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Snickerdoodles

There’s nothing quite like the smell of cinnamon sugar wafting from the kitchen, except perhaps discovering its source: a warm tray of snickerdoodles. Their crinkled tops and pillowy thickness come from a blend of butter and coconut oil—a natural alternative to shortening.
Historically, snickerdoodles were actually a type of coffee cake, which is why they're so wonderfully puffy and soft. But in the early 20th century they evolved into drop cookies, a much handier incarnation, as they no longer required forks or plates to serve. They were still considered something of a tea cake, served at luncheons with other light nibbles.
Shape big bakery-style snickerdoodles if you want to invest more real estate in their rich and chewy centers, or downsize if you’d prefer a higher ratio of crispy edges.
Servings: 13 5-inch cookies
Author: BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

Ingredients

Cookies:

  • 10½ ounces all-purpose flour such as Gold Medal, (2⅓ cups)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter pliable but cool—about 60°F, (4 ounces)
  • 3½ ounces virgin coconut oil or refined, solid but creamy—about 70°F, (½ cup)
  • 10½ ounces sugar 1½ cups
  • 1¼ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt half as much if iodized
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg straight from the fridge

Cinnamon Sugar:

  • 2 ounces sugar (¼ cup)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or to taste, see note
  • 2 teaspoons grated cinnamon or to taste, see note

Instructions

  • Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 400°F.

Make the dough:

  • Sift the flour into a medium bowl (if using cup measures, spoon into the cups and level with a knife before sifting).
  • Combine the butter, coconut oil, sugar, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
  • Mix on low speed to moisten, then increase to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, pausing to scrape with a flexible spatula halfway through.
  • With the mixer running, crack in the egg and continue beating until smooth.
  • Reduce the speed to low, add the flour, and mix to form a stiff dough.
  • Divide into thirteen 2½-ounce (¼-cup) portions or twenty-six 1¼-ounce (2-tablespoon) portions.

Shape and dust the cookies:

  • Grate a cassia cinnamon stick on a spice grater or zester, such as a Microplane, working from the tip of the cinnamon stick, rather than its side.
  • Mix the sugar with the ground and grated cinnamon in a small bowl; add more spice if you prefer.
  • Roll each portion of dough into a smooth ball, tumble in the Cinnamon Sugar until fully coated, and arrange on parchment-lined aluminum baking sheets, leaving 2½ inches between each.
  • Flatten into ½-inch discs and generously sprinkle with the remaining Cinnamon Sugar.

Bake the cookies and serve:

  • Bake at 400°F until the Snickerdoodles begin to spread, about 6 minutes for either size, then rotate the baking sheet and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
  • Continue baking until the cookies are firm around the edges but still puffy in the middle, about 5 minutes for small, 8 minutes for large.
  • Cool on the baking sheet until the edges crisp, about 10 minutes.
  • Enjoy warm, or store in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature.

Notes

Use Two Types of Cinnamon for Complexity

My recipe uses a blend of commercially ground cinnamon (a.k.a., what's most commonly found in our pantries), with a boost in flavor and aroma from freshly grated cinnamon sticks. Not only does it create a more complex cinnamon flavor and pretty flecks of color against the dough, it delivers the same easygoing, I'm just joshing around sort of heat you'd find in Red Hot candies. It's a matter of taste, not science, so feel free to use what you have on hand or play around with the ratios; just remember that the flavor needs to be relatively intense so it can stand up to the otherwise sweet dough.
  • This recipe works best with cassia cinnamon sticks, which are easy to grate and boost the classic flavor of cinnamon in snickerdoodles. Grate on a spice grater or zester, such as a Microplane, working from the tip of the cinnamon stick, rather than its side.

Troubleshooting

  • Older ovens may wildly overshoot 400°F, so use an oven thermometer to ensure the Snickerdoodles won’t scorch.

Make ahead

  • Divide the portioned dough among several heavy-duty zip-top bags and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 6 months.
  • Let stand at room temperature until quite soft (about 70°F) and bake as directed.
  • Freeze leftover Cinnamon Sugar in an airtight container up to 2 months, for use in future Snickerdoodles or Snip Doodles.

Mix it up!

  • Bacon-Bacon: Cook 12 ounces bacon (1 package or 12 strips) on a griddle over medium-low heat until fat is rendered and bacon is golden and chewy, but not yet crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bed of paper towels, then roughly chop. Cool 3½ ounces (½ cup) bacon fat until solid and creamy, about 70°F, and use in place of coconut oil to make the dough. After rolling the cookies in cinnamon sugar, top the flattened cookie dough with chopped bacon. Otherwise, bake and cool as directed.
  • Banana Bread: Sift flour with 1 ounce (¼ cup) oat flour. Mash 5 ounces (⅔ cup) ripe banana with ¼ teaspoon ground cloves to add after the egg. Fold 6 ounces (1½ cups) toasted walnut pieces into the finished dough. Portion and roll in cinnamon sugar, but do not flatten, as this dough will spread nicely on its own. Bake as directed.
  • Cookies and Cream: My favorite ice cream in cookie form. Roughly chop 8 ounces Homemade Oreo® Cookies (page 212; about 20 sandwich cookies) and freeze until hard, about 2 hours. Stir into the dough after adding the flour. Portion and shape as directed, but skip the Cinnamon Sugar. Bake at 350°F until firm around the edges but pale and steamy in the center, about 12 minutes for small cookies, 15 minutes for large.
  • Oatmeal Streusel: After flattening the sugar-dusted cookies, top with a sprinkling of frozen Snickerstreusel (page 48). You’ll need about one teaspoon per small cookie, or two teaspoons per large (5 ounces or 1 cup total). Otherwise, bake as directed.
  • Tahitian Coconut: Make the dough with virgin coconut oil and a teaspoon of pure coconut extract in addition to the vanilla. For the topping, omit the cinnamon and blend the sugar with the seeds from Tahitian vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped with a paring knife.
  • Gluten-Free: It takes an arsenal of gluten-free flours to give Snickerdoodles the same chewy/crisp texture, but the results are identical to the original. Replace the all-purpose flour with 4 ounces (1 cup) almond flour, 3 ounces (¾ cup) tapioca flour or arrowroot, 2 ounces (½ cup) mochiko, 1 ounce (¼ cup) coconut flour, and ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) teff flour. This variation is not suitable for Snip Doodles.

Custom Snickerdoodles

In my research, I occasionally ran across snickerdoodles coated in brown sugar, or white sugar flavored with lemon zest or cocoa powder. I consider these historical variations a sign that no recipe is set in stone, so feel free to pick and choose from the options below to create your own custom blend. Toss everything together in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined.
  1. Sugar Sprinkle: Start with 1½ ounces (¼ cup) sugar.
    • Roasted Sugar (page 102) to mellow the sweetness with a hint of caramel
    • Light or dark brown sugar to deepen the flavor of malt and spice (see below)
    • Maple sugar to bring an earthy sweetness to coffee, chocolate, and/or spice (see below)
    • White sugar to allow subtle flavors like vanilla and lavender to shine
    • Turbinado or demerara sugar to give the cookies a crunchy shell
  2. Primary Flavor: Add one of these bold ingredients to establish a base note, or skip to Aromatics.
    • 1½ teaspoons matcha (see page 22)
    • 1½ teaspoons Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder
    • ¼ cup (¾ ounce) malted milk powder (this is not gluten-free)
    • 2 tablespoons (⅛ ounce) dried lavender buds, preferably organic
    • 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, such as Medaglia d’Oro
  3. Aromatics: Add one aromatic top note.
    • Seeds from 1 vanilla bean (pod reserved for another use)
    • 2 teaspoons orange zest or 1 teaspoon lemon zest
    • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
    • 1½ teaspoons ground ginger