Soft, fluffy, thick and super chocolaty, these chocolate snickerdoodle cookies are just what you need when you’re looking for a quick, simple and comforting cookie recipe. Perfect with coffee, tea or a warm mug of hot cocoa.
Are you a sucker for all things chocolate like me? I absolutely love one or two of these little chocolate snickerdoodles with my cup of tea in the afternoon. They are comforting and perfect to satisfy my occasional chocolate craving.
But what I love most about them is how easy they are to make, which is so convenient when your chocolate craving strikes midday! You can have these ready within half an hour from start to finish. Let me show you how.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Quick and easy – like I mentioned earlier, you can make these chocolate snickerdoodle cookies in under half an hour from start to finish. They make a great impromptu midday bake.
- No cream of tartar – I know not many people will have cream of tartar in their pantry. Even I didn’t for a long time! That’s why my chocolate snickerdoodle recipe only uses baking powder for ease and convenience.
- Great chocolate flavor – dutch-processed cocoa powder gives these a rich dark chocolate flavor.
- No need to chill the dough – going along with the theme of quick and easy, you don’t need to worry about chilling this cookie dough.
Tools you’ll need
Here are some of the tools you will need to make these chocolate snickerdoodle cookies:
- A stand mixer or an electric mixer to make the cookie dough. You’ll need to beat softened butter with sugar until fluffy so making it by hand will be a bit labor intensive.
- A cookie scoop makes dividing the cookie dough easier and to get consistent size cookies so they all bake at the same time. The one I use is a #40 or 1 ½ tablespoon so if you don’t have a cookie scoop you can use your tablespoon for rough measurement.
- A large fine mesh sieve or a sifter to sift the flour and dry ingredients. This is very helpful especially since cocoa and baking powder tend to clump.
- And while you don’t need to have this, I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale to give you exact measurements and eliminate the need for additional measuring cups, spoons and even mixing bowls.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Butter – I used unsalted room temperature butter in this recipe. Just make sure to leave it out to soften before you start. Salted butter will work too but make sure to omit the salt called for separately.
- Sugar – I use brown sugar in this chocolate snickerdoodle recipe to add richness and complexity to the chocolate flavor. I usually use light brown sugar for baking, but both light or dark brown sugar will work. Granulated sugar will work too if you don’t have any brown sugar. You’ll also need additional granulated sugar for the cinnamon sugar topping.
- Egg – just one whole egg is used to bind all the ingredients together.
- Vanilla – I used pure vanilla extract to add complexity and warmth to round out the flavor.
- Flour – simple all-purpose flour will work for this recipe.
- Cocoa powder – I use dutch-processed cocoa powder for the rich dark chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder will work too but your cookies will be lighter in color and have milder chocolate flavor.
- Salt – just a quarter teaspoon of salt is used for that salty-sweet taste that enhances the overall flavor and adds complexity of baked goods. Omit if you substitute salted butter.
- Baking powder – only baking powder is used in these chocolate snickerdoodles to help the cookies rise.
- Cinnamon – unlike my classic snickerdoodles and chocolate chip snickerdoodles, I only use ground cinnamon in the sugar/cinnamon topping for a light hint of cinnamon. If you want a stronger cinnamon flavor, add 1 teaspoon to the cookie dough as well.
How to make chocolate snickerdoodle cookies
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Start by creaming together softened butter and brown sugar for 1 to 2 minutes, until creamy and fluffy.
Then, add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat together for another 1 to 2 minutes until fluffy.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and then stir in the salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until a dough forms.
Scoop out the cookie dough with a cookie scoop and roll them between your palms into approximately 1 ½” balls, this makes 16. Roll the dough balls in cinnamon sugar just before baking.
More baker’s tips
- Room temperature ingredients – make sure refrigerated ingredients are left out to come to room temperature so it is easier to incorporate them.
- No chilling required – these snickerdoodle cinnamon chocolate cookies do not require any chilling before baking. You can rest them in the refrigerator before baking, they just won’t spread as much and rise higher when the dough is cold.
- Making ahead – chocolate snickerdoodle cookie dough can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 3 to 6 months. Roll the dough into balls and refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container. Allow the dough to come to room temperature on a lined baking sheet in one layer before baking. You can bake these cold, directly from the refrigerator or freezer, they just won’t spread as much and will stay smaller and taller. You may want to add an extra minute or two if baking directly from frozen
- Variations – add extra cinnamon to this chocolate snickerdoodle cookie dough for more cinnamon flavor; add a pinch of cayenne for a spicy zing; or fold in some chocolate chips for another layer of texture and double the chocolate.
Storage
Store chocolate snickerdoodles in an airtight container at room temperature. I like to keep a slice of sandwich bread with them to keep them moist and soft; they will last up to a week. Make sure to place the piece of bread off to the side in the container or place a small piece of parchment paper between the bread and the cookies so they don’t stick together.
FAQs
This chocolate snickerdoodle recipe uses baking powder to help the cookies rise. Have you checked lately to make sure your baking powder is not too old, or did you forget to add it?
These chocolate snickerdoodle cookies are supposed to be soft and fluffy. If you want to make them more on the side of chewy, you can try a couple of modifications/substitutions below:
– Instead of using softened butter, use melted and cooled butter. When using melted butter, you will need to chill the cookies to allow the butter to resolidify or the cookies will spread too much. 1 hour of chill time will do.
– Replace half of the baking powder with baking soda. For the baking soda to work, you need to stick with brown sugar in this recipe, it is the acidic ingredient that activates the baking soda.
More chocolate cookies
- Brownie Cookies
- Chocolate Espresso Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Spritz Cookies
- Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with macadamia nut
- Double Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
📖 Recipe card
Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies
Equipment
- #40 Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, 113 g)
- ⅔ cup brown sugar sugar (either light or dark, packed, 133 g)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 g)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (dutch-processed preferred, 45 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (for rolling)
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar (22 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 180 degrees Celsius).
- Add ⅔ cup of brown sugar and 1 stick of softened butter to the stand mixer bowl and beat with the paddle attachment until combined and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add 1 whole egg along with 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and beat for another minute or two until thoroughly combined and fluffy.
- In a small bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, ½ cup of dutch-processed cocoa powder, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Then stir in ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt until evenly distributed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape the side and bottom of the mixing bowl as necessary.
- Mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a shallow dish for topping.
- Divide the dough with a small cookie scoop (1 ½ tablespoon) and roll into dough balls about 1 ½” in size.
- Roll the dough ball entirely and generously in cinnamon sugar. Place them on a parchment line baking sheet about 2” apart. Don’t flatten them.
- Bake for approximately 11 minutes.
- Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To make these chewier instead of soft, use melted and cooled butter and replace half the baking powder with baking soda.
- If you need to refrigerate the dough for whatever reason, divide into individual dough balls first.
- You can bake these from the refrigerator or the freezer but they won’t spread as much when the dough is cold. I like to bake them at room temperature, so if you can, thaw them first.
Nutrition
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