Looking for the best Snickerdoodle Cookies recipe? Call off your search party and pull out a jug of milk because these are what you’ve been missing, soft and fluffy inside, slightly crispy on the outside, with fragrant cinnamon in every single bite.
I just love the smell of cinnamon baking in the oven, filling the house with its delicious scent. These homemade snickerdoodle cookies without cream of tartar are not only perfect for your Christmas cookies list but also for any time of the year. Pair them up with a cold glass of milk for Summer or a spiced hot chocolate during the Winter.
If you need a reprieve from all the holiday baking and are just looking for a simple recipe that you can whip up quickly and enjoy in under half an hour, let me show you exactly how to do that with these no cream of tartar snickerdoodles! And with just a few easy adjustments you can make chocolate snickerdoodles or chocolate chip snickerdoodles too!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- So easy you’ll cry happy tears – with just 8 simple ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry and fridge, you’ll be able to whip up a batch of these extremely soft and fluffy snickerdoodle cookies in no time.
- No cream of tartar – not everyone has cream of tartar ready to go at all times in their pantry, that’s why you need this snickerdoodle cookie recipe without cream of tartar! You can decide to make it on a whim because you just need good ol’ baking powder.
- It smells just divine – I use cinnamon in both the cookie dough and the sugar you’ll roll it in so the cinnamon flavor is more prominent.
- Small batch but easy to scale – this recipe makes just 14 reasonably sized snickerdoodle cookies, but you can scale it up easily to make a larger batch for holiday baking.
- No refrigeration required – if you hate waiting for cookies to chill in the fridge, you’ll be happy to know that you can bake these right away, no chilling, no waiting, just straight into the oven and into your belly!
Tools you’ll need
Here are some of the tools you will need to make this snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar:
- 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 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 with baking powder, I notice mine tends to have clumps in it.
- 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 snickerdoodle cookie recipe without cream of tartar as opposed to melted butter for many of my other cookie recipes since softened butter gives cookies the cakey, soft and fluffy characteristics versus the more chewy characteristic that melted butter would. Salted butter can be substituted but you’ll need to skip the salt called for separately.
- Sugar – I used just regular granulated sugar here to get a soft texture with crispy edges. If you want to substitute brown sugar, that will work too but you’ll still need granulated sugar to roll the cookies in as brown sugar is too wet and won’t work for that purpose.
- 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.
- Salt – just a quarter teaspoon of salt is used for that salty-sweet taste. If you prefer less salty snickerdoodle cookies, reduce the salt to just a large pinch instead. But I would not skip it all together since salt provides balance and enhances the flavor. You can also skip the salt if you use salted butter.
- Baking powder – only baking powder is used in this recipe to help the cookies rise, making them soft and fluffy.
- Cinnamon – ground cinnamon is used in both the cookie dough and in the sugar/cinnamon mixture the cookies are rolled in.
Let’s talk about cream of tartar real quick!
Some people might say these cookies are not snickerdoodle cookies because they don’t have cream of tartar! But before you judge a cookie by its ingredient list, let’s talk about cream of tartar and what it is, and why we use it, not only in a snickerdoodle recipe, but also in other cookies and baked goods.
Cream of tartar is a leavening agent that is typically used along with baking soda to leaven baked goods. These two ingredients react to form carbon dioxide which forms bubbles inside cookie dough, cake, and bread, and help them rise. But for it to be effective in making baked goods rise, it has to be used in conjunction with baking soda.
More specific to the snickerdoodles, cream of tartar is said to add tanginess and chew to these cookies, giving them their distinct characteristics that make them snickerdoodle cookies as opposed to sugar cookies.
Okay, so you made a snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar, are they still snickerdoodles? To me, they still are. But some may say otherwise because they won’t have that characteristic tanginess that cream of tartar is supposed to give them.
For what it’s worth, I’ve made them both ways, and I can hardly tell the difference. Perhaps if you have a super sensitive palate, you will be able to tell. But if you’re looking for a soft and fluffy snickerdoodle without cream of tartar recipe, then keep on reading.
How to make snickerdoodle cookies without cream of tartar
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 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.
Sift together the dry ingredients and stir in the salt in another mixing bowl. 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 14. 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 need to chill – this snickerdoodle cookie dough does not need to be refrigerated and can be baked right away. But it is also okay to keep them refrigerated and bake later if you’re making them ahead.
- Portion the dough before refrigerating – I like to streamline the process by portioning the dough all at once, roll them into balls, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. This is especially helpful if you plan to store the dough in the refrigerator to bake later because the cookie dough will harden in the fridge and it will be very hard to scoop.
- Roll them in sugar just before the oven – if you pre-portion the dough, roll them in cinnamon sugar just before you pop them into the oven.
- Don’t flatten or do flatten – I didn’t flatten my snickerdoodle cookies because I wanted to keep them thick and soft. You can choose to flatten them if you want them to be a bit wider, thinner, and crispier.
- Make them smaller – I love the size of these cookies, but you can stretch this recipe to about 20 cookies if you make them smaller 1” ball instead. Bake smaller cookies for 8 – 9 minutes.
Storage
Keep these snickerdoodle cookies without cream of tartar in an airtight container at room temperature, and they will last up to a week. To keep them soft, store a slice of white bread with the cookies. But avoid placing the bread directly on top of the cookies since the bread can get stuck to the cookies. You could 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.
Making ahead
The cookie dough can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 3 to 6 months. Here are some tips:
- Once the dough is prepared, divide it right away with your cookie scoop and roll into balls.
- Refrigerate the dough balls, covered, on a lined baking sheet or in an airtight container in one layer.
- Or freeze them on a lined baking sheet and transfer to a freezer bag once they are frozen solid.
- Allow the dough to come to room temperature on a lined baking sheet in one layer before baking. You don’t want them to stick together while thawing.
- Roll them in cinnamon sugar and pop them into the oven.
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.
FAQs
Absolutely, you can add cream of tartar back into this easy snickerdoodle recipe, but it is not a straight substitution, so here’s what you need to do:
– Add ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Remember that cream of tartar goes hand in hand with baking soda, you need to add them together.
– Reduce the baking powder to ½ teaspoon, we don’t want to over-leaven the cookies.
If you decide to use cream of tartar/baking soda combination as leavener for these snickerdoodle cookies to achieve a more chewy texture but you don’t have any cream of tartar on hand, you can use vinegar or lemon juice as a substitute, with a 1:2 ratio. This means ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar equals 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice.
Note that vinegar and lemon juice is the acidic ingredient that replaces cream of tartar but you will still need to add baking soda. As mentioned above, the combination of these two ingredients helps the cookies rise.
This snickerdoodle without cream of tartar recipe uses baking powder to help the cookies rise. If they turn out flat, check your baking powder, it might be too old, or you forgot to add baking powder.
More spiced cookies
- Cinnamon Roll Rugelach
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Pie Crust Cookies
- Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Pistachio Cookies with Cardamom
📖 Recipe card
Snickerdoodle Cookies (without cream of tartar)
Equipment
- #40 Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, 113 g)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (133 g, divided, use 2 tablespoons or 22 g for rolling)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (175 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon (divided, use 1 teaspoon for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Measure out ⅔ cup of sugar and set aside 2 tablespoons for rolling. Add the remaining 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 ⅓ cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 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 sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar, set aside earlier, 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 10 minutes.
- Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To use cream of tartar in this recipe, add ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. And reduce baking powder to ½ teaspoon.
- This recipe will make about 20 smaller 2” cookies or 14 larger 2.5” cookies.
- Bake the smaller cookies for 8 – 9 minutes, and the larger cookies for 10 – 11 minutes.
Nutrition
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Possibly my fav cookie. I love them to soft and and thick! Last time I made dough and froze, but they flattened when baked. Was it me?
Hi Ginger, glad to hear you like them! They shouldn’t flatten when frozen and baked, I wonder did you maybe omit the baking powder?
Just figured out what I did! Used cornstarch instead of cream of tarter.lol
Glad to hear you figured it out 🙂
Ek hou van die resepte Dis wonderlik.
Great recipe!!!! The cookies were delicious. Soft texture and delicate flavor. Thank you
Thank you Gigi! So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Can these be mixed and refrigerated overnight to save time before baking the best day, or better to only chill for 10 minutes?
You can refrigerate overnight but when you bake the next day, the cookies may not spread as much and may dome higher. However, you can always let it thaw slightly before baking. It should be fine though.
Your cookies really look delicious and fluffy I hope it tastes good because after reading your recipe I think that this weekend I should try at my home, so I’ll get the idea about the cookies. This is the first time I’m going to prepare cookies at my home, so I think the experience will not be so bad. Thanks for sharing such different type of cookie recipe. Well, normally I like to eat a crunchy cookie but this time I’ll try your recipe. Well, I read about other types of cookies as well you can check here https://www.couponsmonk.com/blog/toothsome-cookies-will-surely-make-drool/.
I have one question for you what to do if I have to make it crunchy using this recipe? If you can answer it then it means a lot to me.
Hi Arina, I have never made a crunchy one so I can’t guarantee the results. But here are some things you change to try and achieve crunchy texture:
1. Substitute some or all butter with shortening (though I really prefer the taste of butter)
2. Flatten the ball of dough before baking and bake for a longer time until it is crispier or crunchier.
Really, thank you so much Trang. I feel really glad that you get time with my question. Thank you so much again
It’s my pleasure Arina. If you make the cookies, come back and let me know how they turn out. 🙂