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These Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles are extraordinarily soft and absolutely melt in your mouth! The cream cheese adds a subtle extra tang to a classic Snickerdoodle cookie. You’re going to want to try this one out for your holiday cookie tray (or, really, for anytime!).
Cookies are kind of my thing. I live for the holiday season when I get to share all of my family favorites, from classic No Bake Cookies to Snickerdoodles and everything in-between! But I also love a good spin on an old classic, and that’s exactly what these Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles that I’m sharing today are!
Buttery soft, the signature tang of a classic Snickerdoodle is enhanced and transformed with the addition of half a brick of cream cheese into the batter. These cookies have the best flavor of any Snickerdoodle I’ve ever tasted. They’re also so soft that they positively melt in your mouth with each bite.
Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles are relatively simple cookies to make. The dough can easily be made with an electric mixer (I don’t recommend mixing by hand because it’s important that you cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugars together) and requires only a few minutes of chilling. However, I do have a few key tips I wanted to share with you before you begin.
TIPS FOR MAKING CREAM CHEESE SNICKERDOODLES
- Don’t leave out the cream of tartar! This is what gives Snickerdoodles their signature tangy flavor and it is a must for ANY Snickerdoodle recipe!
- This cookie dough needs to chill for at least 30 minutes. You don’t want the dough to be so sticky that it sticks to your hands more than it sticks to itself, so if you find that the dough is still too sticky after 30 minutes, return it to the fridge for another 15 minutes or so.
- To keep these cookies soft, make sure you don’t over-bake them. When you remove them from the oven the edges should be set and even lightly golden brown, but the centers may seem slightly under-done. Allow your cream cheese snickerdoodles to cool completely on the baking sheet, where they’ll finish baking all the way through without over-cooking. Over-baking cookies is the number 1 cause of dry, crumbly cookies. We want these to be soft and chewy and this is my favorite tip for making sure they end up that way!
- Don’t place cookie dough on a hot cookie sheet, it’ll make your cookies spread too thin. Nobody wants a paper-thin cookie!
Now you’re ready to bake your own Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles.
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Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Topping
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and use an electric mixer) and beat until creamy.
- Add sugar and beat until light and creamy and well-combined.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract. Stir well.
- In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until completely combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Once dough has nearly finished chilling, preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare your topping by stirring together sugar and cinnamon until well-mixed.
- Remove chilled dough from refrigerator and scoop by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized portions. Roll into a smooth ball between your palms and roll through cinnamon/sugar topping mixture until completely coated.
- Place on prepared cookie sheet at least 2” apart and bake on 350F for 10-13 minutes.
- Cookies may still seem very soft in the center when finished baking, allow to cool completely on cookie sheet where they will finish baking without becoming overdone and dry.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Best cookies ever!
The first time I made these they turned out puffed, light and beautiful. Each time since then they have fallen flat after I removed them from the oven. I can’t figure out what is different…
Try a fresher box of baking soda. That’s usually what happens when mine is too old.
Your baking soda may be old. That has happened to me before. I keep it in Tupperware now and last longer.
MADE these. used salted butter and omitted 1/3 cup flour! Turned out FANTASTIC!
About how long should should you leave them on the cookie sheet to cool off
I like to take my cookies out a little before they are done and wait about 3 to 4 minutes. If they are already cooked through, then take them off right away. As they sit on the cookie sheet they will continue to bake.
Made these today and love them! Thank you!
Made these today and yes everyone loved them, with that said the only suggestion was that I should drop the 1/3 cup flour because they could taste it.
Bake using equal parts crisco and butter, texture and flavor is great
When looking at the nutritional information chart, how many cookies per serving?
About 35 cookies
Lol. 35? Sounds about right!
I made the dough last night. Rolling and baking tonight. First batch came out beautiful. Second will be miniature size.
Thank you so much for the recipe!
Wait a minute — makes 35. How many of those 35 is one serving?
Hi, I’m so excited to make these for the first time from scratch. Any chance the amount of butter could be lessened while maintaining the integrity of the cookie?
You are welcome to experiment with different ingredients to change the butter. For these cookies I would recommend the butter for the taste and texture. Let me know how you change it! XOXO
These are amazing cookies! And if you didn’t think they could get any better, make them into whoopee pies, filling made with 8 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and teaspoon vanilla whipped till smooth and fold in cool whip, pipe and sandwich between 2 cookies. They will be a HUGE hit at any get together. But really great cookie on its own.
These are the best snicketdoodles I have ever made. They are sweet, tangy, and soft. Yum!!!
Can the cookies be frozen after they have been baked and cooled?
Yes, that will be great! Thanks for choosing one of my recipes! Thanks for following along with me! XOXO
I made these cookies and I don’t know what happened. I followed the recipe–the batter tasted wonderful. However, when I baked them they didn’t spread out like snickerdoodles, but rather stayed in a ball and just got hard. What did I do wrong?
Same thing happened to me. I pressed them down a bit and back in the oven for 3 min.
Make sure your baking soda is fresh. You can also flatten the balls a bit (with the bottom of a measuring cup) before baking.
Wonderful sweets cook for grandchildren they love the recipe you give.Keep up the wonderful job you are doing.
Thank you! That is so sweet of you! Thanks for following along with me! XOXO
Pinned! Making these as soon as I get the Cream of tartar!
Love these cookies!! How should I store them?? Frig or in a container on the counter? And for how many days??
I like to use a plastic Tupperware but you can leave them in the fridge if you prefer. Either is great! They will last about a couple days on the counter and a week in the fridge. XOXO
These cookies are wonderful. Possibly the best snickerdoodle I’ve ever had!
Can you freeze the cookie balls?
You can but it may not hold up as well as a freshly made ball would be when baking the cookies.