Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe (Soft & Chewy)

Is there anything better than a delicious snickerdoodle cookie recipe during the holiday season? These soft snickerdoodle cookies combine everything you love about the classic cinnamon-sugar cookies, but this best snickerdoodle cookie recipe adds brown butter and white chocolate to elevate the flavors and really wow your guests and family this Christmas. The brown butter adds incredible nutty depth, while the white chocolate creates pockets of creamy sweetness that perfectly balance the warm cinnamon coating.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

• Elevated Flavor: Brown butter and white chocolate take classic snickerdoodles to the next level with nutty, rich depth.
• Incredibly Easy: Make these in only 30 minutes from start to finish, so you won’t spend all day baking.
• Soft and Chewy: The perfect tender texture with slightly crispy, crackly cinnamon-sugar edges.
• Perfect for Gifting: Wrap these up in a pretty tin or box and gift them to teachers, family, and friends.

🍲 Ingredients

Cinnamon – This warming spice is much more than just delicious because it can help lower blood sugar levels and is well-known for its benefits for people managing diabetes. Cinnamon is also anti-viral, anti-fungal, and loaded with antioxidants that protect your body from free radical damage, so this glorious spice deserves so much more credit than it gets. The combination of cinnamon in both the dough and the coating creates layers of warm, spicy flavor that makes snickerdoodles so distinctive and crave-worthy.

Brown Butter – Made by cooking unsalted butter over high heat until the milk solids turn golden brown while the water evaporates completely, brown butter adds a nutty, toasty flavor that’s incredibly rich and intense. This simple technique transforms ordinary butter into something magical because it creates hundreds of new flavor compounds through the Maillard reaction, so your cookies taste exponentially more complex and sophisticated. Brown butter is what elevates these from good snickerdoodles to the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe you’ll ever make.

👩‍🍳 How to Make This Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

Prepare and Make Brown Butter:

1. Preheat the oven to 355°F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper, so the cookies won’t stick and cleanup is effortless.

2. In a medium-sized pot, place ½ cup of butter and stir constantly over high heat, watching carefully. In a few minutes, the butter will foam up dramatically as water content cooks off, so continue stirring and waiting for it to foam up a second time. After the second foam, the butter will begin changing color from golden to amber to chestnut red to deep brown. Once it contains mainly dark brown color with fragrant, nutty aromas, immediately transfer to a heat-safe container because it can burn quickly. Allow it to cool in the fridge until firm, then soften it to room temperature or leave it out until spreadable but not melted.

Mix the Dough:

3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until evenly distributed. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the cooled brown butter, both sugars, and vanilla extract, then beat with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes light and pale in color, about 2-3 minutes because proper creaming incorporates air for tender cookies. Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition just until combined but not overmixed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until combined with no visible flour streaks remaining. Gently fold in the white chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes, so the dough firms up and is easier to handle while the flavors meld together.

Shape and Prepare for Baking:

5. In a small bowl, mix together ¼ cup granulated sugar with 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon for rolling. Scoop the chilled dough into ping-pong sized balls, approximately 2 tablespoons worth each, so they’re uniform and bake evenly. Roll each dough ball between your hands until smooth and round, then roll generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat completely. Press a few extra white chocolate chips onto the top of each cookie dough ball for bakery-style presentation.

6. Evenly space the cinnamon-sugar coated dough balls 2-3 inches apart onto the prepared baking trays because they spread during baking and need room.

Bake and Cool:

7. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are set and slightly golden but the centers still look soft and puffy. The cookies will continue cooking on the hot pan after removal, so don’t overbake or they’ll become hard instead of chewy.

8. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes until they firm up enough to move, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

No-Chill Option:

Skip the refrigeration step and bake immediately for flatter, crispier cookies, though chilling produces the best texture.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

• Watch the Brown Butter: The line between perfectly browned and burnt is thin, so remove it immediately when deeply golden because it continues darkening off heat.
• Chill for Best Texture: Refrigerating dough prevents overspreading and creates thicker, chewier cookies with better flavor development.
• Don’t Overbake: Remove when centers look slightly underdone because they firm up during cooling, and overbaking makes them hard.
• Roll Twice: Roll dough balls in cinnamon-sugar before and after baking for extra crackly, flavorful coating.

🗒 Variations

• Extra Chewy: Use 2 egg yolks instead of 1 whole egg plus 1 yolk for even softer, chewier centers.
• Jumbo Bakery-Style: Use ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) of dough per cookie and bake 14-16 minutes for oversized treats.
• Salted Snickerdoodles: Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top right after rolling in cinnamon-sugar for sweet-salty contrast.
• Stuffed: Press a caramel square or Rolo into the center of each dough ball before rolling in cinnamon-sugar.
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Variation: Add ½ cup pumpkin puree to the dough and increase flour by ¼ cup, then mix in 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

🗒 Substitutions

• Vegan Option: Replace brown butter with browned vegan butter like Earth Balance and use dairy-free white chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars.
• Gluten-Free: Use 1½ cups Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend, though cookies may be slightly more crumbly.
• Egg-Free: Use 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water) plus 1 extra tablespoon for the yolk replacement.
• No White Chocolate: Simply omit the white chocolate chips for classic snickerdoodles, or use cinnamon chips instead.

🍽️ Best served with

• Chocolate Brownie Whoopie Pie
• Brown Butter & White Chocolate Snickerdoodles
• Ferrero Rocher Cookies
• Red Velvet Cookies

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store baked snickerdoodle cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 2-3 months because they keep beautifully. To maintain softness, place a slice of bread in the container because it releases the moisture the cookies absorb. Freeze unbaked dough balls (already rolled in cinnamon-sugar) on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to freezer bags for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time.

🤔 Common Questions

Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe (Soft & Chewy)

5 from 9 votes

🍪 This soft snickerdoodle cookie recipe with brown butter and white chocolate is the best you'll ever make! Chewy, cinnamon-sugar perfection in 30 minutes!

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 32 minutes mins

Course Vegetarian

Cuisine Baked Goods

Servings 16 -18

Calories 191 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 1 cup butter
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg room temperature
• 1 egg yolk room temperature
• 1 ½ tbsp vanilla
• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup white chocolate chips

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Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 355F, and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
• In a medium-sized pot place ½ cup of butter, stirring constantly over high heat. In a few minutes, the butter will foam up, cooking off any water content.  Continue stirring, waiting for it to foam up a second time. After it foams the second time, the butter will begin to change colour from golden to amber to chestnut red to brown.  Once it contains mainly dark brown colour, immediately transfer to a heat-safe container, and allow to cool in the fridge. As soon as it’s firm, soften OR allow it to come to room temperature.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine brown butter, sugars, and vanilla, with a hand mixer on medium/high speed until light and pale in colour. One at a time, slowly mixes in the egg and yolk, until just combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips.  Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.
• Scoop the dough into “ping-pong” size balls, approximately 2 tbsp worth.  Roll the cookie dough balls out with your hand, until smooth.  Add extra white chocolate chips to the top of the cookie dough balls. 
• Evenly space the cookie dough 2-3 inches apart onto the baking trays. 
• Bake for 12 – 14 minutes, until slightly golden on the edges.
• Allow to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Enjoy!!

Notes

To make vegan, swap brown butter with earth balance AND replace white chocolate chips with your favorite dairy-free chips or chocolate bars!

Swap the all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend!

Omit cinnamon for no-spice and add more chocolatey goodness!!

Add flaky salt on top of cookies after baking if desired!

Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months. Allow to come to room temperature or warm in the microwave slightly to serve. 

Serve with your favorite milk or plant-based milk- adding vanilla for an extra touch!

Have fun with it!

Nutrition

Serving: 18 | Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 21.3g | Protein: 1.9g | Fat: 10.9g | Saturated Fat: 6.6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 47.7mg | Sodium: 43.5mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 12g

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