Perfect Snickerdoodles
In the fall, there is absolutely nothing in this world I love more than these perfect snickerdoodles: soft, buttery, lightly spiced, and coated with cinnamon sugar. You absolutely need to try to make these ASAP!
I start with brown butter. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m absolutely obsessed with browning my butter. If you haven’t heard of it before, it is essentially cooking the butter down on the stove until the water in the butter evaporates and you’re left with the milk solids. This process adds a delicious depth to any baked goods, especially cookies like these.
Because the recipe calls for softened butter, I brown my butter an hour before I want to bake the cookies so it can come back to room temperature. If you don’t have time, there are a few ways around this. You could brown the butter and then, instead of letting it cool slowly, place your bowl in an ice bath and stir the butter until it cools down. You could also just use regular softened butter (make sure it’s unsalted, so you can control the salt level).
Next, the sugars. I combine brown sugar and white sugar, which I’ve found is perfect. I cream those with the butter then add salt (salt is crucial for baked goods, it helps to balance the sweetness), vanilla, eggs, and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger). Then, baking soda (for chewiness) and cream of tartar (which seems to be a weird addition, but actually helps balance out the acidity.
Finish with some flour, then chill for 10 minutes in the fridge. Preheat your oven and line your baking sheets while you wait. Also, make some cinnamon sugar. When they’re chilled, use an ice cream scoop to make balls of cookie dough, then roll in the sugar and place on the baking sheet. Press them down a little, bake, and enjoy.
Here are some of my other cookie recipes you should definitely check out: brown butter chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon roll cookies, lemon crinkle cookies, double chocolate chunk cookies, and rugelach.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter, browned and cooled
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 1/2 cups flour
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Brown the butter: in a small saucepan, add the butter. Heat on medium high, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon for about 7-10 minutes. When you start to see brown flecks swirling around, pour the hot browned butter into a glass or metal bowl. Let it cool for about an hour.
- Add the cooled butter into your mixing bowl (I did this by hand, you can also use your mixer) with the brown and white sugar. Use a whisk to cream the ingredients together until thickened and lightened in color.
- Add the eggs, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix well to combine, then add the baking soda and cream of tartar, followed by the flour (don’t overmix, stop as soon as you don’t see any chunks of flour).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for ten minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350ºF, line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and make your cinnamon sugar by combining the sugar and cinnamon.
- After the dough is chilled, use an ice cream scoop to measure out scoops of cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough in your hands and then in the cinnamon sugar before placing on the baking tray. Make sure there is at least 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Press the cookies down gently, flattening them to about 1/2″ thickness. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then let cool and enjoy!
Perfect Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter browned and cooled
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Brown the butter: in a small saucepan, add the butter. Heat on medium high, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon for about 7-10 minutes. When you start to see brown flecks swirling around, pour the hot browned butter into a glass or metal bowl. Let it cool for about an hour.
- Add the cooled butter into your mixing bowl (I did this by hand, you can also use your mixer) with the brown and white sugar. Use a whisk to cream the ingredients together until thickened and lightened in color.
- Add the eggs, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix well to combine, then add the baking soda and cream of tartar, followed by the flour (don't overmix, stop as soon as you don't see any chunks of flour).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for ten minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350ºF, line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and make your cinnamon sugar by combining the sugar and cinnamon.
- After the dough is chilled, use an ice cream scoop to measure out scoops of cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough in your hands and then in the cinnamon sugar before placing on the baking tray. Make sure there is at least 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Press the cookies down gently, flattening them to about 1/2" thickness. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then let cool and enjoy!