Snickerdoodles
Soft, slightly cakey sugar cookies made tangy with cream of tartar, rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked hot until they crackle on top.
The snickerdoodle is a sugar cookie leavened with cream of tartar and baking soda and rolled in cinnamon sugar; Wikipedia ties it to New England and notes it is common in Mennonite and Amish communities. Nobody knows where the name comes from. The Joy of Cooking says it is probably German, a corruption of Schneckennudel, a Palatine pastry; other references say it may simply be a nonsense name from a New England habit of whimsical cookie names; and the Oxford English Dictionary calls the origin uncertain, suggests a blend of "snicker" and "doodle," and records the earliest use in 1889 (all as cited by Wikipedia). Cream of tartar is what separates a snickerdoodle from a plain sugar cookie: it gives the tang and the soft, crackled top (Wikipedia).
🇺🇸 This one is American
Soft, slightly cakey sugar cookies made tangy with cream of tartar, rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked hot until they crackle on top.
🇩🇪 The original
Europe's holiday cookies came first: Nuremberg's spiced nut Lebkuchen, Scottish shortbread and Tuscan cantucci, recipes that German, Scottish and Italian immigrants carried to America. See the Nuremberg Elisenlebkuchen recipe.
📖 Origin story: Was the Chocolate Chip Cookie an Accident? Ruth Wakefield's Story →
Why it works the kitchen science
Cream of tartar
The acid reacts with the baking soda for lift and leaves a faint tang, and it keeps the sugar from crystallizing, which helps the soft, chewy texture.
Shortening
It melts at a higher temperature than butter, so the cookies spread less and stay thick, soft and slightly cakey.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment.
- Step 2
Beat the shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Step 3
Mix in the flour until a soft dough forms.
- Step 4
Stir the cinnamon and sugar together in a shallow bowl.
- Step 5
Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls and roll each one in cinnamon sugar. Set them 2 inches apart on the sheets.
- Step 6
Bake 11 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back halfway, until set and just starting to turn golden.
- Step 7
Cool on the pans a few minutes, then on a rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Snickerdoodles
Serves 20 (2 cookies each) · about 40 cookies · 45 min total
Dough
- 1 cup (184 g) vegetable shortening
- 1 1/2 cups (298 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 2 3/4 cups (330 g) all-purpose flour
Cinnamon sugar
- 1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment.
- Beat the shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Mix in the flour until a soft dough forms.
- Stir the cinnamon and sugar together in a shallow bowl.
- Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls and roll each one in cinnamon sugar. Set them 2 inches apart on the sheets.
- Bake 11 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back halfway, until set and just starting to turn golden.
- Cool on the pans a few minutes, then on a rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Adapted from King Arthur Baking, "Snickerdoodle Cookies" by PJ Hamel (updated December 8, 2025), as written for about 40. King Arthur says to roll the balls in cinnamon sugar but gives no amounts for it; 1/2 cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon is ours. King Arthur Baking. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- King Arthur's swap: no cream of tartar? Use 2 tsp baking powder in place of the cream of tartar and baking soda; the cookies lose their tang.
- Want butter flavor? Many cooks use half butter, half shortening; expect a little more spread.
- Take them out when the centers still look puffy; they settle into crinkles as they cool.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The name is German, from Schneckennudel. Disputed: the Joy of Cooking says probably; the Oxford English Dictionary calls the origin uncertain and suggests an English blend; others call it New England whimsy (Wikipedia).
- Snickerdoodles must have cream of tartar. Documented as the defining ingredient by Wikipedia; King Arthur still allows a baking powder swap.
- Butter, not shortening. Disputed: King Arthur uses all shortening for the soft texture; many home recipes use butter for flavor.
- They are older than the 1880s. Folklore: the earliest OED citation is 1889; older dates we saw were unsourced.
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