda – Reacts with the cream of tartar to help the cookies rise and crackle. It’s an important part of the leavening team here, so measure it accurately.
• Salt – Enhances all the flavors in the dough and keeps the cookies from tasting flat, especially since there’s a generous amount of sugar.
• Cinnamon-sugar coating – The mix of granulated sugar and ground cinnamon doesn’t just sit on top; it also caramelizes slightly as the cookies bake, giving you a fragrant, gently spicy crust around the soft middle.

How to Make Them

1. Cream the sugar and shortening together in a mixing bowl until the mixture looks light and fluffy, which helps the cookies bake up with a tender, even crumb.
2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, mixing just until everything is smoothly incorporated and the mixture looks creamy and consistent.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients so the cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt are evenly distributed through the flour.
4. Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture and mix on low speed just until a soft dough forms, scraping the bowl as needed to make sure there are no dry spots.
5. Cover and chill the dough so it firms up; this rest helps control spreading and makes the dough easier to roll into neat balls.
6. Prepare the baking sheets with parchment and stir together the cinnamon and sugar for the coating in a shallow bowl.
7. Roll portions of chilled dough into balls, coat them thoroughly in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, and arrange them on the baking sheets with space to spread.
8. Bake until the cookies are puffed, set around the edges, and slightly crackled on top, then let them cool on the pan briefly before moving them to a rack to cool completely.

Pro Tips

• Cream the sugar and shortening longer than you think—stop when the mixture looks noticeably lighter in color and texture. Proper creaming gives you softer, more evenly textured cookies.
• Chill the dough fully so it’s firm but still scoopable. Warm dough spreads more, which can reduce the signature crackle and chewy middle.
• Roll the dough balls uniformly so all the cookies bake at the same rate. Using a small cookie scoop can help keep the size consistent.
• Coat each dough ball thoroughly with the cinnamon-sugar, turning it a few times so every side is evenly coated. A generous coating gives the best flavor and appearance.
• Watch the cookies near the end of baking and pull them when the tops are just set but still slightly soft in the cracks. They’ll continue to firm up as they cool, staying soft instead of turning dry.

Recipe Variations

• Butter-snickerdoodles. Substitute some or all of the shortening with unsalted butter for richer flavor and slightly crisper edges. The cookies may spread a bit more and crackle less, but the buttery taste is wonderful if that’s what you’re after.
• Extra-cinnamon version. Add a little cinnamon directly to the dough along with the dry ingredients if you want the spice to come through more strongly in every bite, not just on the outside.
• Brown sugar twist. Replace a small portion of the granulated sugar with light brown sugar for a hint of caramel flavor and slightly chewier centers. Keep most of the sugar white so the texture stays true to traditional snickerdoodles.
• Holiday spice variation. Add a pinch of nutmeg or cardamom to the cinnamon-sugar coating for a warm, holiday-style cookie that’s still clearly a snickerdoodle but with a subtle twist.
• Jumbo bakery-style cookies. Roll larger dough balls and bake a bit longer at a slightly lower temperature so the cookies stay thick, with crisp edges and very soft centers. Be sure to space them well so they have room to spread.

How to Store

• Refrigerate – Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at cool room temperature for several days; for slightly longer keeping, you can refrigerate them for up to about a week, making sure the container is tightly sealed so they don’t dry out.
• Freeze – Freeze baked cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer to freezer bags or containers once firm. They’ll keep well for about 2 to 3 months. You can also freeze balls of unbaked dough and bake them straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time.
• Refresh – To bring back a just-baked feel, warm a few cookies briefly in a low oven or for a few seconds in the microwave. This softens the centers and wakes up the cinnamon aroma, especially if the cookies have been stored for a few days.