I have a warm and fuzzy place in my heart for snickerdoodles, because aside from the fact that they have the best cookie name ever, they also remind me of my free-wheeling college days.
About one million years ago when I was a sophomore I got an on-campus apartment with three of my good friends, and with that apartment came the very first stove any of us had ever had. We cooked up some alarming meals on that stove. Fun, but alarming.
Anyway, there was one of us (you know who you are!) who periodically would have the overwhelming need to bake cookies.
Not to eat them, just to bake them, sometimes at interesting hours of the day and night, and she always made the same kind: Snickerdoodles. Not sure why, but we weren’t arguing.
The apartment was always full of us girls and whomever our boyfriends of the moment were, and the cookies never lasted long.
So every once in a while, lo these many years later, I get the overwhelming desire to make snickerdoodles, and it always zaps me right back to those days of fun and friends and having to wait on line for hours for a clothes dryer.
What is a snickerdoodle?
There are all kinds of theories about where the name came from, but the important part is that they are crunchy on the outside, softly chewy on the inside, cinnamon-filled sugar cookies.
Here’s how to make the best snickerdoodle cookies!
Preheat your oven to 400 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat.
Stir 2 ¾ cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda together in a medium bowl.
Using an electric mixer, cream together half a cup of soft butter, half a cup of shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix it up until it is all fully combined.
Scoop the dough out by tablespoons, rolling each into a ball.
Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together and roll the dough balls in the cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets – these guys are going to spread a little.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes and cool on racks. You’ve made snickerdoodles!
More tips for making snickerdoodle cookies!
I know, this is one ingredient that you probably don’t have right on hand, but you need it. It’s the ingredient that gives these cookies the crunchy outside and the chewy inside, and you can find it right in with the spices in your supermarket.
You can…as long as you are willing to do some quick kitchen arithmetic. Here’s a handy guide to how you swap shortening for butter and vice versa!
Once the cinnamon sugar aroma starts to waft throughout the kitchen and into the house, you will be amazed at how much company you suddenly have!
Cookie memories and college memories. They’re the best.
OTHER CLASSIC COOKIE RECIPES WE LOVE!
Snickerdoodle Cookies
This recipe for snickerdoodle cookies will fill your house with cinnamon sugar deliciousness! You might want to make a double batch of this classic treat.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 36
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat.
- Stir the flour, cream of tartar and baking soda together in a medium bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully combined.
- Scoop the dough out by tablespoons, rolling each into a ball.
- Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon and roll the dough balls in the cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes and cool on racks.
Equipment We Used to Make This Recipe
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Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying (without any extra cost to you)! Thanks for using them to keep our kitchen cooking…xoxo!
Updated (and made even more delicious!) from a previously published Framed Cooks post!
Christina says
Such a great Christmas cookie! These were so easy and were a big hit at my cookie exchange. Thank you!
Christina! I’m so glad you like these cookies!
Martha in KS says
My sophomore year I too shared an apartment with three girls. We split dinner cooking responsibilities. The other team made chili what seemed like all the time – ground beef, beans and BBQ SAUCE with cornbread. Cheap but not great. I couldn’t look at a bowl of chili for a few years after that.
I love snickerdoodles. One of my roommate’s (who grew up in the college town) Mom made them for us. I’d never had them before & Mrs. Henry’s were delicious!
Merry Xmas to you & your family!!
I love college cooking memories – both the successes and the hilarious failures! :) Hope you and your family are having the merriest holiday! xoxo