Sour Cream Snickerdoodles

If you’re like me, your immediate reaction to the idea of sour cream as an ingredient in cookies was “Ooooooh!” Correct? If it wasn’t, I highly recommend that you stop and seriously consider this idea. You hear about yogurt in cookies, mascarpone in cookies, and—to toot my own horn—ricotta in cookies, but how often do you hear about sour cream in cookies? Initially, it doesn’t seem like a combination that would work. Sour cream is, obviously, somewhat sour and cookies are definitely sweet—not exactly compatible, or so one would assume.

However, this is not the case.

Sour cream in cookies is fantasticalness personified. Well…cookie-fied, since snickerdoodles aren’t people. The point is that they are super duper yummy, with an incredible lightness that makes you feel like you could eat ten of them without breaking a sweat. Over the course of baking and photographing these fluffy puffs of cinnamon-y goodness, I have dangerously approached this number, so I can personally attest to their powers of deliciosity. These babies are darn near irresistible and they make the entire house smell all spicy and warm.

You should make them.

They’ll make you smile.

And give you a sugar high that’ll send you jitterbugging around the kitchen.

What more reason do ya need?

Sour Cream Snickerdoodles

Recipe inspired by “Sour Cream Cut-Out Cookies” by Anecdotes and Apple Cores

A La Kocinera Original Recipe

Printable Recipe

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup + 1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 + 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar for a few minutes, until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, sour cream, and vanilla, mixing well to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, salt, and flour. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mixing well.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 cup of sugar with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Using a small ice cream scoop or a medium-sized spoon (scoops of dough should be about 2 inches in diameter), roll each ball of dough in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, placing them on the baking sheets, about an inch apart.

Note: The dough is much stickier than your typical snickerdoodle dough. The trick to coating them in sugar is to roll them around by moving and shaking the bowl.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 24 cookies.

Eat at least twelve while they’re warm from the oven. I’ve been told they’re delicious with a big scoop of cream cheese frosting as well.