Soft, sweet, buttery cinnamon sugar cookies that are chewy and irresistible. Snickerdoodles! You don’t have to wait for fall or winter for these cookies. I love Snickerdoodles all year long, but they are a must at the holidays for sure.

Unlike my Italian Anisette cookies, I don’t keep them hidden away until Christmas!

a stack of snickerdoodles more

Snickerdoodles – Cinnamon Cookie Recipe

My friend Cathy is all about the Snickerdoodles. Sure, she likes chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, but given the option she’ll go for the soft, cinnamon-y cookies every single time. We spent this summer going to local outdoor concerts, and one of our friends always brought cookies from her work cafeteria. There were always Snickerdoodles, and that made me wonder why I haven’t shared mine here yet!

overhead view of a stack of snickerdoodle cookies

Ingredients you will need:

In this section I like to provide tips and recommendations about the different ingredients used. I also try to answer questions about substitutions. You will find the full list of ingredients with measurements in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Let’s talk about “softened” butter, it seems to be the biggest problem with cookie baking. Softened means that you should be able to press your finger into the butter and it will yield slightly. That means about 20 minutes-ish on the counter from the fridge. If the butter is too soft, it will change the science of the recipe and can cause your cookies to spread.
I use shortening in several of my cookie recipes. For those of you that don’t want to use shortening, you can substitute an equal amount of unsalted butter.
Use regular granulated white sugar, not brown or powdered sugar.
When any of my recipes call for eggs, they refer to large eggs. I haven’t tried, but you could probably use egg substitute, let me know how it goes if you do!
Pure vanilla extract is best, imitation vanilla extract has a completely different flavor.
Please use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tested this recipe with whole wheat flour or any other type of flour for that matter.
A lot of older recipes, including this one, call for cream of tartar to help activate the baking soda.
You’ll also need regular table salt and ground cinnamon.

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Helpful baking tools:

Hand mixer or stand mixer
Mixing bowls
Cookie scoop
Parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
Insulated baking sheets
Wire cooling racks

stack of snickerdoodles

How to Make Snickerdoodles

Preheat your conventional oven to 400 degrees F. Line insulated baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

ingredients in a bowl

Using a mixer, cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, the eggs and the vanilla.

cookie dough in bowl

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt together, then add that mixture to the butter mixture. Mix it until combined.

cookie dough coming together in bowl

Make the cinnamon sugar topping by combining the ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
Roll cookie dough into balls (about 1 tablespoon each) then roll around in cinnamon sugar to coat.

cookie dough ball in cinnamon sugar