HOW ARE SNICKERDOODLES DIFFERENT FROM SUGAR COOKIES? (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a cookie and a snickerdoodle? ›

Snickerdoodles are characterized by a cracked surface and can be either crisp or soft depending on the ingredients used. Snickerdoodles are often referred to as "sugar cookies". However, traditional sugar cookies are often rolled in white sugar whereas snickerdoodles are rolled in a mixture of white sugar and cinnamon.

For our butter cookie tutorial, we explained that butter cookies have a high butter content to the sugar and flour. Sugar cookies, on the other hand, have a higher ratio of flour to butter, which makes this a very resilient dough for rolling out and cutting into shapes.

The Joy of Cooking claims that “snickerdoodle” comes from “Schneckennudel,” a German word that literally means “snail noodles.” Schneckennudels don't have anything to do with snails or noodles, though—they're actually delicious-looking German cinnamon rolls.

Are snickerdoodles supposed to be undercooked? I always recommend slightly underbaking your cookies and then letting them finish baking through cooling on the pan. This will ensure you don't overbake your cookies and end up with a dry, hard cookie!

If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure. Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.

In England they were called sugar biscuits as well as jumbles. Sugar cookies were also called gemmells, crybabies, gimbletts, cimbellines, jumbles, and plunketts.

The main difference between these two cookies is the ingredients and the ratios of the ingredients. Sugar cookies typically contain eggs, while shortbread cookies do not. Shortbread also has a higher ratio of butter to flour and are usually more crumbly and tender as a result.

“Good snickerdoodles are light and pillowy, with a sweet tangy overall flavor, and a glistening cinnamon crust. They are easy to make, require few ingredients, and require no chilling time in the fridge. Plus kids have fun rolling them into balls and coating them in cinnamon sugar. What's not to love?”

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake – when the edges are set but the centers are still soft and puffy, they are done. Also, make sure you're not adding too much flour.

What is a substitute for cream of tartar in snickerdoodles? ›

You can either replace cream of tartar with baking powder at a 1:1.5 ratio (1 teaspoon cream of tartar : 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder), or you can replace cream of tartar with the combination of baking soda and either lemon juice or vinegar (as with this recipe).

The defining ingredient in a traditional snickerdoodle is cinnamon, which is where most of the cookie's characteristic flavor comes from. There are several other ingredients that can be added to snickerdoodles, such as cream of tartar, that further differentiate them from sugar cookies.

Improper flour measurement is the #1 cause of your cookie dough being too dry or the cookies tasting like flour.

Almost all recipes call for a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda (an acid and a base); the idea is that when they bake the reaction of these two ingredients will cause the cookies to puff up and then collapse, creating those cinnamon-y cracks on top.

The snickerdoodle flavor is best described as a mix of vanilla and cinnamon with a singular tanginess thanks to the cream of tartar.

Improper flour measurement is the #1 cause of your cookie dough being too dry or the cookies tasting like flour.

Because cream of tartar is slightly more acidic than baking powder, it gives the cookies a slight sour-flavored tang unique to snickerdoodles.

"Early English and Dutch immigrants first introduced the cookie to America in the 1600s. While the English primarily referred to cookies as small cakes, seed biscuits, or tea cakes, or by specific names, such as jumbal or macaroon, the Dutch called the koekjes, a diminutive of koek (cake)...