One of the most popular recipes ’round these parts is rolo stuffed snickerdoodles. Because of that nifty little idea, I get asked almost daily for my best snickerdoodle dough recipe. For a while I’ve been side-stepping the question, but now I can give a full endorsement. After much experimentation, these fluffy, gooey wonders are a no-fail method for “perfect” snickerdoodles.
Perfect Snickerdoodles
Makes 32 cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine butter, brown sugar, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer until creamy.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Shape dough into 2 inch balls.
In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Press balls into cinnamon sugar and flatten slightly.
Arrange on baking sheet and baking for only 12-14 minutes. The cookies may seem undercooked, but do not bake longer. Once cooled thoroughly, they will form into a perfect consistency.
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 and ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine butter, brown sugar, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer until creamy.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Shape dough into 2 inch balls.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Press balls into cinnamon sugar and flatten slightly.
- Arrange on baking sheet and baking for 12-14 minutes. The cookies may seem undercooked, but do not bake longer. Once cooled thoroughly, they will form into a perfect consistency.
Modified from Lovin’ from the Oven.
{ 77 comments… read them below or add one }
If you use a combination of vegetable shortening and butter the cookies will not be flat.
What can be used as alternative to eggs. As we are vegetarians..needs something with out eggs. Thnx.
I have not made these yet but plan to. I am wondering about the people whose cookies came out flat…how are you softening the butter? Butter should be softened by letting it sit out on the counter for an hour or so. Softening butter in the microwave can make a difference for some cookies.
Hey! This is my second time making the cookies and both times they turned out flat as a sheet! I don’t know why..the first time (back around christmas time) I forgot the cream of tartar and I thought that was the reasoning for the flatness, but this time I remembered it and they are still super flat! Everyone here still thinks they taste amazing, but I would love to have them look as fluffy as they do in your pictures? I thought about refrigerating them for a bit to harden them up, but I saw others had this problem as well. The dough is also really really sticky and hard to form into balls. What do you think?? Like I said, it looks like I’m not the only one to run into these problems! I would love to figure it out! The cookies are said to be incredible still though :)
need more flour!
I finally tried these and they live up to their name. I made them for my grown son and he says they are “perfect”. Snickerdoodles are one of his favorites. Thanks for sharing.
Yay! Thanks for writing.
I just made these and mine too came out really flat. (I refrigerated a couple of hours) However, the taste is awesome. I will try a different butter next time. The last dozen or so I did not flatten at all and they seem to be less flat, although still not fluffy like the picture.
This recipe will not yield 32 cookies if you form the dough into 2″ balls as stated in the directions. I only got 18 cookies when I did that. I think the recipe should say 1″ balls. Two inches in diameter is larger than a golf ball. I had to cook them 7 minutes longer, too, because they were so large. I just took them out of the oven and they look wonderful. They look just like the picture, but they are BIG…approx 5″ across….so they are very large cookies!! I have nothing against large cookies, but I just want to say that this recipe should probably read 1″ balls in order to get 32 cookies. They are cooling now…and I can hardly wait to taste one!!
Just a note about the cream of tartar – it works with the baking soda to make things rise (baking powder has a mix of baking soda and cream of tartar). I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out because I think it would make the cookies spread more and change their consistency. You can substitute a teeny bit of vinegar – that will work with the baking soda to give similar results to cream of tartar.
Hope that helps!
Great tips – thanks for writing.
Wonderful recipe!!
The 1st time I made these people were begging for more!
tonight I made a 2nd batch and made 80 cookies out of one batter batch lol…NOT a good idea.
They taste good but were too thin to be gooey and very crispy.
word to the wise do not attempt to make more than the aloted yeild :)
Thanks! Good tip.
What kind of butter did you use? How long should I keep the dough in the fridge?
I used unsalted stick butter. And about an hour.
thank you
Ok after reading all the resons while they failed what brand of butter did you use?
I made these last week. I used a dark baking sheet, and the bottom got brown pretty quick. So, I took them out and put some foil down for the second batch so they would cook more evenly. When it was all said and done, the first batch was so soft with a slight crunch on the bottom. Not typical for Snickerdoodles, but seriously delicious! The second batch I let go too long, so the whole thing was crunchy and not what I was hoping for. So the advice to NOT overcook cannot be stressed enough. If that happens, they are delicious for dipping in coffee though! Thanks for the recipe, I will definitely be making these again (10-12 minutes this time!).
Oh boy. I’m glad you got it figured out. And I’m glad you liked them so much!
I made these for my daughter to take on a school trip because she LOVES snickerdoodles. I followed the recipe exactly and added the cream of tarter and chilled the dough before forming in to balls. Everything seemed to be going well until I cooked them and I had a bunch of greasy pancakes that spread out like crazy. After a little investigation, I found that the butter you use makes a difference (cheaper butter has more water in it) so either make your own butter from straight cream or use half butter and half shortening (I know, it’s heresy to use shortening in baking) and they will turn out beautifully!
Glad to hear you figured it out! Sorry for the mix up
Mine came out very flat, not like the ones pictured,but the taste was great, buttery and delicious! Better than my previous recipe. Will make again!
Try putting the dough in the fridge before baking.
My niece and I just made these and although they are still in the oven, everyone agreed the batter is fabulous! I know, don’t eat raw batter, but we always do and have never gotten sick and the eggs were collected today from my own chickens. I did add a little more flour to the recipe so they were not as sticky. Can’t wait to eat them!
That’s so great. Also, I think it’s so cool you raise your own chickens. David and I might like to try that one day.
I also made these tonight and the batter looked nothing like your picture? It was not thick at all and I was not able to make the 2in balls? It was so creamy. I’m wondering if you used real butter or margarine? Maybe that has something to do with it? I have the dough in the fridge now. Hopefully they will turn out as yummy as yours look!!
I used real butter.
Hey! A friend made a bunch and shared them with everyone – I think I had 12 of these delicious morsels! I just kept eating and eating! I LOVE the softness of the cookies, the dough is so tender! I would’ve eaten the whole bowl of them if I didn’t have to share and there was no one to stop me! I’m going to make them again! Thanks for sharing this with the world!
Wow! Haha that’s great.
can you mix by hand or do you need a mixer?
Either is fine!
What if I don’t have brown sugar, can I just use extra regular sugar?
I would recommend using brown.
These turned out perfectly. Mine baked a lot bigger than what I expected, but they had the crinkled snickerdoodle cinnamon look that makes them look store bought instead of homemade. And they taste just like a snickerdoodle from The Cookie Store, which always had my vote on best snickerdoodle until now! I can’t thank you enough for the recipe!
Wow! That’s wonderful. Thanks for writing.
I had friends visiting this weekend & made these for them. Everyone was raving about them. Thanks so much for this easy & delicious recipe. My boyfriend has a new favorite cookie.
That’s great! Thank you.
Did you use light brown sugar? Or is it okay to use dark brown sugar?
Sure is!
This looks great! I always find though in American recipes and sometimes English, that you need ingredients I’ve never heard of. Where I’m from, I don’t think they have cream of tartar, can you perhaps replace is with something more common, or is it ok to leave out completely?
It would be fine to just leave of the cream of tartar.
Arrowroot powder is another name for cream of tartar.
Thanks!
I don’t believe Arrowroot powder is the same as Cream of tarter.
I substitued cream of tartar with corn strach and they came out great!
Good to know! Thanks.
I’m out of cream of tartar. Can I substitute something else?
It’s fine to leave it out.
I made these a month ago for Thanksgiving. They were amazing, and an instant family favorite. Thanks!
That’s great. Thank you!
Do these freeze well??
Yes!
Hi. I want to try these but what kind of sugar is it? Thanks
Regular white sugar.
Am I able to use a stand mixer? I don’t have a hand mixer.
Yes, that works the same.
Is it okay if I use a stand mixer? My hand mixer died. :(
I am going to make these on Saturday for my cookie exchange and I am so excited. However, do I have to chill the dough for a few hours? I wont have time to do that & dont want the cookies to come out weird. Also, it says this makes 32 cookies…are these 32 little cookies? I have to make like 5 dozen, so I just want to get the correct amount of ingredients!
I made these last night and only refrigerated between each dozen and they came out great! I doubled this recipe and it made exactly 5 dozen (after I tasted a couple even). I used the pampered chef cookie scoop that is a lot like a melon baller and then just flattened the balls and wrapped around the rolos, they were a decent size.
Good idea! Thanks for sharing.
You don’t have to chill the dough and the cookies will be about 3 inches diameter.
I used softened butter, chilled the dough for 2 hours and mine turned out flatter than a pancake. They tasted good though. Is there supposed to be cream of tartar in them?
Yes, I would try 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar.
How is the sugar & cinnamon divided? In 3rd step it says combine remaining sugar & cinnamon but no instructions are given on dividing those ingredients.
Thanks. I updated the recipe. I hope that helps.
Super tasty! Thanks for a great recipe!
You are welcome!
These were very good. I think mine expanded more than the picture, so the cookies were huge. I had to bake an extra 2 minutes since they seemed large. I’ll definitely refrigerate the dough next time so it’s not as sticky though. They are yummy either way! I can’t wait to try the rolo stuffed version.
Thanks Keri! Glad it worked out.
i made these a few days ago, following your recipe exactly, and they came out perfectly! now, a new favorite cookie in our house :) thanks!
You’re welcome! That’s great.
I once used a vegetable spread instead of butter or “margarine” not realizing it was different. My dough was more batter and the cookies were a slimy mess because if the water content. Spreadable butter (butter with canola oil) doesn’t work well either.
Good to know, thanks.
Not sure if you did or didnt, but make sure the butter is softened and not melted. it also helps to chill dough for about an hour so its easier to work with.
Great tip. Thank you.
I made these tonight. While they taste good, they are not as thick as pictured above. Also when I finished the recipe and was starting to form the dough, it was not in a dough like form. It was very sticky, and was not easily shaped into a ball. I ended up having to use two spoons to form the balls to the best of my ability. I am not sure what I did wrong, but it seems like there is to much liquid to dry ingredient ratio. I am not sure how to fix it. Also after cooking, majority of mine still had a dough like consistency in the middle. That was with me going over the recommended time and cooking them for 14-16 min. Overall, my husband loves these cookies…I will probably make them again, however, I would appreciate some advice on how to change the consistency to one in which I can form.
Thanks,
Amber
Refrigerating the dough for an hour or two may help.
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