Secret Ingredient: Snickerdoodles Without Cream of Tartar Recipe

Snickerdoodles are great. They are incredibly soft, chewy, and tasty. Snickerdoodles are also known for including cream of tartar, a white powder that makes these cookies soft and flavorful. If cream of tartar is hard to find or you do not wish to use it, here is our recipe for snickerdoodle without cream of tartar.

This recipe uses lemon juice, or vinegar, depending on your preference, instead of cream of tartar. Thanks to their acidity, both are ideal replacements, and they still provide the snickerdoodles with tanginess.

If you’re wondering how to make a snickerdoodle without cream of tartar, let’s take a look.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Tips
• Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream Of Tartar
• Comments

Ingredients

1. Base ingredients

• Granulated sugar — 2 cups.
• Butter — 1 cup, unsalted.
• Vanilla extract — 1 tbsp. 
• Egg — 1 pc., large.
• All-purpose flour — 1 ½ cups.
• Baking soda — 2 tbsp. 
• Salt — ⅓ tbsp. 

2. Cinnamon filling

• Cinnamon — 2 tbsp.
• Granulated sugar — ⅓ cup.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

4. Using the bowl of your mixer, mix the butter and granulated sugar.

5. Add the vanilla extract, egg, and lemon juice. Mix on low speed until combined.

6. Combine the dry batter with the wet ingredients.

7. To prepare the cinnamon filling, combine cinnamon and granulated sugar in a separate mixing bowl.

8. Shape the now-prepared cookie dough into ball shapes and coat each piece with the cinnamon filling, and put them on the baking sheet. Keep coating until each piece is covered enough.

9. Use only one baking sheet at a time and bake for 10 minutes.

10. Do not cook longer, even if they still look undercooked. The middle part continues cooking while cooling on the parchment sheet.

11. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Substitutions

• White vinegar — The secret of making snickerdoodles without cream tartar lies in lemon juice. It replaces the cream tartar so beautifully that you probably won’t even notice the difference. If lemon juice is not your cup of tea, however, you can always use white vinegar instead. Both are acidic enough, but the latter provides a different layer of taste.

• Baking powder —We prefer our snickerdoodles chewy, which makes baking soda ideal for this recipe. However, if you’re short on it, feel free to opt for baking powder. Though your cookies will lack the chewy texture that they are famous for, they will be lighter. Though you should keep in mind that baking powder contains cream of tartar.

Variations

• Gluten-free — This snickerdoodle recipe lacks cream of tartar, but it can also lack gluten. If you’d rather have your cookies gluten-free, simply swap the flour with a gluten-free alternative such as almond flour or brown rice flour. Your snickerdoodles will still taste the same.

• Dairy-free — If, for any reason, you’re concerned about your dairy intake, the good news is that our snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar has a dairy-free version too. We will use vegan butter instead of butter. You also might want to use cornstarch as a binder. 

Equipment

• Measuring spoons and cups.

• 2 medium-sized mixing bowls.

• Electric handheld mixer.

• Oven.

Storage

• Store any leftover snickerdoodles in an airtight container, at room temperature. They will last for up to a week.

• If freezing, store the leftovers in a Ziplock bag. The leftover snickerdoodles will last for up to 3 months.

Tips

• Make ahead — You can always make these delicious snickerdoodles without cream tartar ahead. Just prepare the dough and freeze it in a Ziplock bag. Pop it in the oven when you feel like having a delightful snack.

• Don’t overcook — When it comes to making snickerdoodles, not knowing when to stop might mess up your cookies, resulting in still delicious, but soft snickerdoodles. Keep in mind that the edges should seem set but the middle of the cookies shouldn’t be allowed to turn golden brown.

• Use cold eggs — Although you might’ve seen us recommend the opposite, this time you should use cold eggs, straight out of the fridge. This way, the eggs will work better as a binder and prevent the dough from spreading.