Snickerdoodle Cake is the recipe that Teresa makes every fall and every most warmly anticipated birthday celebration when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely innovative individual layer cake that captures every single most beloved characteristic of the most warmly nostalgic snickerdoodle cookie — the most crisp cinnamon-sugar individual coating, the most essential tang of cream of tartar, and the most properly soft and the most chewy individual center — and translates them the most brilliantly into the most beautifully moist and the most properly tender individual two-layer celebration cake format.
Complete with the most gorgeous cinnamon sugar swirl ribboned through the most beautifully creamy individual layers and finished with the most silky and the most deeply tangy cream cheese frosting that echoes the most classic snickerdoodle cookie’s most essential cream-of-tartar tang in the most completely cake-friendly individual format. She makes the cinnamon sugar swirl, beats the most fluffy individual batter, layers the most gorgeous cinnamon sugar ribbon, and frosts with the most beautifully tangy cream cheese.
Snickerdoodle Cake is the most easy and deeply extraordinary 1-hour cinnamon sugar celebration layer cake made with flour sugar butter eggs cream of tartar baking powder sour cream vanilla cinnamon sugar ribbon baked at 350°F for 28 to 32 minutes and frosted with cream cheese frosting. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cake recipes and easy celebration favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
This Snickerdoodle Cake recipe is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely inventive individual celebration cake that delivers every single most beloved snickerdoodle cookie flavor — the most warmly cinnamon-sweet, the most subtly tangy cream of tartar, and the most properly soft and tender individual crumb — in the most beautifully elevated and the most properly impressive individual two-layer celebration cake format that feels simultaneously the most nostalgically familiar and the most genuinely extraordinary.
The cream of tartar is the single most essential and the most completely irreplaceable ingredient that defines the most authentically snickerdoodle-flavored individual cake — providing the most distinctively subtle and the most beautifully characteristic tang that is universally recognized as the most specifically snickerdoodle individual flavor signature. Without cream of tartar, the cake tastes like a most pleasant vanilla cinnamon individual cake rather than the most properly authentic snickerdoodle-flavored individual cake. Our Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Cake makes a beautifully equally cinnamon-swirled and equally celebration-worthy companion for a complete and wonderful cinnamon cake collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
For the Snickerdoodle Cake Layers:
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 4 large Eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Whole Milk, room temperature
For the Cinnamon Sugar Swirl:
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 16 oz Full-Fat Brick-Style Cream Cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 4 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Salt
How to Make This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
Mix the cinnamon sugar swirl ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together until the most light and the most beautifully fluffy — approximately 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mix in the vanilla, cara mia.
Add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour, mixing on low just until combined.
Pour half the batter into the first prepared pan. Sprinkle most generously with half the cinnamon sugar mixture. Add the remaining batter, dividing between both pans. Top each pan with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture sprinkled most evenly over each individual batter surface.
Bake for 28 to 32 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops spring back when touched gently. Cool in pans 10 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For the cream cheese frosting, beat the room-temperature cream cheese and butter together until the most smooth. Add the sifted powdered sugar gradually with the vanilla and salt, beating until the most fluffy and the most properly spreadable.
Assemble by placing one cake layer cinnamon-sugar-side down, frosting the top, then placing the second layer cinnamon-sugar-side down. Frost the exterior.
How to Serve This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
Serve at room temperature for the most beautifully softened cream cheese frosting. Garnish most gorgeously with a final sprinkle of cinnamon sugar over the frosted individual exterior for the most authentically snickerdoodle-inspired and the most beautifully finished individual presentation.
For the most completely extraordinary individual presentation, use the back of a spoon to create gorgeous swirl patterns in the cream cheese frosting, then dust cinnamon sugar through a fine sieve over the most beautifully swirled individual frosting exterior. Our Biscoff Cookie Butter Cake makes a beautifully equally warmly spiced and equally celebration-layered companion for a complete and wonderful warmly spiced celebration cake collection.
How to Store This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week due to the cream cheese frosting. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving for the most properly softened individual frosting. Freeze individual unfrosted cake layers wrapped tightly for up to 3 months — make fresh frosting on the day of assembling.
Tips to Make This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
Place the cinnamon-sugar-coated individual cake layers cinnamon-side down when assembling for the most cleanly frosted exterior — the most cinnamon-sugar coating on the cut surface provides the most additional individual texture and the most beautifully defined individual cinnamon swirl when each slice is cut.
Beat the cream cheese frosting until the most completely smooth before adding any powdered sugar — visible lumps in the frosting cannot be fully removed after powdered sugar is added. The most complete room-temperature softening and the most thorough individual beating of the cream cheese alone is the single most essential step for the most silky individual frosting.
Helpful Notes for This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
The cream of tartar is the most essential and the most irreplaceable individual ingredient for the most authentic snickerdoodle flavor character. Do not substitute baking powder for the cream of tartar — the individual chemical function and the most specific flavor contribution are the most fundamentally different.
For the most beautifully clean individual cake layers without any visible cinnamon sugar bleeding through the exterior frosting, refrigerate the assembled and crumb-coated cake for 30 minutes before applying the most final individual cream cheese frosting layer.
Variation of This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
Maria made a version adding a quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg to the cinnamon sugar mixture for the most completely extraordinary and the most warmly spiced individual snickerdoodle cake. Teresa tried using brown butter in place of the regular softened butter in the cake batter for the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply caramelized individual brown butter snickerdoodle cake.
For a snickerdoodle cupcake version, fill 24 cupcake papers two-thirds full and bake for approximately 18 to 20 minutes for the most completely extraordinary and the most perfectly individually portioned individual snickerdoodle cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Our Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Cake makes a beautifully equally cinnamon-swirled and equally celebration-worthy companion for a complete and wonderful warmly spiced cake collection.
FAQs About This Snickerdoodle Cake Recipe
Why does snickerdoodle cake need cream of tartar?
Cream of tartar is the most specifically essential ingredient in any authentic snickerdoodle recipe — cookie or cake — because it provides the most distinctive and the most immediately recognizable individual tangy note that is the most universally understood snickerdoodle flavor signature. Cream of tartar also acidifies the batter, helping to produce the most tender individual crumb by interfering with the most excessive individual gluten development.
Can I substitute the cream of tartar?
Substituting the cream of tartar with another acidic ingredient produces an individual cake that tastes like a most pleasant vanilla cinnamon cake rather than the most authentically snickerdoodle-flavored individual result. If cream of tartar is genuinely unavailable, substitute with two teaspoons of lemon juice — though the most specific snickerdoodle individual flavor character will be the most noticeably different.
How do I create the cinnamon swirl effect throughout the cake?
The most effective individual technique for the most beautifully visible cinnamon swirl throughout the assembled individual cake is to layer the most cinnamon-sugar-coated individual surfaces facing inward — placing each layer cinnamon-sugar-side down onto the frosting. This creates the most beautifully defined individual cinnamon swirl cross-section in every individual slice without the cinnamon sugar bleeding through the exterior frosting.
Conclusion
This Snickerdoodle Cake is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely warmly nostalgic cinnamon sugar celebration cake that makes every birthday and every fall gathering feel genuinely and completely special through the most essential cream of tartar tang and the most gorgeous cinnamon sugar ribbon and the most silky cream cheese frosting in every single beautifully individual and completely irresistible snickerdoodle cake slice.
We hope it brings the same deeply joyful snickerdoodle cookie-in-cake-form warmth and the same completely delighted table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
Snickerdoodle Cake The Most Easy Moist Cinnamon Sugar Layer Cake Cream of Tartar Cream Cheese Frosting Celebration Cake You Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes including cooling
- Yield: 12 to 14 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most extraordinary moist Snickerdoodle Cake made by preheating oven to 350°F greasing and flouring two 9-inch pans mixing 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon for swirl setting aside whisking 3 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp salt beating 1 cup softened butter and 2 cups sugar 3 minutes light and fluffy adding 4 room temperature eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly then vanilla on low alternating flour mixture and 1 cup milk in three additions beginning and ending with flour pouring half batter into first pan sprinkling generously with half cinnamon sugar dividing remaining batter between pans topping with remaining cinnamon sugar baking 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean cooling 10 minutes then on racks then beating 16 oz room temperature cream cheese and 1/2 cup room temperature butter smooth adding 4 to 5 cups sifted powdered sugar vanilla and salt beating fluffy assembling with layers cinnamon-side down and frosting exterior. A completely perfect cinnamon sugar cream of tartar snickerdoodle cake recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Unsalted Butter softened
2 cups Granulated Sugar
4 large Eggs room temperature
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Whole Milk room temperature
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar for cinnamon swirl
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
16 oz Full-Fat Brick-Style Cream Cheese room temperature
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter room temperature for frosting
4 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar sifted
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract for frosting
Pinch of Salt for frosting
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F 175°C. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans.
2. Mix cinnamon sugar swirl ingredients. Set aside.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.
4. Beat softened butter and sugar 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs one at a time. Mix thoroughly after each. Add vanilla.
6. On low alternate flour in 3 additions with milk in 2 additions beginning and ending with flour.
7. Pour half batter into first pan. Sprinkle generously with half cinnamon sugar.
8. Divide remaining batter between pans. Top each with remaining cinnamon sugar.
9. Bake 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans. Transfer to racks. Cool completely.
10. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar gradually with vanilla and salt. Beat fluffy.
11. Assemble with cinnamon-side layers facing down frosting between. Frost exterior.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Birthday, Celebration, Fall
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 620
- Sugar: 65g
- Sodium: 280mg
- Fat: 32g
- Saturated Fat: 19g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11g
- Trans Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 80g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 7g
- Cholesterol: 130mg
Keywords: snickerdoodle cake, easy moist snickerdoodle cake recipe cinnamon sugar cream of tartar cream cheese frosting, best snickerdoodle layer cake celebration, cinnamon sugar swirl cream cheese snickerdoodle birthday cake
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