High Altitude Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

High altitude snickerdoodle cupcakes are soft, tender and fluffy, frosted with cinnamon buttercream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. These cinnamon sugar cupcakes have the sweet and tangy flavor that classic snickerdoodle cookies are known for, but in the form of a completely irresistible cupcake.

You might also love these high altitude recipes for snickerdoodles, snickerdoodle cake, and snickerdoodle cheesecake bars.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Tastes Like Snickerdoodle Cookies. By using buttermilk in the cake batter and cream of tartar in the buttercream, you not only get a very tender texture in the cupcakes, but also the classic tangy flavor of snickerdoodles.

Prize Winning Recipe. While these snickerdoodle cupcakes are new to my site, I’ve based them on my popular high altitude snickerdoodle layer cake and snickerdoodle bundt cake recipes, which so many of you have tried and loved over the years. This is a cake that has won first prize at your local baking competitions, and gathered hundreds and even thousands of dollars when donated to charity auctions.

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

Cupcakes

• Butter + Cream Cheese. The high fat content of the butter and cream cheese makes a rich, velvety, flavorful cake that you’ll just love.
• Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture.
• Eggs. The eggs give the cake structure and strength, as well as moisture and a bit of leavening action.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Flour. For an incredibly soft, light texture in your snickerdoodle cupcakes, I recommend using Swans Down Cake Flour. With its lower protein content, cake flour makes very soft, tender cakes. If you use all-purpose flour, your cupcakes will be more dense.
• Baking Powder. Leavening agent.
• Spices. In addition to cinnamon, a classic spice for snickerdoodles, I like to add a little ground nutmeg or cardamom to complement the cinnamon.
• Buttermilk. The acidity in the buttermilk makes a more tender cake crumb, and adds a tangy flavor, which snickerdoodles are known for.

Buttercream

• Butter. I use unsalted butter, but you can also use salted butter, and omit the added salt.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Cinnamon + Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Cream of Tartar. Cream of tartar is typically used as a leavening ingredient in snickerdoodle cookies, and gives them a tangy flavor. It can also be used to stabilize meringue. In today’s snickerdoodle buttercream recipe, it’s used simply to add a tangy flavor.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Cinnamon Sugar. For sprinkling over the cupcakes.

Instructions

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line two standard muffins pans with 16 paper liners, and lightly spray the insides of the liners with non-stick baking spray.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed (#4-6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer) for 7 minutes. Scrape the bowl down several times while mixing.
• Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating in each egg on medium speed for 1 full minute before adding the next egg. Add the vanilla.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour. Increase speed to medium and beat for 15 seconds.

• Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling them no more than 2/3 – 3/4 full. Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched.
• Cool the cupcakes in the pans for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, cinnamon, cream of tartar and salt. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls, mixing until combined but clumpy. Add the vanilla.
• Increase the speed to medium, and whip for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the bowl several times. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for 1 more minute.
• Fit a 16-inch disposable piping bag with tip 1M, and fill half full with the buttercream. Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Before the buttercream crusts over, sprinkle the cupcakes with the cinnamon sugar.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

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