These thick, buttery snickerdoodle bars deliver everything you love about the classic cinnamon-sugar cookie — the crackly top, the tangy chew, the warm spice — without any rolling or shaping. One bowl, one pan, and they're done in under 45 minutes. The cream of tartar is non-negotiable; it's what gives these bars their signature snickerdoodle tang, setting them apart from a plain cinnamon blondie.
What You'll Need
Unsalted butter — I use melted butter here rather than softened butter creamed with sugar. Melted butter produces a denser, fudgier bar that holds together cleanly when sliced. I've tested both, and the creamed version gives you a cakier texture that's pleasant but not quite what a snickerdoodle should be. Use good-quality butter with a high butterfat content — in New Zealand I use Anchor or Lewis Road, both of which are around 82% fat and give a noticeably richer result.
Cream of tartar — This is the ingredient that makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle, and the one you absolutely cannot leave out. It adds a subtle tang to the dough that a plain cinnamon bar simply doesn't have. Find it in the baking aisle; it keeps indefinitely in the pantry.
Plain flour — Standard all-purpose/plain flour works perfectly here. Measure by spooning into the cup and leveling off, or weigh it — if you pack the flour in, the bars will turn out dry and crumbly rather than chewy.
Ground cinnamon — Use a good-quality cinnamon, one that smells genuinely fragrant when you open the jar. Old or stale cinnamon will give you a muted flavor that doesn't come through properly after baking. Ceylon cinnamon gives a lighter, more floral flavor; cassia cinnamon (most common in supermarkets) is warmer and more intense — both work well here; it just comes down to personal preference.
Eggs — Room temperature eggs blend more evenly into the butter-sugar mixture. If you forget to take them out ahead of time, sit them in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes.
All Other Ingredients - Plain flour, granulated white sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract
Ingredient Substitutes
Butter: You can use baking margarine as a substitute for butter. The bars will be slightly less rich, and the flavor won't be quite as deep, but the texture will be similar. I have tried this, and it works reasonably well — just make sure you're using a block baking margarine, not a spread from a tub, as the higher water content in spreads affects the final texture.
Cream of tartar: If you genuinely can't find cream of tartar, replace it and the baking soda with 1½ teaspoons of baking powder. The bars will taste more like a cinnamon blondie than a proper snickerdoodle — still delicious, but you'll lose that characteristic tang. I haven't found a way around this that preserves the true snickerdoodle flavor, so my strong recommendation is to track down the cream of tartar.
Gluten-free option: A 1:1 gluten-free plain flour blend works well in this recipe because the structure comes from the eggs and butter rather than gluten development. The bars may be slightly more crumbly at the edges, but the middle will still have a good chew. I haven't tested every brand, but readers have reported good results with Cup4Cup and Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1.
Sugar: Brown sugar can replace the white sugar for a more toffee-like, deeper sweetness. The bars will be slightly darker and moister, and the snickerdoodle tang will be a little less pronounced. I've made it both ways — white sugar gives the classic result, brown sugar gives something closer to a blondie with cinnamon.
How to Make Snickerdoodle Bars
Step 1: Prepare Your Pan and Oven
Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a 23x33cm (9x13 inch) metal baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang on the two long sides. This overhang is how you'll lift the whole slab out for slicing. A metal pan is worth using here — it conducts heat more evenly than glass, which tends to overbake the edges before the center sets. If you only have a glass dish, reduce the oven temperature by 10°C and keep a close eye on the bake from 20 minutes.
Step 2: Mix the Wet Ingredients
Melt the butter and let it cool for a few minutes — you want it warm, not hot. Pour it into a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, and whisk until smooth and well combined. Add both eggs and the vanilla extract, then whisk again until the mixture is slightly pale and glossy. This takes about a minute by hand. The texture at this point should be thick and shiny, like caramel sauce.
Step 3: Add the Dry Ingredients
Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon directly to the bowl. Switch to a spatula and stir until no dry streaks remain. The dough will be noticeably thick — much stiffer than a cake batter — and that's exactly right. If it looks too loose and pourable, your butter was too hot when you added it; the baked result will be flatter and greasier than ideal. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes, if needed, to firm up.
Step 4: Press into the Pan and Top
Tip the dough into your prepared pan. Press it into an even layer using damp fingertips or place a sheet of parchment on top and smooth it down with the flat of your hand. The damp fingers method gives you more control at the edges. Once the layer is even, mix the two tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon for the topping, then scatter it generously and evenly across the surface. Every bit of surface area should be covered — this is where the sparkly, slightly crisp crust comes from.
Step 5: Bake
Bake for 22–26 minutes. The edges should be lightly golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan. The center will look just barely set — it may look slightly underdone, and that is what you want. It will continue cooking from the residual heat for a few minutes after you pull it from the oven, and it will firm up further as it cools. If you wait until the center looks fully set in the oven, it will be dry and cakey rather than chewy. The top should have a faint crackle and the cinnamon sugar will look matte rather than wet.
Step 6: Cool and Slice
This is the hardest part: leave them alone. Cool the bars completely in the pan on a wire rack before attempting to slice — at least an hour at room temperature. Cutting too early means the bars will compress and lose that clean, layered look. Once cooled, use the parchment overhang to lift the slab onto a cutting board and slice into 16 bars (or smaller pieces if you prefer). A sharp knife, wiped clean between cuts, gives you the neatest edges.
How to Store Leftovers and Reheat
Once fully cooled, store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Separate layers with a sheet of parchment to prevent sticking. They actually improve slightly on day two as the texture evens out. To freeze, wrap individual bars or the whole uncut slab in plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for an hour or two. There's no need to reheat — they're excellent at room temperature — but if you prefer them slightly warm, 10–15 seconds in the microwave will do it.
More Cookies and Bars to Try
For more bars and slices, the Easy Chocolate Caramel Slice is one of the most popular on the site for good reason — buttery shortbread, thick caramel, and a chocolate top layer that snaps cleanly when you slice it. The Biscoff Blondies are another crowd favorite, and they sit beautifully alongside these snickerdoodle bars on a plate if you're baking for a group. For something a little different, the Easy Lemon Slice brings a bright citrus contrast that works especially well in summer. If you enjoy the fudgy, dense texture of these bars, the Best Ever Cocoa Chocolate Brownies are the chocolate version of exactly that — rich, not cakey, and always the first thing to disappear.
On the cookie side, the Soft Chewy Vanilla Cookies are a great companion recipe — simple, buttery, and chewy, complementing the cinnamon warmth of these bars nicely. The Condensed Milk Biscuits are another easy win if you want something on the plainer side to balance a baking tray. And if you enjoy a spiced biscuit, The Best Ginger Biscuits are worth having in your repertoire — the ginger and the cinnamon make them natural neighbors on a cookie plate.
Snickerdoodle Bars — Common Questions
Can I make these in a smaller pan? Yes. Halve the recipe and bake in a 20x20cm (8x8 inch) pan. Add 3–5 minutes to the bake time as the bars will be thicker.
Why do my bars taste like cinnamon cookies but not quite snickerdoodle? The cream of tartar is likely missing or was old and no longer active. Cream of tartar is what gives snickerdoodles their distinctive tang — without it, you have a lovely cinnamon bar but not a true snickerdoodle.
Can I make the dough ahead? Yes. The dough can be made, pressed into the pan, covered, and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking. Add the cinnamon sugar topping just before it goes in the oven, not ahead of time.
My bars came out cakey rather than chewy — what went wrong? Two likely causes: too much flour (always weigh or spoon-and-level), or overbaking. Pull them when the center still looks just barely set.
Do I need a stand mixer? No — a bowl and a whisk are all you need for this
recipe.
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Recipe Card
Snickerdoodle Bars
Ingredients
Dough
- 170 g ¾ cup / 6 oz unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 300 g 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 280 g 2¼ cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a 23x33cm (9x13 inch) baking pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and slightly glossy.
- Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir with a spatula until just combined — the dough will be thick.
- Transfer the dough into the prepared pan. Use damp fingertips or a piece of parchment to press it into an even layer.
- Mix together the cinnamon sugar topping and sprinkle evenly over the surface.
- Bake for 22–26 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden and the centre looks just barely done — it will firm up as it cools. Do not overbake.
- Cool completely in the pan before lifting out and slicing into 16 bars.
Nutrition information is an estimate. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly. All temperatures stated are conventional, unless otherwise stated. Recipes tested in grams and at sea level.
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