Snickerdoodles may rule the holiday season, but I bake this treat in abundance from early September onward. To celebrate the opportunity to experience the sweet and sour taste, we decided to find out which cookie is the most popular in the world. (Although we do love the classic chocolate chip cookie.) It’s time to find out once and for all: what’s the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe?
While cinnamon-sugar-flavored cookies feel especially delicious with their warm and sweet flavor, there are a few things that set a snickerdoodle cookie recipe apart. Have you ever wondered why your favorite snickerdoodle recipe calls for cream of tartar? Turns out, it’s the secret ingredient that gives the cookie its unique texture and taste. And after testing each of the cookie recipes below, we can confirm – cream of tartar makes a big the difference.
Read on for all the details on the different cookie recipes we tested and which snickerdoodle came out on top.
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All recipes are followed exactly as written without adjustments for personal preferences or taste preferences.
Standard Guidelines
Unlike a chocolate chip cookie where everyone has their preferences when it comes to texture, flavor, and technique, a snickerdoodle has some key features that make it a snickerdoodle.
- Taste. While cinnamon sugar is the main flavor of the snickerdoodle, cream of tartar gives it a signature tang in the background that rounds out the sweetness. We looked for cinnamon flavor, overall sweetness level, and aroma when rating our cookies.
- Body posture. Cream of tartar creates that delicious pillowy and chewy texture—exactly what we were looking for in our recipes. Not crispy, not dense, but a chewy bite that was still soft and in the center of your mouth.
7. Martha Stewart: Snickerdoodles recipe
Although we had high hopes for these cookies, they fell short of our textual expectations. These cookies were on the hard and dry side of all the snickerdoodles we tested and didn’t have much of a cinnamon flavor. There was also some discussion about whether we missed something in the recipe, as this sounds like a cinnamon sugar cookie to us. (We want a user error if you don’t!)
6. Hummingbird High: Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream of Tartar
We affectionately called these cookies “monkey pieces.” And if you had given us these cookies on any other day and not been eaten back with a bunch of snickerdoodle cookies, I would have told you that this was a great cookie. Overall, we all liked this cookie, but when we compared it to the texture and taste of other cookies, we didn’t think it was a great snickerdoodle.
The texture, while perfect for a sugar cookie, was dense while being very chewy. The flavor also didn’t have the same tang because as the recipe says, it doesn’t use cream of tartar. Instead, it swaps in a healthy dose of baking powder. Also, we really liked this cookie and are saving this recipe for the evening when you can’t find cream of tartar in the pantry.
5. Kitchen whip: Snickerdoodles
We love Smitten Kitchen recipes, so it was important to have these snickerdoodles on hand. These cookies have a rich buttery flavor, that slight tang, and a touch of cinnamon spice. But in terms of texture, they came out softer than our other cookies, so we attached a little bit of that melt-in-your-mouth flavor that other recipes had. However, if you like smaller and more chewy cookies, add them to your must-bake list.
4. Rick Martinez: BA’s Best Snickerdoodles
This was one of two recipes that used melted butter in the cookie instead of the frosting, in addition to the brown sugar. These also have the added step of letting the dough rest for 30 minutes to moisten.
A few thoughts. We did not want to rest the dough to make it easier to work with, as the dough remained soft and difficult to work with after resting. But other than that, this was a very chewy and buttery cookie, and it leant towards a very tasty crowd. We really liked this cookie, but some of the steps make it difficult to opt out of cookies if that’s your preference.
3. Ree Drummond: Snickerdoodles
If you’re looking for a cookie that reminds you of big, soft grocery store cookies, these will be the ones of your dreams. On the larger side, these cookies have that melt-in-your-mouth interior with a slightly chewy edge. Our only complaint is that we wanted more cinnamon flavor, but the signature snickerdoodle tang was perfect. I will make these again.
2. Jessie Sheehan: Epic Snickerdoodles
There was a razor thin margin between our top two cookies, so know that they are both excellent examples of a snickerdoodle. Jessie’s recipe from her book Snackable Bakes uses part shortening and part butter, making these excellent tenders. The middles are puffy, fluffy, and soft, while the edges get a nice chew and subtle shine. Surprisingly, this was the only recipe to use cinnamon in the dough itself. This has led several tasters to call the flavor too cinnamon-y. With butter, goodness, we will make these cookies over and over again.
1. Broma Bakery: Soft Snickerdoodles
And our winner for the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe comes from none other than… Broma Bakery! I’ll admit I was skeptical because this recipe uses a very different ingredient that I was quoted as saying “wouldn’t make a difference at all.” I’ll admit it, but an extra tablespoon of Greek yogurt in these cookies made for what taste testers called the wettest cookie of the bunch. These were soft and airy, buttery and cinnamon-y, with that nice tang, chewy edges, and all around goodness. That’s right – these had it all.