Christmas Snickerdoodles (2024)

Snickerdoodle cookies are dressed up for the holidays in red, green, and gold sprinkles. Christmas snickerdoodles are soft and chewy, with a subtle tangy flavor and cinnamon sugar crust.

Snickerdoodles are the perfect cookie for the holiday season. They're rolled in cinnamon sugar and colorful sprinkles for a cozy and festive holiday feel.

The addition of cream of tartar gives these cookies their traditional tangy flavor that sets them apart from a regular sugar cookie. Made with simple pantry ingredients, these cookies are surprisingly easy to make in your own home kitchen.

Serve Christmas snickerdoodles at your next holiday party or have the kids help make a batch for Santa on Christmas Eve!

Ingredients and substitutions

• Unsalted butter- Can be substituted with salted butter (you'll want to omit the salt listed in the recipe). Your butter should be room temperature - not cold, not melted.
• Sugars- Adds sweetness and moisture to your dough. You'll also be rolling the dough balls in additional granulated sugar before baking.
• Large eggs- Eggs should be room temperature. Set them on the counter 1 hour before baking or place your whole eggs in a small bowl covered in warm tap water for 15 minutes.
• Vanilla extract - Adds flavor to the cookie base.
• All-purpose flour- I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. If you have a different flour on hand, I suggest searching for a recipe using your preferred type of flour. Many times it's not an easy 1:1 substitution, and a recipe written for a particular flour will turn out better.
• Baking soda- Cannot be substituted with baking powder - these are two different ingredients that react differently with the other ingredients listed. Check the expiration date before beginning - expired baking soda will result in a flat, dense cookie.
• Cream of tartar - Prevents the sugar from crystallizing and creating a crunchy texture in your cookie. I like to add it to cookie recipes when I want a soft, chewy cookie. Cream of tartar also gives the cookies a unique, slightly tangy flavor, which sets it apart it from a regular sugar cookie.
• Cinnamon - The dough balls are rolled in sugar sprinkles and cinnamon before baking to create that traditional cinnamon snickerdoodle flavor.
• Salt- enhances the flavor of your cookie and balances the sweetness without making them "salty".
• Sprinkles - I used red, green, and gold sugar sprinkles. Colors can be adjusted for the season and holiday, or substituted with granulated sugar for a traditional snickerdoodle cookie.

Tips and tricks

Room temperature ingredients- It's important to allow your ingredients to come to room temperature. They create a consistent, creamy, and even dough. When beaten, the eggs and butter form an emulsion,which traps air in the dough and bakes up into a soft and fluffy cookie.

Improperly measured flour - This isthe most common issue I see in baking. If you have issues with your cookies not spreading, turning out extra thick and tall, or tasting bland, you probably measured too much flour into your cookie dough.

To properly measure flour - Use a kitchen scale for 100% accuracy. If you don't have a scale, use a spoon to gently add flour to your measuring cup, then level off with a knife. By scooping flour directly from a container with the measuring cup, you’re compacting the flour into the cup. This can add up to 25% extra flour to your dough.

Use parchment paper - A greased baking sheet causes cookies to spread more than they should while baking. I highly recommend using parchment paper or a silicone baking mat instead.

Frequently asked questions

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