Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles

Before you start

A snickerdoodle is a butter-and-sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. Two details make it a snickerdoodle rather than a sugar cookie: cream of tartar, which adds a gentle tang and works with baking soda to give the cookies their puffy-then-crinkled shape, and a short bake that leaves the centers soft.

Weigh the flour if you can. Spooned cups vary by 20 grams or more, and extra flour is the most common reason snickerdoodles bake up dry and domed instead of soft and crackled.

Ingredients

• Dough170 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter — softened to about 18–20°C; it should dent easily but not look greasy
• 250 g (1¼ cups) granulated sugar
• 1 large (about 50 g) egg — room temperature
• 1 large (about 18 g) egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 330 g (2¾ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp fine salt
• Coating50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a bowl so the leaveners are evenly distributed.
2. Beat the softened butter and 250 g sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffy.
3. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Beat for 30 seconds, then scrape down the bowl so no streaks of butter remain.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until no dry flour is visible. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the cookies tougher.
5. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line the baking sheets with parchment.
6. Mix the coating sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough into 40 g balls (about 2 tablespoons), then roll each ball in the coating until fully covered.
7. Place the balls 6 cm (2½ in) apart, 12 per sheet. Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look puffy and slightly underdone.
8. Leave the cookies on the hot sheet for 5 minutes; they will sink and crackle as they cool. Move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips for success

• Pull the cookies while the centers still look soft. They finish setting on the hot baking sheet.
• If your kitchen is warm, chill the shaped and coated balls for 10 minutes before baking to limit spread.
• Rotate between two sheets so you never put dough on a hot pan; a hot sheet starts melting the butter before the oven can set the edges.

Substitutions

Cream of tartar

Replace both the cream of tartar and baking soda with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. The cookies will be puffier and less tangy, closer to a cinnamon sugar cookie.

Unsalted butter

Salted butter works; reduce the added salt to ¼ teaspoon. Plant-based baking sticks work, but cookies spread more, so chill the dough for a full hour.

Egg yolk

Use one whole egg only and add 1 tablespoon of milk. The cookies will be slightly less rich and a little cakier.

Variations

Brown butter snickerdoodles

Brown 200 g butter, cool it until it is soft and opaque, and use 170 g of it in place of the softened butter. Chill the dough for an hour.

Chai-spiced coating

Replace the cinnamon with 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon cardamom and a pinch of cloves.

Troubleshooting

Cookies spread thin and flat

The butter was too warm or the dough was not chilled. Make sure the butter is cool-soft, chill the dough for 30 minutes, and check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer.

Cookies stayed domed and dry

Too much flour or too long in the oven. Weigh the flour or spoon it into the cup and level it, and take the cookies out while the centers still look underdone.

No crackles on top

The dough balls may have been too small or too cold, or the leavening is old. Use 40 g balls and check that baking soda is less than six months open.

Storage

Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. You can also freeze uncoated dough balls; thaw them for 15 minutes, roll them in cinnamon sugar and add 1 to 2 minutes to the bake.

Safety notes

Do not eat the raw dough: it contains raw egg and raw flour, both of which can carry harmful bacteria until baked. Contains wheat, egg and milk.