White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies

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What’s the difference between a sugar cookie and a snickerdoodle?

White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies

Not too terribly much from what I can discern.

Sugar cookies are only rolled in sugar whereas snickerdoodles are rolled in both cinnamon and sugar.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies stacked

There’s also some splitting hairs over the type of leavening agent used: baking powder or a combination of baking soda + cream of tartar.

Some recipes call for shortening and butter rather than solely butter when making snickerdoodles.

I did more research on the finer points of sugar cookies and snickerdoodle cookies than one should unless your name is Alton Brown.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies stacked

But I’m all about field research when it has to do with cookies.

I wanted to add a little extra somethin’ somethin’ to these and decided to add white chocolate chips.

White chocolate chip bags in shopping cart

Then again, I love white chocolate as evidence by stockpiling the TJ’s chocolate chips before they became seasonally unavailable which happens after Christmas in my area.

I wish I could stockpile cookie butter but that’s currently a sad storySigh.

You can omit the white chocolate chips if you’re a snickerdoodle purist or you don’t like white chocolate.  I don’t understand you people who don’t like white chocolate but to each her own.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

These cookies are on the thin side but don’t let that deceive you into thinking they’re crunchy.

They’re not.

In fact they’re incredibly chewy.  I only like very soft and chewy cookies and these are so chewy you can bend them.

The brown sugar helps with the chewy factor and keeps them soft and flexible.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

The flavor is spot on to my memories of working at the mall in high school and devouring Mrs. Field’s snickerdoodle cookies on my breaks.  Between Mrs. Field’s and Cinnabons I was in food court heaven.

The cinnamon and sugar granules on these cookies and the teeny bit of graininess that I could feel from the sugar crystals as I chewed reminded me of my fond Mrs. Fields’s days.

My cookies have a hint more vanilla flavoring, by design, too.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

And of course, there’s white chocolate chips, by design.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

 

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White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies (with Vegan and Gluten Free options)

Makes 21 small to medium-sized cookies using my 1 inch cookie scoop.  Or, approximately 12 to 15 larger-sized cookies.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups flour

optional: 1/2 c white chocolate chips (increase to 2/3 to 3/4 c if you like a lot of chips, or use a combo of white/dark, white/butterscotch, all dark, etc or if you want more traditional sugar cookies, omit chips)

Plus: 1 tbsp cinnamon & 1/4 c white sugar, mixed in a small bowl for dipping/rolling the dough (to retain a true “sugar cookie” rather than snickerdoodle, omit the cinnamon and just roll in sugar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cream together (by hand or in a mixer) softened butter and sugars until very smooth and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.  Stir in the cinnamon, baking soda, and flour and mix until just combined.  Do not overmix.

Stir in the white chocolate chips and place the whole mixing bowl into the freezer for about 10 minutes so that it chills a bit.  You can also chill the dough for an hour or longer in the refrigerator.

While the dough is chilling, prepare the cinnamon sugar mixture for rolling.

After approximately 10 minutes, remove the chilled dough from the freezer and form 1 inch balls.  I highly recommend this cookie scoop.  It has changed the results of my baking dramatically.  Available at Bed Bath & Beyond for about $4 dollars.

Roll the balls through the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on Silpat-lined, parchment-lined or sprayed cookie sheets.

Bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes or until just barely set.  Remove cookies from the oven even if they look a bit underdone as they will firm up.  Allow the cookies to cool, well, on the cookie sheets before attempting to remove them.

To make gluten free, use a gluten free flour blend.

To make vegan, use margarine or Earth Balance in place of the butter and use 1 chia/flax egg instead of the egg.  Use vegan white chocolate chips, omit them, or use another chip of your choice.

Notes/Tips:

Cream your butter and sugar very well; make it fluffy which will ensure fluffier cookies.

Do not over-mix the flour once you’ve added it.  This will result in tough cookies.

Chilled dough is key to these cookies retaining some height and not flattening out completely.  If you prefer to chill your dough in the refrigerator for an hour or longer, feel free.

Some recipes call for shortening.  I have read many that use half butter and half shortening, i.e. 1/4 cup of each in a recipe this size, and the shortening will make them puffier, but also crunchier.

Some recipes call for baking soda in addition to or instead of baking powder.  I don’t think it could hurt to add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.  I will trial this in future batches to see the impact and if that makes them puffier.

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This recipe is easy and I got what I wanted: soft and chewy cookies that remind me of the Mrs. Fields snickerdoodles I used to inhale.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

I purposely kept the batch size small.  If you make slightly bigger cookies than I did, we’re talking a dozen to 15 cookies, max.

Around the holidays or post-holidays for all you who are have those pesky New Year’s resolutions, the last thing any of us needs is 3 or 4 dozen of anything.  So that’s your nudge to try these.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

And if you’re a white-chocolate-in-your-cookies fan, one of my favorite recipes of 2011 was the

Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies

New Years Resolutions are overrated anyway.

Now, it’s time for a cookie.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles Stacked

 

Do you like snickerdoodles?  Or sugar cookies? Do you use the names interchangeably?

Do you have any cookies, or food or recipes in general, that you pine away for in your memory?

I have to say, Auntie Annie’s Pretzels dipped in butter and cream cheese, Cinnabons with extra frosting, and Mrs. Field’s Snickerdoodles rank right up there for me.

And who says you can’t get a balanced diet from the choices at the mall food court.

And from cookies to stevia, thanks for the NuNaturals Stevia Giveaway entries.

 

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Comments

  1. I love white chocolate and I love snickerdoodles so these are a no-brainer! I always use real White Chocolate chips though. The “white chocolate” chips you show are white baking chips, not white chocolate. There is a difference in taste and real white chocolate is much, much better. Real white chocolate will say white chocolate on the package, the others, like this one, just say white baking chips.
    I was surprised to see one of the more prestigious brands (Ghirardelli maybe?) is not real white chocolate but you can find REAL white chocolate chips and it’s worth it. Just beware, because of the high milk content in white chocolate chips they do not keep as long as regular chocolate chips.

    1. Glad you enjoyed the cookies!

      And yes there is lots of variations among white chocolate and white chocolate chips, as with any baking chips (semi sweet, milk, etc.) things vary a lot from brand to brand.

  2. Hi Averie, I’ve been wanting to make snickerdoodles for the longest time but none of the stores where I live in Kenya carry cream of tartar. I know in this recipe you didn’t use cream of tartar, but did the cookies really taste like snickerdoodles? B/c I’ve been told by many food bloggers that authentic snickerdoodles NEED cream of tartar, but if I can make authentic-tasting snickerdoodles w/ just baking soda, then I’m all for it!

    1. I think they tasted great and since you have no access to Cream of Tartar, trying these is a good (only) option, right? :) I think you’ll love them!

  3. Can I use self rising flour, but omit the salt and baking soda ? Since self rising flour is all-purpose flour with salt, baking soda and baking powder in it, will it make any difference ?

    1. In theory, all of that is true. However, in reality, I haven’t personally tried so…I cannot speak to if this little experiment will be successful but please let me know the results if you do!

    1. Thanks for trying them and funny, I have a new snickerdoodle recipe I’ve been working on. Should be ready in a couple weeks to go live :)

  4. I made these tonight. They came out really delicious, but very flat. Next time I will add some baking powder. I also added a dash of salt. I will definitely make them again. The idea of chilling the dough is a great one. Last week I made the white chocolate cream cheese cookies and they were nice and fluffy.

    1. Thanks for trying these (yes they are a fairly flat cookie and I think the baking powder would help with that) and glad you would make them again!

      Thanks for trying the white chocolate cream cheese cookies, too!

  5. I want to make these today and bake them tomorrow. Should i pre roll them before i put them in the fridge or can i just put the slab of dough there? (In a container of course)

  6. These look fab and I’m keen to make them, but could you please clarify something for me – when you say “white sugar” in your recipes do you mean granulated sugar or caster sugar/superfine?

  7. Just made 2 batches of these, one with white chocolate and mini choc chips and one without chips and these are so much better than the last snickerdoodle recipe I tried! Thanks for the great recipe!