Brown butter gingerbread snickerdoodles with cream-of-tartar tang, pillowy centers and a fragrant spiced sugar coating.
Brown butter and molasses deepen the flavor of these sugar-coated rounds. Cream of tartar and baking soda are already part of the dough, while a separate spiced sugar coats each portion. Stop baking while the centers are still soft, then let them set on the pan.
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Gingerbread Snickerdoodles Recipe
Per tray: 9–11 minutes · 3 trays of 11–12 cookies
Allow 143 minutes: 30 hands-on, 60 chilling, 33 for all baking trays, 20 cooling. Cooling includes the pan rest. Optional decoration, ingredient warm-up and extra trays add time.
Kitchen tools you’ll need
- Light-colored saucepan and heatproof bowl
- Whisk and sturdy spatula
- 1 1/2-tablespoon scoop
- Two 13 × 18-inch pans and parchment
- Coating bowl and cooling rack
- US measures and scale
Ingredients
Cookie dough
Spice blend
Spiced coating
Scale ingredients and US equivalents, including eggs. Keep cookie size, thickness, oven temperature and baking time per tray unchanged. More trays add time; weigh beaten egg for fractional batches.
Instructions
Toast then cool
- Cook butter over medium-low heat, stirring, about 5–8 minutes until solids turn golden and smell nutty. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, keeping the golden bits, and cool to lukewarm while measuring the dry ingredients.
Add the tartar and spices
- Whisk flour, soda, cream of tartar, salt and dough spices. Whisk cooled brown butter with both dough sugars, molasses and vanilla, then egg and yolk. Stir in dry ingredients only until combined.
Firm the dough
- Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. If very firm after a longer chill, soften briefly while the oven heats; extra softening time is additional.
Roll in spiced sugar
- Heat to 350°F (175°C) conventional or 325°F (165°C) fan. Mix the coating ingredients separately. Form 34 balls of about 30 g, roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons, roll in coating and space 2 1/2–3 inches apart on lined pans.
Set soft centers
- Bake 9–11 minutes until edges just begin to brown and tops are set with soft centers. Do not wait for firm hot middles.
Let the crumb settle
- Rest 5 minutes on the pan, then cool about 15 minutes on a rack.
Chef’s Science & Pro Tips
Keep cream of tartar
It supplies acidity and the characteristic snickerdoodle flavor.
Cool the browned butter
Hot butter makes the egg mixture and dough harder to manage.
Stop before firm
The centers finish setting on the pan, retaining the pillowy interior.
Storage and make-ahead
| Method | How long | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Room temperature | 3–4 days | Cool completely, then store airtight in a cool room. |
| Refrigeration | Raw dough: up to 2 days | Wrap dough tightly. Plain baked cookies do not need refrigeration. |
| Raw freezing | Up to 2 months | Freeze portions airtight; thaw covered in the refrigerator before baking. |
| Baked freezing | Up to 2 months | Freeze cooled cookies airtight. Thaw covered at room temperature. |
| Restoring | Before serving | Warm undecorated cookies briefly at 300°F for 3–5 minutes if desired; cool before decorating. |
Notes
- Cream of tartar gives the characteristic snickerdoodle tang and works with baking soda. This differs from a simple cinnamon-coated gingerbread cookie. Butter is measured before browning; do not add water back. The brown-butter cooling overlaps ingredient preparation. Nutrition includes all coating sugar even if some remains.
Nutrition
Estimated nutrition per serving; brands and portion sizes vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I leave out cream of tartar?
Keep it for the intended flavor and leavening balance; omission changes the recipe.
Is the coating all cinnamon?
It combines sugar with ginger, cinnamon and a small amount of allspice.
Why are the cookies flat?
Warm dough or a hot reused pan can increase spread. Keep the full chill and use cool pans.
Browse more cookie ideas in the Gingerbread Cookies Ideas collection.
