Snickerdoodle Cookies - Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

Why did my snickerdoodle cookies not flatten? ›

Too Much Flour

This may seem counterintuitive—after all, isn't flour a key ingredient in baking? Yes, but if you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread as they bake. Too much flour causes the dough to become dry and crumbly, which prevents it from flattening out during baking.

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry.

If yours aren't cracking, your oven may not be hot enough or your ingredients may not be fresh enough! Are snickerdoodles supposed to be undercooked? I always recommend slightly underbaking your cookies and then letting them finish baking through cooling on the pan.

Keep in mind that more cream of tartar doesn't necessarily mean a better, more stable result. “Too much cream of tartar will impart a metallic, tin-like taste,” Molly warns.

It thus speeds up the egg white whipping process and contributes to a stable, billowy, glossy meringue, perfect for cookies, topping pies, and folding into cake. The ratio is usually 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar for every egg white.

Refrigerating snickerdoodle dough lets the butter resolidify and prevents the cookies from flattening out in the oven. I recommend giving the dough at least 45-60 minutes of chilling time in the fridge before baking.

This improves the flavor of the cookies. Makes the cookie dough less sticky and easier to handle. This is especially important for rolling and cutting out cookie dough, such as in these sugar cookie and lemon poppy seed cookie recipes. The cookies will spread less in the oven.

How do you know when the cookies are baked? The snickerdoodle cookies will only take about 10 to 12 minutes to bake, so be sure to keep your eye on them! It's best to rotate the cookies after about 6 minutes so that the cook evenly. The cookies are done when the edges are just set and the centres are soft and cracked.

Light corn syrup is another ingredient that you can add to cookie dough that will help it stay softer longer. The corn syrup you buy at the grocery store is not the high-fructose corn syrup that soft drinks are made with; it's a sugar that is liquid at room temperature and helps other sugars say liquid at high heat.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

Why are my snickerdoodles spreading so much? ›

Too-warm butter will melt and spread in the oven before your cookies set. So, if your recipe calls for room-temperature butter, it needs to be exactly that: room temperature. “It should not be melty or warm to the touch,” says Dawn. “Room-temperature butter is pliable but cool to the touch.

Snickerdoodles are a cookie classic – soft, tender butter cookies with a slight tang and chewy texture that are rolled in cinnamon-sugar and baked.

If your cookies come out flat on top, with a cake-like texture, you've added too many eggs.

Fix the recipe

This can be done by adding milk, cream, or even water. If the dough is still too dry, you may need to add more fat. This can be done by adding butter, margarine, or shortening. Once you've added more moisture and fat, knead the dough until it is smooth and pliable.

Culinary uses

Bakers often use cream of tartar in baked goods by mixing it with egg whites to help create stiff peaks in meringue. This prevents the formation of sugar crystals. Cream of tartar can be a substitute for anything from buttermilk to baking powder and lemon juice in your favorite recipes.

When combined with baking soda, it becomes a leavening agent (the stuff that makes baked goods puff up in the oven) by producing carbon dioxide gas. If you ever run out of baking powder, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Without cream of tartar, you'll get the same baked good in the end, but the consistency may not be as flawless. If you're worried about your cake coming out too flat or your lemon meringue pie going runny, adding cream of tartar is an effective way to prevent it.

The most common recipes that call for cream of tartar are those that call for egg whites to be whipped, like angel food cake, genoise cake, meringue, and macarons. Jampel says that is because cream of tartar works as an egg white stabilizer that increases both the volume and shelf life of the meringue.