And suddenly, almost without warning, it’s fall. Oh, hi, yellow aspen leaves and bone-chilling mornings. Seems like you were just here! I’m not complaining, though. We’ve had a long, hot summer here in Colorado, and I’m ready to change it up. Cue the cozy sweaters, soft autumn light, and of course, baking with plenty of spice. First up, the perfect quick and easy fall cookie recipe: Soft and Chewy High Altitude Snickerdoodles.
Snickerdoodles! It’s just a fun name, right? And so spicy and delicious, with their crinkly tops, soft and chewy texture, tangy flavor, and cinnamon-sugar coating. When I was a kid, these were my faaaavorite cookies.
I have a snickerdoodle story. One year, on our annual two-week family camping trip to Medicine Lake in California, my mom asked each of us three kids to make a batch of our favorite cookies to bring along. My brother chose peanut butter, my sister chocolate chip, and I of course picked snickerdoodles. On one of our first nights, a bear ambled through camp and had a midnight romp through our food locker. Yeah, he ripped it right open (we slept through the whole thing). He scarfed down the chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, but the snickerdoodles? Untouched. We figured bears don’t like cinnamon, maybe? Anyway, they’ve since been known in my family as Bear Repellent Cookies. Ha.
If you make a standard sea-level snickerdoodle recipe at altitude, you’ll likely get flattish, slightly oily disks with crispy edges. Not what I was going for. I am emotionally attached to the puffy, chewy, almost cookie dough-like version of my childhood, and that’s exactly what these are.
To get that nice, soft texture and keep the cookies from spreading at high altitude, I found that a few things are key. A wee bit more flour provides structure, as does an extra egg. I also use brown sugar as well as white for a little extra moisture and a deeper, caramel-ly flavor. Though it can be tricky at high altitude because it affects leavening, I kept in the cream of tartar, which gives these cookies their characteristic tang.
Just to be naughty, I also added a little cinnamon to the dough. This is a detour from the classic recipe, but if you’ve been following me here for a while, you know I like a lot of spice. If you’re a purist, you can leave it out of the dough and just roll the cookies in cinnamon and sugar.
Make sure you give them a good dousing; it’s key to getting that crinkly, crunchy, cinnamon-y exterior.
I find that unless my kitchen is very warm, the dough is usually firm enough to be scooped into balls and baked immediately. If yours seems a little warm/loose (or if you’re making the dough to bake later), give it a quick chill (around 15 mins or so) in the fridge to help avoid spreading.
In 30 minutes or less, look what you get: thick, soft, chewy delights. And hey, it’s bear season! So maybe make an extra batch just in case.
Print
Soft and Chewy High Altitude Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen cookies 1x
Description
These Soft and Chewy High Altitude Snickerdoodles defy high altitudes with a thick, lofty texture and rich, spicy-tangy flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup + 2 TB brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (not imitation)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional for the dough)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- cinnamon sugar (1/4 granulated sugar mixed with 1 TB ground cinnamon), for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a medium bowl using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Beat in eggs and egg yolk, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon (if using).
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until thoroughly combined. (If your dough seems warm and slightly loose – or if it works better for your schedule – you can chill the dough at this point, otherwise it’s not necessary).
- Using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, shape the dough into small balls (I use a one-TB scoop for this). It’s important to keep the balls of dough relatively small in order to avoid spreading. Larger dough balls may result in wider, slightly flatter cookies (still good, but not as puffy).
- Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet, keeping about 2 inches in between cookies.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are set and the middles look slightly underdone.
- Cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely.
Cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container.
Where us the recipe?
Linda, the recipe is above at the bottom of this blog post. Is it not showing up for you?
At last! A snickerdoodle that may not wind up like a thin pancake! Can’t wait until it’s cool enough out to give this a try!
Hope you love them!
I love it!!! Bear repellent cookies!🤣
Stupid Bear!🙄
I live in Denver, CO, which I assume qualifies as “high altitude”.. I made these tonight – and they came out as the “flattish, slightly oily disks”. Ok, really flat – they are more like crackers. I checked and re-checked the recipe multiple times thinking maybe I measured something wrong, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Not sure what the problem was. 🙁
Hmmm, these always turn out great for me and your altitude shouldn’t make a dramatic difference. A few thoughts: 1) check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer – this can make a big difference. 2) make sure you are not rolling the balls too big – a tablespoon is all you want. 3) Try chilling the dough balls for 30 mins after rolling, then bake. Chilling helps prevent spreading.
I hope that helps!
Just super taste & texture!
Thanks!
Yum! I just made these cookies down in Denver without any issues nor did I chill the dough before cooking. They are delicious! I accidentally used 1 tsp of cream of tartar instead of 1/2 tsp and they still taste great! I had to cook them a lot longer than the recipe called for (maybe 14 minutes at 325, so for the second tray I turned the oven up to 350 and they were done at 12 minutes). Otherwise, so spot on! Thanks!
So glad they worked for you!
Perfect recipe – I’ve been looking for a great snickerdoodle recipe to bake at my house (~7000 ft). These are exactly as described, soft and chewy and delicious! Thanks for sharing!!
Wonderful – so glad they worked well for you!
Hi! Excited to try the recipe. It’s just my boyfriend and I at home so was wondering if you recommend freezing the dough? Any tips? Thanks!
Hi Sara, you can freeze the dough. Just scoop it into cookie-sized balls, freeze on a cookie sheet until firm (so they won’t stick together), then store them in a plastic zipper bag in the freezer. They’ll last at least a couple of weeks that way. Before baking, let the dough balls thaw slightly before rolling in the cinnamon sugar.
Superbly delicious snickerdoodles baked at 9400 feet! Had to shave off about 1 minute from the cook time- took 8 minutes. Followed recipe exactly. Excellent results!!
Wonderful! ❤️
I’m in the midst of baking these, at 7000 feet. My oven temp is correct; I’m using a 1-T scoop; I double checked the recipe.
I’m not getting chewy and fluffy! They look that way right out of the oven and then immediately deflate. After the first tray (I usually do one ‘test” tray to see if they need adjustment) I let the dough chill and am keeping it in the fridge between trays. Doesn’t seem to be helping?? Also, I’m on my 4th dozen with over half a bowl of dough left??? Hmmmm…waaayyy more than 3-1/2 dozen….
I’ve used many of your recipes successfully so I am really stymied with this one.
I just made 3 batches of these delicious cookies for the Summit High School Cross Country team. I ate probably half a batch as they are soooooo yummy!! Turned out fluffy inside and crisp on the outside. Baked them for 4 minutes, turned the pan, then 5 more minutes. I put them straight on the baking pan with no parchment paper and they came off perfect and easy at 5 minutes after cooling. My family likes them super soft inside. Thanks Robyn!!!! I also love your hot coco cookie recipe!
Thanks, Elaine! I agree with your family – love the soft ones best.
I am in Denver.. followed the directions. Mine didn’t really spread. For the second tray I gave them a little light smoosh. They taste fine and are soft.
Hi,
Can you provide for me the gram weight of the flour? Thank you.
5 Star Recipe. Thank you. Came out perfect in Leadville/Twin Lakes.