If you are searching for the perfect cookie recipe, you found it! These snickerdoodle cookies are thick, soft, chewy and absolutely delicious!!
I love cookies. I really do. But with this love comes high standards. I don’t want to eat just any old cookie. Let’s be honest… any old cookie is just not worth the calories. BUT when a cookie is perfect, there is not much better in life to me.
So what makes a cookie meet this so-called perfect standard?
It needs to be SOFT.
It needs to be CHEWY.
It needs to be THICK.
I know there are crispy kind of cookie people out there, but I am not one of them. To me the bigger, thicker, and softer that cookie is, the better! These chewy snickerdoodle cookies are all of the above. As a matter of fact, they are so delicious that they can make me forget that they don’t even have chocolate in them, which is usually a dessert requirement for me. Because who needs chocolate when you have soft, thick, chewy cinnamonny, perfection calling your name! Grab a glass of milk and let’s get started.
If you love thick chewy cookies like me PLEASE make my Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookie recipe the next one you try! I am told over and over it is the BEST peanut butter cookie people have ever had!
{See ALL of my Thick & Chewy Cookie Recipes here!}
Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
There are a few trick to making these come out perfectly. Luckily for you, I don’t do secret recipes so I am going to dish on all of the details.
Gather your ingredients and start by combining your dry ingredients {flour, baking powder, salt} into a bowl.
Next add the butter and sugar into your KitchenAid mixer bowl and mix with paddle attachment until light and fluffy. You can do these by hand, but the dough gets super thick so you will have to put some muscle behind it. If you don’t have a Kitchenaid and you love to bake, you are really missing out on life. I definitely recommend indulging to get one or adding it to your Christmas or Birthday list!
Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat until combined.
Slowly add the flour to the butter mixture, mixing well each time the flour mixture is added. One of the key components of getting the snickerdoodle cookies to be thick and chewy is the high flour content. The dough should be not sticky but also not crumbly when you are done mixing.
If the dough is crumbly after you add the flour, add water one teaspoon at a time, mixing after each, until the dough sticks together.
If the dough is still sticky after you add the flour, then add additional flour one tablespoon at a time until dough becomes not sticky.
Next use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop out the dough and roll into balls.
Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat well and place the ball on a baking sheet lined with a silpat liner (my fav!) or parchment paper. Do not use baking spray!
Bake at 350˚F for 12-15 minutes or until the center is just done. This is the other crucial component of these cookies! Do not overbake them or they will not have the same soft chewy texture that makes them so perfect. The cooking time depends on how your oven runs, the size, as well as altitude and a few other factors so the first time you make these you will want to watch them pretty closely to see how long they take, then you will be able to repeat baking them for that length of time for additional batches.
I think you will agree… these cookies are pretty perfect! This recipe will make about 12 fairly large cookies. If you aren’t going to eat them right away, I highly recommend storing them in the freezer. This will keep them super fresh and tasting like the did right after they came out of the oven. Once you are ready to eat them again, just take out of the freezer and let it thaw for about 30 minutes, OR just pop it into the microwave for about 30 seconds. Heaven!
***Scroll to bottom for FULL printable recipe***
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Copycat Panera Chocolate Chip Cookies
Super thick and chewy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In your KitchenAid mixer cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and salt, and mix to combine.
- Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing well between each addition.
- The dough should not be sticky and should not be crumbly. If it is sticky, mix in flour one tablespoon at a time until it becomes not sticky. If the mixture is crumbly, mix in water one teaspoon at a time until the dough holds together.
- Mix cinnamon and sugar together and place on a plate.
- Measure dough with a 1/4 cup measure and roll into balls. Roll each ball to coat well in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a cookie sheet lined with a silpat liner or parchment paper.
- Bake at 350?F for 12-15 minutes or until the center is just set.
- Let cool 2 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
- Makes 12 large cookies.
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Cellan says
gonna be reeeeeeeal honest here-
I cut the butter down as ALLLLL my snickerdoodles I’ve attempted are totally flat and spread like an epidemic.
also used a non typical sub ingredient for flour.
sounds dumb I know but everything I did was as per your recipe-they were terrific
Leslie says
I really wanted to make these cookies. They look delicious and sounded like the perfect cookie! I went back to the site and looked again and read a bunch of people’s posts. One person posted about it being under the M&M cookie picture. And that is exactly where it is! In red print it says M&M cookies so you think that is that recipe but underneath in black letters it says snickerdoodle recipe. So glad I found it!
Jen says
I just had to comment to say thank you for an awesome recipe! I was tasked with the job of making cookies for my brother’s upcoming wedding, and of course his favorite is the one cookie I’ve never been able to master – snickerdoodles! After reading literally dozens of recipes and planning on trying out several, I started with this one because it didn’t call for cream of tartar, which I was out of. I’m thrilled to say my search is over, and that after tasting these I’m not even trying any others! They came out absolutely perfect exactly as written (though I did make mine much smaller since we need so many), and I have 12 dozen frozen (I tested them frozen and they were perfect!) balls of dough ready to go for the wedding! Thanks so much for a simple, yummy, perfect recipe!
Alyssa says
I love these cookies but 1/4 cup was wayyyyyy too much! I was so disappointed because they came out still very ball-like and the bottom was crisp but the middle was raw! My husband kept putting them back in the oven but we just couldn’t get it right and all I wanted was to gobble them up instead of eating around the raw dough. If I can suggest that you make note that warns people of this and put in the option to flatten them because I was looking at these huge golf balls and wondered how they would turn out. Other than that this is by far the best recipe and I will continue to bake them now that I know! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Becky says
These were very good! I do aagree that a quarter cup is alot, and I did flatten my second pan, but taste and texture is awesome! Will make again.
Deborah says
I just made them for a friend’s birthday. They are so amazing, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Lindsey says
These must be the best snickerdoodles in the world..I used butter flavored Crisco in place of the butter (my usual substitution), and packed an 1/8th cup measuring cup with dough before rolling into a ball and in the cinnamon/sugar. I did smush them slightly with a glass before baking for 12 minutes. Fabulous!
Jessica says
I should have read these comments before throwing the cookies in the oven. They have baked into balls! Lol I’ll have to flatten them next time.
Kylie says
I’ve never had Snickerdoodles (I’m Australian) before but always wanted to taste them and see what the hype was about.
I’m now on now a fan. These were so easy to make and the results were great.
I have to admit that I chilled them for two hours and mad the balls with a tablespoon because I “have to” share these with my four year old son.
Thanks once again for sharing.
Kimber says
I am so glad I could introduce you to this amazing little piece of american culture! And if you have to share, I guess you can make them a bit smaller ha!
Rita says
These do not flatten out as shown In the picture
Kimber says
You may need to flatten them slightly before putting them in the oven, or try adding a tiny bit of water to the dough next time so it isn’t quite as stiff. If there is too much flour to liquid, you will get less flattening.