Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? I’m so not ready. I’m also questioning our decision to have children just days before major holidays. In case you didn’t know, Alex came home from the hospital on Halloween, and Faith came home on Christmas. So I have birthdays to plan on top of two of the biggest holidays of the year!

But, for a moment, we will forget the gifts and the cakes and the cookie plates and the decorating and the stress and focus on something that makes me happy: these snickerdoodle cut outs. Now, you should know that I am a major snickerdoodle fan. I doctor up the recipe from the old Betty Crocker cookbook, and that is one of the best cookies ever known. Seriously. 

So, when I knew I was going to develop some cut out cookies this Christmas, snickerdoodle immediately made the list (even before chocolate. I know, right?) But then came the issues. This cookie was a tough little guy to come up with. 

The problem lies in rising. A major taste component of snickerdoodles is the extra tang the cream of tartar gives them. Otherwise, they’re just cinnamon sugar cookies, which is significantly less exciting to me. The problem with keeping cream of tartar in the recipe is that it’s a leavener. It makes the dang cookies rise, which means they spread all over the place and you’re left holding something that looks more like a 50’s B movie than a reindeer. 

This recipe took a lot of experimentation, is where I’m going with this, and while I’m happy with the result, this is not a perfect no-spread recipe. As you can see in the header photo, the edges on these guys are not as clean as the gingerbread ones. I just wanted to give you fair warning. These cookies definitely work according to my criteria, which is “Do they still look like the thing I cut out?” but they have softer edges than others. That’s the price you pay for snickerdoodle taste 🙂

Also, these don’t need too much decorating because of the cinnamon sugar coating. I love how it makes my reindeer brown without any hard work!

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5 from 1 vote

No Chill Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ¾ cups flour
• ½ tsp cream of tartar

Topping

• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

• Beat together butter, sugar, and eggs.
• Add flour and cream of tartar and mix until dough scrapes the sides of the bowl.
• Turn dough out onto floured surface. Roll to 1/4" thickness.
• In a bowl, mix together ingredients for the topping.
• Cut out cookies.
• Dip cookies in cinnamon sugar topping, then lay on a lined or greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

Looking for more Christmas treats? Check these out!

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

Cookie Dough Truffles

Sugar Cookie Dough Truffles

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