Name: Standby Snickerdoodle
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 24 to 30 cookies
Ingredients: 2½ cups ( 312.5 g ) all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons cream of tartar; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) salt; ½ cup ( 113.5 g ) unsalted butter, softened; ½ cup ( 102.5 g ) vegetable shortening; 1½ cups ( 300 g ) sugar; 2 eggs; ¼ cup ( 50 g ) granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

This is the standby snickerdoodle recipe you’ll ever find! Slightly thick, chewy, and loaded with cinnamon-sugar… a holiday classic!

Snickerdoodles are one of THE quintessential holiday cookies. Every Christmas cookie plate deserves to have a spot reserved for these slightly tangy, cinnamon-sugar laden classic cookies. Most recipes out there are pretty standard, and we made a version years ago that was pretty good, but we felt like there was room for improvement to take them to next-level great.

Say hello to our new, all-time favorite snickerdoodle recipe. The best of a standby.

With only a few tiny tweaks to the ingredients, the cookies went from pretty good to oh-our-gosh-we-might-eat-them-all. Success!

We are an unabashed lover of chewy cookies; do not come to us with crisp, crisp cookies unless they are biscotti or pizzelle. We will skip dessert before we eat a crisp cookie, so it goes without saying that these are chewy snickerdoodles.

We began researching new snickerdoodle recipes a month or so ago and many of the recipes we found had similar ingredient ratios, but when we checked out Cook’s Illustrated, we saw one major difference that we hadn’t seen in other recipes… instead of using only butter, half of the butter was replaced with shortening. AHA! This keeps the cookies from spreading, and ensures that they have a nice thickness to them, while still keeping that buttery flavor. Adding in the shortening and reducing the flour slightly was a winning combination and we have officially ended our search for a good snickerdoodle recipe.

Now, something crazy totally happened. We recently started using Silpat liners on a regular basis instead of parchment paper. When we made these cookies, half of them were baked on sheets with parchment and the other half were baked on Silpat. Without an ounce of doubt, the ones that were baked on Silpats turned out exponentially prettier than the ones baked on parchment. They were slightly thicker, had a reliable crackle around the edges, and looked like snickerdoodle perfection. It didn’t appear to alter the taste at all – they all tasted exactly the same, but boy were those Silpat ones gorgeous! (All of the ones pictured here are the Silpat ones.)

If you’re looking for A straightforward snickerdoodle recipe that’s soft, chewy, and loaded with a cinnamon-sugar coating, then look no further. We served these up at a recent Sunday dinners and everyone agreed that they were a standby they’d ever tasted.

ENJOY!

One year ago: How to Make Sugared Cranberries
Two years ago: From-scratch Marshmallows
Six years ago: Eggnog Fudge
Seven years ago: From-scratch Peanut Brittle

Watch How to Make A standby Snickerdoodles

The standby Snickerdoodle Recipe

Yield: 24 to 30 cookies These snickerdoodles are slightly thick, chewy, and loaded with cinnamon-sugar... a holiday classic!

For the Cookies

2½ cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (102.5 g) vegetable shortening
1½ cups (300 g) sugar
2 eggs

For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating

¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give dough final stir by hand to ensure that no flour pockets remain.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in a small bowl or shallow dish. Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time (or using a medium cookie scoop), roll into balls, then roll in cinnamon-sugar to coat. Arrange the cookies 8 per sheet and bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the edges are just set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft, puffy and cracked (the cookies will look raw between the cracks and seem underdone), 8 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies can bet stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes

Raw cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month; bake frozen cookies in 300-degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes.

Nutritional values are based on one cookie

Shop the Recipe

These are some products we used to create today’s recipe:

KitchenAid Stand Mixer / Half Sheet Pan / Silpat / Measuring Spoons / Medium Cookie Scoop

Standby Snickerdoodle

Yield: 24 to 30 cookies
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Cookies

2½ cups ( 312.5 g ) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) salt
½ cup ( 113.5 g ) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup ( 102.5 g ) vegetable shortening
1½ cups ( 300 g ) sugar
2 eggs

For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating

¼ cup ( 50 g ) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give dough final stir by hand to ensure that no flour pockets remain.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in a small bowl or shallow dish. Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time (or using a medium cookie scoop), roll into balls, then roll in cinnamon-sugar to coat. Arrange the cookies 8 per sheet and bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the edges are just set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft, puffy and cracked (the cookies will look raw between the cracks and seem underdone), 8 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies can bet stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.