Marie Saba

From My Kitchen To Yours

The BEST Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are such a wonderful classic! Soft and chewy on the inside with crispy edges, rolled in cinnamon and sugar and baked up for cookie perfection! Served warm with a glass of milk, they take me back to simpler days of childhood.

You probably have most of the ingredients on hand: butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. The one ingredient that you might not have is cream of tartar.

Cream of tartar is a white powder used to stabilize meringues, soufflés or angel food cake. When used in cookies, cream of tartar helps prevent sugar from crystalizing, which results in a chewier cookie (yum!). And in snickerdoodles specifically, cream of tartar provides a mild “tang” to offset the sweetness. If you don’t have cream of tartar, you can sub in 2 teaspoons baking powder in place of both the cream of tartar and baking soda.

Hope you get a chance to try these! For Valentine’s Day, we added red sprinkles to the cinnamon and sugar mixture — so fun! For a gluten-free version, simply sub in your favorite gluten-free flour blend, cup for cup.

For our some of our other favorite cookies, check out these chocolate chip cookies, citrus shortbread cookies, vanilla biscotti, or five-ingredient coconut macaroons.

The BEST Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or a gluten-free flour blend)

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

For topping:

1/4 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Optional: colored sprinkles

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars for 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl, add vanilla and eggs, and beat again to combine.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix just until combined. The dough will be thick and sticky.
For the topping, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon in a small bowl. (Add colored sprinkles if desired.)
Roll cookie dough into small balls. Then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until each ball of dough is well coated. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie drying rack to cool completely.

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