Snickerdoodles
Cream cheese and butter make these cookies moist and chewy. They are warmly spiced with a hint of nutmeg and then rolled in an excessive amount of cinnamon sugar. Snickerdoodle perfection!
Why I love snickerdoodle cookies so much
Truth be told, chocolate chip is my favorite cookie. However, Sir Snickerdoodle comes in a close second. They are the comfort cookies of the baking world. There are many versions of these classic chewy cookies. People have definite opinions (at least in my house) on what a snickerdoodle should taste like. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this recipe covers pretty much anything one could want in a Snickerdoodle cookie. Chewy, crisp cinnamon sugar coating, cake-like texture, sweet but not too sweet; did I forget anything? These are my favorite cookies to have with a cup of coffee. And it’s fun to say!
A Snickerdoodle cookie recipe has simple ingredients. Cinnamon is a key ingredient. Let’s get started!
Gather these ingredients
How to make Snickerdoodles
In your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) cream together cream cheese and butter, until light and fluffy.
Add sugar to the butter and cream cheese mixture and continue to mix using a paddle attachment for 3 minutes or so.
Add 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add one large egg and one egg yolk, mix until combined and dough is fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
In a separate bowl measure out flour and add nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to the flour. Mix to combine.
Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Take time to scrape down sides of the bowl a couple of times.
The Snickerdoodle dough will be thick and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and chill dough in your refrigerate for a minimum of 1 to 24 hours.
When you are ready bake, combine turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar) with ground cinnamon in a small bowl and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Scoop cookie dough into 2.5-ounce balls with a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop. Roll into a ball and dip into cinnamon-sugar mixture. Be sure to press the cookie dough down into the sugar so that the sugar adheres to it.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and give cookie dough balls a slight press with the palm of your hand, and sprinkle a little bit more cinnamon sugar on top of the cookies before baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the baked cookies to cool on it before transferring them to a cooling rack. Bake time can vary depending on your oven, cookies may need a few minutes more or less.
Allowing cookies to cool on the pan allows them to continue baking from the residual heat of the pan and finish baking without getting too brown on the bottom.
The crispy cinnamon sugar coating on the outside, a chewy, cakey cookie on the inside. These cookies will make your home smell amazing!
Do I need to tell you that you need to make this perfect cookie? I think not. Go forth and snickerdoodle. Hey! I verbed this favorite cookie recipe. Friend: “What are you doing this afternoon?” Me: “Snickerdoodling!”
Tips
A few things I feel like I need to stress when making this great recipe:
- Don’t skip the refrigeration of the dough.
- Do not forget to give the cookie dough a little press down with your palm; otherwise, you will have a half-baked blob cookie.
- If possible, allow cookies to cool on the pan. This will allow the cookies to continue baking without drying out and overbaking on the bottom.
- To ensure a nice crispy sugary top on your snickerdoodle, sprinkle a little more sugar on top before baking.
- Cinnamon: if you prefer more cinnamon flavor in your chewy snickerdoodles then add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients before adding them.
- Freezing cookie dough: Scoop cookie dough out onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place cookie dough balls in the freezer until frozen solid, put them in an airtight zip-lock bag, and store them in the freezer until ready to bake. Remove however many you want to bake from the freezer and place them on a baking sheet. Let them thaw for an hour, then dip them in cinnamon sugar, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake them at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
I brought these to a friends house for dessert last weekend and they received rave reviews! I hope you have the same response from your peeps when you make them. Please take the time if you make these to share them on your socials and give the recipe some stars below in the recipe card. It takes only a few seconds and really helps my Google status. Thank you! XO, Sheila
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer, or hand mixer
- baking sheets
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 8 ounce block of cream cheese
- 1 cup butter does not need to be softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups all purpose unbleached flour
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
sugar coating
- 1 cup turbinado sugar course raw sugar works well too
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degree
- Using a paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add sugar to the butter mixture and beat until creamy on high for 2 minutes or so. Turn the speed to low, add vanilla, egg, and egg yolk, scrape down the sides of the bowl, continue to beat until light and creamy. Aprox. 5 min.
- Combine flour, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing well. Refrigerate cookie dough for 1-24 hours before baking.
- Combine 1 cup turbinado sugar with cinnamon. Using a large cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop, scoop out cookie dough, roll it into balls, and dip it in sugar and cinnamon, making sure that a good amount of sugar sticks to the dough. My cookie dough balls weighed 2.5 oz. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and press the dough down with the palm of your hand.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet before removing.
Nutrition
These look wonderful. What’s funny about snickerdoodle’s is they never are at the front of my mind when I think of desserts, but I absolutely love them when they’re in front of me. I may have to make these for our next family night or for the next family reunion. They’re so simple and tasty. Thanks for the reminder and wonderful photos 🙂
All the best,
Laura
It’s always the name. I just love saying, “Would you like a snickerdoodle?” Small pleasures in my life. 🙂
I am so excited to make these. Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie ever!!! Thank you!
Hope you got your coffee and something to eat with it! Yeah for nutmeg and cream cheese!
Have a great time in FL. No Spring break for us….so we’ll keep the lights on in northern Indiana for your return trip to MI.
Thanks Janey!