Snickerdoodles without Cream of Tartar
Did you know you can make snickerdoodles without cream of tartar? I know it’s a traditional ingredient, but I’ve never loved the sour, metallic flavour it adds to the dough. This version skips it entirely and still gives you tender, buttery cookies.
“These were delicious and super quick to make! We went to Nova Scotia on our honeymoon, so these will now be “the Nova Scotian snickerdoodles.” — Molly
Snickerdoodles are a classic Christmas cookie made with basic pantry staples, but most recipes, including the OG Betty Crocker version, call for cream of tartar. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about its sharp, tangy flavour I’ve never liked.
In this recipe, I leave it out completely and add a bit of extra salt to balance the sweetness. The flavour stays clean and buttery, which I love. Rolling the dough balls in cinnamon sugar adds a little warmth and spice, but if you prefer a stronger cinnamon note, you can double-roll the cookie dough balls or mix a bit of cinnamon right into the flour.
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A Note From Kelly
I started making snickerdoodles in my twenties, testing different recipes and never quite loving them. Eventually, I realized it wasn’t the cookies I didn’t like. It was the cream of tartar. Once I left it out, the flavour finally matched what I had been craving. Over the years, this recipe has evolved into the soft, chewy cookie my daughter and I bake together every Christmas.
Ingredients For Snickerdoodles without Cream of Tartar
Ingredient Notes
- Baking Soda: Make sure your baking soda is fresh, as older boxes lose strength over time.
- Butter: I use salted butter for all of my recipes.
- Cinnamon (Ground): Use cinnamon that still smells warm and sweet, as the flavour of old cinnamon can fade.
- Eggs: I use large eggs for all my recipes.
- Salt: I use table salt for all of my recipes.
It’s important to note that when making substitutions in recipes, the texture and flavour may be slightly different. However, these substitutes are the best options for changing the original recipe.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Butter: You can use the same amount of margarine or unsalted butter with an extra pinch of salt added to the dry ingredients.
- Salt: Replace with the same amount of fine sea salt.
Recipe Variations
Try any of the following for a twist on this snickerdoodles without cream of tartar recipe:
- Almond Extract: ¼ teaspoon, pure, mixed into the wet ingredients
- Cream of Tartar: 2 teaspoons, added to the flour
- Maple Sugar: Replace the granulated sugar for rolling the dough balls with an equal amount of maple sugar
- Nuts: ½ cup, toasted (optional) and chopped, whisked into the flour
- Orange Zest: 1 tablespoon, finely grated, stirred into the wet ingredients
- Vegetable Shortening: Replace half of the butter with an equal amount of shortening. This will give the cookies a more old-fashioned cakey texture.
- Vanilla Extract: 1 ½ teaspoons, blended into the wet ingredients
- White Chocolate: ½ cup, chopped, whisked into the flour
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of this post, or scroll to the bottom to see the PRINTABLE recipe card with ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
How To Make Snickerdoodles without Cream of Tartar
STEP 1: Use an electric mixer to beat the butter at high speed until pale and creamy. Scrape down the bowl, add the sugar and eggs, and mix well.
STEP 2: Scrape down the bowl, add the flour mixture, and mix at low speed until the dough clears the bottom of the bowl.
STEP 3: Scoop the dough with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll each portion into a smooth ball, then roll the balls in cinnamon sugar.
STEP 4: Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly to a rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- I warm cold eggs in a small bowl of hot tap water while I’m measuring the other ingredients so they mix more evenly.
- You really want to make sure you scrape both the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl because little pockets of unmixed butter like to hide there.
- If you like a stronger cinnamon flavour, you can add a little cinnamon to the flour mixture, double roll the cookie balls in cinnamon sugar, or do both.
Recipe Notes
- For detailed ingredient notes, substitution tips, variations, and step-by-step photos, scroll through the full recipe post.
- Use a digital kitchen scale for precise measurements and an oven thermometer to confirm your oven is heating correctly.
- Keep the mixer on low when adding the dry ingredients to avoid overmixing, which can make the dough tough.
- Roll the dough balls gently in the cinnamon sugar to avoid flattening them before baking.
- The cookies will look puffed when you pull them from the oven, and they always remind me of mushroom caps. They will deflate and either crack or wrinkle as they cool. This is normal.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them so they stay intact.
Storage
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
- You can freeze the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container or zipper-top bag for up to two months.
More Christmas Cookies Like Snickerdoodles without Cream of Tartar
Printable Recipe Card
Snickerdoodles without Cream of Tartar
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or digital kitchen scale
- Two baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Electric mixer
- Rubber spatula
- 2 tablespoon cookie scoop
- Shallow bowl
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients US cups or switch to Metric grams
For the cookies:
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup salted butter (room temperature to soft)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
For rolling:
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C), line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, then set aside.
- Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat at high speed until pale and creamy, about one minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the sugar and eggs, and mix at medium-high speed until fluffy, about one minute.
- Scrape down the bowl again, add the flour mixture, and mix at low speed until the dough clears the bottom of the bowl, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once more to ensure the dough is evenly mixed.
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion all of the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper. Roll each portion between your hands to make a smooth ball.
- Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl, then gently roll each dough ball in the mixture until fully coated with no bare spots.
- Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, 12 per sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then move the baking sheets to a wire cooling rack. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 10 minutes before transferring them directly to the racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining six cookies.
Notes
- For detailed ingredient notes, substitution tips, variations, and step-by-step photos, scroll through the full recipe post.
- Use a digital kitchen scale for precise measurements and an oven thermometer to confirm your oven is heating correctly.
- Keep the mixer on low when adding the dry ingredients to avoid overmixing, which can make the dough tough.
- Roll the dough balls gently in the cinnamon sugar to avoid flattening them before baking.
- The cookies will look puffed when you pull them from the oven, and they always remind me of mushroom caps. They will deflate and either crack or wrinkle as they cool. This is normal.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them so they stay intact.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
- You can freeze the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container or zipper-top bag for up to two months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Leaving a rating and/or a comment helps others find my work, which genuinely supports what I do. Thank you!
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Kelly Neil is a recipe developer, food photographer, and lifelong Nova Scotian building a sense of home and identity through recipes. She lives in her hometown of Dartmouth with her partner, Chris, their daughter, Elodie, and their little dog, Skipper.
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i doubled this recipe and the cookies turned out great. thanks for putting this together for those of us who never seem to have cream of tartar on hand 🙂
Oh, that’s so awesome Whitney!I’m so happy you liked them. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Ty for this recipe I ran out of cream of tartar and this is great
Stumbled upon your recipe while having a snickerdoodle craving and WOW they are my new favorite! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! Absolutely delicious!! 😊
I must have give wrong somewhere as my cookies turned out puffy and cake-like instead of chewy. Also found the cinnamon flavour to be lacking somewhat.
Same here.
Nicole, thank you so much for your feedback! I tested the recipe again this morning, adding cinnamon to the dry ingredients, and substituting brown sugar for half of the white sugar. The result is a more cinnamon-tasting, chewy cookie and I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect this. Thank you again very much for your comment!
Erin, thank you so much for your comment. I tested the recipe again this morning, adding cinnamon to the dry ingredients, and substituting brown sugar for half of the white sugar. The result is a more cinnamon-tasting, chewy cookie and I’ve updated the recipe card notes to reflect this option. I realize now I should have chosen my wording more carefully as you’re absolutely right, the cookies are more puffy and cakey than chewy. I truly appreciate you taking the time to come back and let me know so I could use the opportunity to make them better! Merry Christmas!
I think there is way too much baking powder in this recipe for how little flour it calls for. I followed your recipe exactly and found the taste of baking powder WAY too strong and had to throw out the whole batch 🙁
Hmmmm, I’ve made these many times, have tested and re-tested the recipe, and even baked them with my four-year old a few days ago to leave out for Santa Claus. My family really likes them, and others have left comments they’ve made the recipe with great results, so I’m, not sure what happened there. I’m so sorry it was a waste of time and ingredients for you!
Thank you so much for posting this wonderful recipe! I found your recipe and (literally) had them in the oven within about 30 minutes. They were absolutely delicious! Santa will love them, I’m sure. 😁
Aww, that’s awesome! Man I love a quick easy recipe so much. Thank you for coming back to let me know! xo!
Made these tonight for Christmas! Followed the directions to a T and They absolutely come out chewy and delicious!
Yay, thanks for letting me know! I’m so happy you liked them. 🙂
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I found out it is the closest I have ever come to one of the best cookies I ever tasted in the UK about 9 years ago. Never could get the taste right when I tried to replicate. But this is almost spot on, taste and texture-wise. Now I can make my own! Thanks so much again for this recipe, it is amazing, the cookies are amazing and I can’t get enough!
Aw, this makes me so happy to hear! I’m so glad they lived up to your memory. Thank you for letting me know! 🙂
These were the best cookies ever!!!! My mom, who hates sugar loves these! Thank you so much for your recipe! I can’t wait to try more!
I’m glad I followed my husband’s advice and made this recipe. He said it was ridiculous not to make snickerdoodles simply because we were out of cream of tartar. These were delicious! Super quick to make. I did set them out on the porch for about 10 minutes to firm them up before rolling. We went to Nova Scotia on our honeymoon, so these will now be “the Nova Scotian snickerdoodles.”
These were perfection! Chewy and delicious. I subbed about 1/2 c of the sugar for brown sugar. Done at 12 minutes. Thank you for the answer to my cream of tartar pinch!
Best recipe ever!! My first-ever snickerdoodles turned out perfect!
Your cookies are delicious!!! I doubled the recipe and they turned out perfect! Thank you so much for the recipe!🙂
Really tasty! Bookmarking this recipe to make it again!
Please just leave temperature, time and measurements.
Hi Kaitlyn. I think it is unfair of you to leave a one star review on my snickerdoodle cookie post as the temperature, time, and measurements are all listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Such a rude comment! I appreciate the extra info and the snickerdoodles turned out so good! I always want them but never have cream of tartar!
Would the addition of some citric acid to regain some of the tang from omitting the cream of tartar work in this recipe?
Hey Chris! I think this is such an interesting idea! I would start with 1/4 teaspoon citric acid and see how that tastes to start.
I don’t ever have cream of tartar, so I was happy to find this recipe! I got up and headed to the fridge to collect ingredients and discovered–blast!–I have yet again gone home from work without stopping to buy eggs. So I substituted 1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt in place of the egg, and they turned out delicious! It adds that tanginess the cream of tartar would’ve added, plus I think the yogurt reacted with the baking soda because they are very light, fluffy, and moist. I think I would do that again in the future even if I got my act together and remembered to pick up eggs again one day!