Make this snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar for a delicious cookie that is rolled in cinnamon sugar, has a chewy middle, and a crunchy exterior.
This snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar creates the most delicious, soft, rich, chewy, and perfectly thick cookies with the right amount of cinnamon flavor.
These soft and chewy snickerdoodle cookies are loaded with cinnamon and are made without cream of tartar!
Cream of tartar is one of those ingredients that many people don't keep in their kitchen. This recipe shows that you don't need cream of tartar to make these classic and delicious cookies.
If you like cinnamon recipes, check out our ginger molasses cookies, peach cobbler pound cake, pecan upside down cake, apple upside down cake, and pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
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Why this recipe works
- Ease- this recipe comes together in one bowl! Needs minimal tools.
- Cinnamon- tossed in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Is the perfect cookie for cinnamon lovers.
- Time- Made in under an hour from start to finish. You will need to chill this cookie dough for only 30 minutes, which is fairly quick!
- Common ingredients- this recipe uses super simple ingredients that you can find in any grocery store.
- No cream of tartar- this recipe uses simple ingredients and does not use cream of tartar and is perfect if you don't have it available at home.
- Warm, spice cookies- these snickerdoodle without cream of tartar are packed with a warm cinnamon flavor that is so delish.
What is cream of tartar?
Cream of tartar, also known as potassium bitartrate is a white powdery acid that is commonly used to stabilize whipped egg whites in meringues and cakes, prevent sugar crystallization in candies and caramels and also act as the activating agent in baking powder.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this snickerdoodle without cream of tartar, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking powder and baking soda – to allow the cookies to rise.
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.
Eggs– To give the cookies a good structure and gives them a chewy texture. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Cinnamon- we love adding ground cinnamon to the cookie dough, it adds so much flavor.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Instructions
Into a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter, kosher salt, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is creamy and light.
Add the eggs, and cinnamon, and mix until combined.
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180c (350f). In a small mixing bowl, add the cinnamon and sugar and mix until combined.
Use a cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies, roll each cookie into a ball, and roll each cookie dough into the cinnamon sugar mixture, making sure that the cookie dough is covered with cinnamon sugar coating.
Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 11-12 minutes.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Make sure that you are using fresh ingredients! One of the most common mistakes in baking and making cookies is not noticing that your baking powder or baking soda is expired.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies from spreading out too much. After making the cookie dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up.
- I suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Faq's
This usually means that there is too much flour in the dough. It is very important to measure your flour correctly.
We use all-purpose flour for these cookies. Cake flour will work great as well.
These cookies will last for up to 5 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Snickerdoodles got their name from the German word 'Schneckennudeln' meaning "crinkly noodle" or "snail".
Although snickerdoodles and sugar cookies share a lot of basic ingredients, they are pretty different. Snickerdoodles are dipped in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar mixture while sugar cookies are rolled in sugar.
Also, snickerdoodles usually have cream of tartar in them and have a slightly tangy flavor.
Storing
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freezing
Follow the instructions as written and make the dough balls, then transfer the dough balls into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough ball for up to 3 months.
The second way you can freeze these cookies is by baking them according to the instructions, letting the cookies cool completely, and freezing them in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months.
When ready to use, heat in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 5 minutes, or defrost them overnight in the fridge, and reheat them in the microwave.
Substitutions
Dairy-free- It’s easy to make this cookie recipe dairy-free. Simply replace the butter with vegan butter. Do not margarine! margarine has a bad flavor and it can ruin the flavor of these cookies.
Gluten-free- you can swap the flour with gluten-free flour to make these gluten-free. I never tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work.
Variations
Spices- add your favorite spices for snickerdoodles! Like nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin spice, ginger, etc.
White chocolate- add mini white chocolate chips to the cookie dough for a delicious white chocolate flavor.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- Baking sheet and rack set (our fave)
- Cookies scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used
More cookie recipes
Chewy Pistachio Cookies- These pistachio cookies are made with a chocolate chip cookie base filled with chopped pistachios and chocolate chunks and topped with flakey salt!
Giant Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies- These giant bakery style chocolate chip cookies are large and loaded with chocolate chips! They are gooey in the middle and crunchy on the edges.
Smores cookies- These chewy smores cookies are made with a chewy chocolate chip cookie dough, graham crackers chunks, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and stuffed with a large marshmallow in the middle of the cookie.
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📖 Recipe
Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream Of Tartar
Ingredients
- 230 g Butter soften
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
Cinnamon sugar (for rolling)
- ¼ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
Instructions
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, kosher salt, vanilla extract and granulated sugar. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is creamy and light.
- Add the eggs, cinnamon, and mix until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f). In a small mixing bowl, add the cinnamon and sugar and mix until combined.
- Use a cookies scooper to scoop out the cookies, roll each cookie into a ball, and roll each cookie dough into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, making sure that the cookie dough is covered with cinnamon sugar.
- Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 11-12 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Sift your flour! sifting your flour is a very important step when baking and making cookies. Use a fine-mesh sifter to sift out the flour. e also recommend sifting your cocoa powder. Cocoa powder tends to have big lumps, so we always sift the cocoa powder to make sure that there won’t be any cocoa lumps in the mixture.
- Make sure that you are using fresh ingredients! One of the most common mistakes in baking and making cookies is not noticing that your baking powder or baking soda is expired. This can ruin your cookies and waste your time and money on the ingredients. So every time you bake anything, make sure that the ingredients are not expired.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the cookie dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Syrenitie says
I made these cookies with my little brother and they turned out amazing. I did use coarse kosher salt wich gives them a slightly more salt after taste however they tasted great. I would definitely recommend this recipe.