An easy recipe for soft and chewy, high altitude chocolate snickerdoodles, coated in cinnamon sugar. This is a no chill recipe, so you’ll have fresh cookies to enjoy in about 30 minutes!
You might also love these high altitude cookie recipes for oatmeal butterscotch cookies, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, and classic snickerdoodles.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. The cookie dough comes together fast, with no chill time, so there’s no waiting for freshly baked cookies.
Soft and Chewy. These chocolate snickerdoodles are thick, soft and chewy, with all the flavor of a classic snickerdoodle, but in a rich chocolate cookie.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter. The butter adds fat, flavor and richness to these chocolate snickerdoodle cookies. It should softened to room temperature so you can easily cream it together with the sugar.
- Granulated Sugar + Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture, with a hint of caramel notes from just a bit of brown sugar.
- Eggs. Add structure, stability and moisture to the cookies, as well as make them chewy. An extra egg yolks adds a little more moisture and chewy texture.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour + Corn Starch. The flour provides structure to the cookies, and a little corn starch makes them extra tender and soft.
- Cocoa Powder. Adds a rich chocolate flavor.
- Cream of Tartar + Baking Soda. Both cream of tartar and baking soda are leaveners, making the cookies rise as they bake. Cream of tartar adds the classic tangy flavor that snickerdoodles are known for.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Cinnamon-Sugar. Snickerdoodle cookie dough is always coated in cinnamon and sugar before baking, giving them a delicious sweet and spicy crust with the soft and chewy cookie inside.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla, and mix on low speed. The mixture will look lumpy.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, corn starch, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture by spoonfuls, mixing just until the dough comes together and all the flour is incorporated.
- Use a medium cookie scoop with a 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon capacity to portion the dough into 2 dozen cookie dough balls. Roll the balls smooth between your hands, then coat in the cinnamon sugar.
- Place the cookie dough balls on the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each, and very slightly flatten the balls with the palm of your hand. The remaining cookie dough balls can rest at room temperature until ready to bake.
- Bake the cookies for about 8 1/2 – 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the center looks slightly underdone. Let cool for several minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Sprinkle the cookies with any remaining cinnamon-sugar. Baker’s Note: It’s easy to over-bake chocolate cookies, but if you do, they’ll become more dry and crumbly, so it’s best to slightly under-bake these cookies for a chewier texture.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store chocolate snickerdoodles?
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
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High Altitude Chocolate Snickerdoodles
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Medium Cookie Scoop with Release Lever (1 1/2 – 2 tbsp capacity)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- Âľ cup granulated sugar
- â…“ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk (save the extra white for another use)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 â…” cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- â…“ cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- Âľ tsp baking soda
- Âľ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ÂĽ cup cinnamon-sugar (1/4 cup granulated sugar + 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla, and mix on low speed. The mixture will look lumpy.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, corn starch, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture by spoonfuls, mixing just until the dough comes together and all the flour is incorporated.
- Use a medium cookie scoop with a 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon capacity to portion the dough into 2 dozen cookie dough balls. Roll the balls smooth between your hands, then coat in the cinnamon sugar.
- Place the cookie dough balls on the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each, and very slightly flatten the balls with the palm of your hand.The remaining cookie dough balls can rest at room temperature until ready to bake.
- Bake the cookies for about 8 1/2 – 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the center looks slightly underdone. Let cool for several minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Sprinkle the cookies with any remaining cinnamon-sugar.Baker's Note: It's easy to over-bake chocolate cookies, but if you do, they'll become more dry and crumbly, so it's best to slightly under-bake these cookies for a chewier texture.
Julie
Home*RUN !!! Amazing cookie. Thank you so much ~
Megan Toney
These cookies are delicious. Perfectly soft and a great thickness! I haven’t made anything of yours that wasn’t amazing!
Chris
I can’t have corn starch. Is it ok to leave it out or substitute it with something else? Thank you.
Heather Smoke
Just try it without, and see if it works for you!