The classic cinnamon-sugar cookie gets the cupcake treatment! Cinnamon-sugar-swirled vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy cinnamon-swirled frosting… these snickerdoodle cupcakes always get rave reviews. Try them and you’ll taste why!
I originally published this recipe in 2013 (they’ve stood the test of time!) and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
Soft, slightly tangy, and coated in cinnamon-sugar, snickerdoodle cookies will always be a family favorite. So how about a cupcake version? It’s doable. And, obviously, delicious!
I wasn’t shy about loading cinny-swirls inside these snickerdoodle cupcakes. Cinnamon peeking through the edges, cinnamon-sugar dusted on top, a mountain of cinnamon-swirl frosting, and a mini snickerdoodle cookie to top it all off.
Today’s recipe is a fine example of how a delicious dessert doesn’t have to be difficult! You can impress everyone with a simple recipe and a little creativity. Seriously… how can you resist THESE?
Readers Rave Have Been Raving for Years
One reader, Julia, commented: “These are the best things I have ever made in my kitchen, no lie. ★★★★★”
One reader, Ashley, commented: “These cupcakes are amazing! My husband asked for them for his birthday for the second year in a row. These are definitely going to be part of our yearly celebrations. One of the best cupcake recipes. ★★★★★”
One reader, Sharon, commented: “This was my first ever cupcake I’ve made from scratch. I made two batches and took them to work. Rave reviews! They said they were literally the best cupcake they had ever eaten. Will definitely make again and again. ★★★★★”
Here’s My Cake Version
And, yes, I have a snickerdoodle cake recipe, too!
How to Make & Assemble Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
There are 3 parts to these snickerdoodle cupcakes:
- Cinnamon-swirled vanilla cupcakes
- Cinnamon-swirled vanilla buttercream
- Mini snickerdoodles for garnish (optional but so much fun if you have time!)
First, the cupcake batter. It comes together in minutes—you don’t even need an electric mixer. Whisk together dry ingredients, whisk together wet ingredients, whisk wet + dry together. The batter is similar to my strawberry shortcake cupcakes.
The assembly: Spoon 2 Tablespoons of cupcake batter into 12 cupcake liners. Then sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon-sugar. Top with more cupcake batter and 1 more teaspoon of cinnamon-sugar. Some of the cinnamon-sugar layer from the center may peek out on the top. Give the tops a gentle swirl with a toothpick.
Here’s how that whole assembly step looks:
By the way, you’ll similarly layer cinnamon goodness in these banana chocolate chip streusel muffins. Another must-try for my fellow cinnamon-sugar lovers!
Here’s what the cupcakes look like after baking:
Next, the frosting. These snickerdoodle cupcakes are so utterly tasty, that you don’t even need frosting. But let’s be serious. If you have the opportunity to make cinnamon frosting, you should make it. That’s just sensible!
The frosting I used to top these cupcakes is two-toned. First, I made vanilla buttercream. Then I transferred half of the frosting to a separate bowl and beat 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon into it.
Here is exactly how I swirled the two frostings together: I simply filled my piping bag with half of the cinnamon frosting on one side and half of the vanilla frosting next to it. Side by side, cinnamon + vanilla in one swirly-twirly frosting.
I used a Wilton 1M tip to frost, but any piping tip would work. If you do not have a piping bag + tip, no worries! You can frost the two frostings however you’d like on top of the snickerdoodle cupcakes. Or just use all vanilla frosting or all cinnamon frosting.
And if you love cream cheese frosting, try topping these snickerdoodle cupcakes with the frosting from this recipe for banana cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting!
Garnish & Topping Options
And last but not least, a little finishing touch for your snickerdoodle cupcakes—and I do mean little! Whip up a batch of my soft and thick snickerdoodles (a quick and easy 20-minute recipe) and make them into mini cookies, which is about 2 teaspoons of cookie dough per cookie. Bake them for 7 minutes. This is optional, but topping a cupcake with a mini cookie is one of the easiest ways to make a simple dessert look extraordinary.
You could also garnish these snickerdoodle cupcakes with a cinnamon stick, like we do with these chai latte cupcakes. And if you want to try filling cupcakes, these would be fantastic with some salted caramel in the middle.
Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cinnamon-sugar-swirled vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy cinnamon-swirled frosting… these snickerdoodle cupcakes always get rave reviews. Try them and you’ll taste why! Feel free to garnish with a mini snickerdoodle cookie or a cinnamon stick.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 and 2/3 cups (209g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 and 1/3 cups (266g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature*
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Cinnamon-Swirl Frosting
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3–4 cups (360–480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- optional for garnish: 12 cinnamon sticks or 12 mini snickerdoodles*
Instructions
- Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Make the cupcakes: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and 1 cup (200g) sugar together. Mixture will be gritty. Whisk in the egg, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is completely combined. Batter should be creamy and mostly smooth; a few small lumps are OK.
- In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon together. Set aside.
- Assemble the cupcakes: Spoon 2 scant Tablespoons of cupcake batter into each cupcake liner. Top with 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Top with 1 heaping Tablespoon of cupcake batter, until the cupcake liners are about 3/4 full. Some of the cinnamon-sugar filling from the center layer may peek through the top layer of batter—that’s ok. Top each cupcake with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon-sugar. Swirl each gently with a toothpick.
- Bake for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Shake off any excess cinnamon-sugar that isn’t sticking to the tops, as that will prevent the frosting from sticking to the cupcakes.
- Make the frosting: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting seems thin and greasy or more cream if the frosting seems too stiff. Taste, and add salt if frosting is too sweet (I like to add about 1/8 teaspoon). Remove half of the frosting from the mixing bowl and transfer to another bowl, or directly into your piping bag. Beat 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon into the remaining frosting in the mixing bowl.
- Spoon half cinnamon frosting into the piping bag and half vanilla frosting into the piping bag. See above for a visual. Pipe onto cupcakes. I used a Wilton 1M swirl tip. Garnish cupcakes with cinnamon sticks or mini snickerdoodle cookies, if desired.
- Cover and store leftover cupcakes at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Bake the cupcakes 1 day in advance. Keep cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature and frost the day of serving. Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-cup Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip | Cupcake Carrier (for storage)
- Sour Cream & Whole Milk: Sour cream and whole milk are strongly recommended for the best taste and texture. A full-fat plain yogurt would work instead of sour cream, though the cupcakes may not be as light. Same goes with a lower-fat milk (I don’t recommend nonfat). Nondairy milk works in a pinch. You can replace both the whole milk and sour cream with buttermilk (1 cup/240ml) if needed.
- Cream: For the cream in the frosting, you can use whole milk instead. However, the consistency of the frosting will not be as creamy.
- Can I Make This Into a Cake? Absolutely, and I already have a separate recipe for snickerdoodle cake. For a smaller cake, use today’s cupcake and frosting recipes, but bake as a 3-layer 6-inch cake. See this post for how to turn cupcake recipes into 3-layer 6-inch cakes.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin!
Hi Sally! Just wanted to tell you that I made these for a cookout this weekend and two of my guests told me that these were the best cupcakes they’ve ever had. Everyone else gushed as well and said they were amazing. Thank you for such a yummy recipe!
JUST finished making these. I have been sampling components of it throughout and just experienced the whole thing… AMAZING. This snickerdoodle cookie recipe just might need to be my go-to as well… so great! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Just made these and they are very yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These were super fantastic! I love your recipes Sally! My husband said these are is favorite cupcakes now.
Hey Sally 🙂 Can I make a cake out of this recipe? Thanks
BTW, I’ve used some of your recipes, and I love how they turned out!
Hi Elaine! You could: (1) Bake this recipe into a single layer cake for around 30 mins at 350. OR (2) Double the recipe and bake in two separate 9-inch cake pans. Fill the pans only 1/2 way full and use any extra batter to make cupcakes. Double the frosting recipe as well.
hi Sally! I just finished making these along with the adorable little snickerdoodle cookie decor on them. they are so good! the snickerdoodle cookies on their own are just so delicious! I ate like 5 while I was waiting for the cupcakes to cook! heheh. also that frosting is MAGNIFICENT! I was going to share the second beater with my husband but after I had a little taste I was like, nope! definitely having both of these. honestly though, how good is cinnamon and sugar together? and my husband approves as well! thanks for another delicious recipe Sally 🙂
These are the best cupcakes I have ever made by far!!!! But both times I have made them, the second time being the worst, my cupcakes don’t rise like yours and the tops are flat and touch each other and are impossible to get out of the pan without tearing them. I follow your recipe exactly. My baking powder is not old. I usually don’t use the convection option on my oven as I feel it bakes things too quickly, would this help?? Also, they seem to have air pockets at times. Should I tap the pan on the counter before baking to remove the bubbles? I could not bear to waste them the last time I made them, so I put all the cake pieces in bowls and scooped the icing on top because it tasted so good….but the presentation was definitely lacking 🙁 please help Sally!!! All of your recipes are soooo delicious!!!
It sounds like you might be filling the cupcake liners too full. Try to reduce the amount of batter in each cupcake. You can use the convection option, though I don’t find that to be the issue. Tapping the pan to remove air bubbles will help. Try to avoid opening/closing the oven door often as they bake too.
These cupcakes are FANTASTIC. I expected good but they are actually great! Easy batter to make and assemble with an unbelievable end result. I will definitely make these again. I would reccommend using the reader view that’s available. The webpage has a lot going on and often had to reload which could be problematic when working in a timely fashion is important.
Thanks a lot Sally!
I made these last weekend and they were AMAZING!! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
I made these cupcakes last night and they are delicious! My taste-tester even said they would be great without frosting!
These are delicious! People always ask/demand that I make them whenever I get invited to parties. I seriously think I get invited to things just because of these cupcakes.
It’s quite literally a cult following hahaha. Today someone asked me for the recipe and I was so happy to share the joy and the recipes I get from your blog. So you should have lots of new fans 🙂
Hi Sally! These look awesome and I plan on making them tonight for a friend to bring to her Thanksgiving feast at work! But I have 2 questions for you. 1. Would I be able to double the recipe to make 2 dozen or should I make 2 separate batches? 2. Do you think one batch of frosting would be enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes if I don’t put as much on as you did in the photos above?
Hi Jillian– I recommend baking 2 separate batches. I always, always do that when making cupcakes. It prevents me from accidentally overmixing the batter. Which would make the cupcakes a little too dense. 1 batch of frosting will be cutting it close, even if you give them light frost. perhaps 1.5x the frosting recipe?
Delicious! Four were gone before they were even cool enough to frost! Maybe the next batch will get frosted! I’m testing out some cupcake recipes to make for a shower. These definitely made the list!
My daughter and I just finished piping on the buttercream. Delicious!!! We loved the crunch of the cinnamon sugar layered through the cupcake. Thanks for such a great recipe. Can’t wait to use the cinnamon buttercream recipe on some pumpkin or sweet potato cupcakes!!!
Hi Sally
THANK YOU for this recipe. I love snicker doodles and this is absolutely AWESOME! My girls (3 of them) love it. I will definitely make these over and over again for parties and sport fundraisers.
I just made these today and they came out fabulous! The only thing I did different was to frost them with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I am not a fan of buttercream and just love the cream cheese frosting’s. I was making them when my 16 year old son was headed to work. He was all excited knowing he was going to be able to eat several when he gets home tonight 🙂 this is a must keep recipe!
These cupcakes inspired me to get creative with the combination of cupcakes and snickerdoodles, but I added caramel into the mix! I ended up with cinnamon brown sugar cupcakes, filled with cinnamon caramel, topped with cinnamon caramel cream-cheese icing and of course a mini snickerdoodle. Delicious!!! Thanks for the inspiration, I love looking through your website! 🙂
Hi Sally. Greetings from the Philippines! I made these snickerdoodle cupcakes because, like you, I adore cinnamon. The cupcakes were sooooo delicious! And the frosting, oh my goodness. I intentionally did not put all of the frosting on the cupcakes so that there would be left overs to just spoon and eat. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this recipe to the world. You are a cinnamon angel. Mabuhay!
holy smokes, these cupcakes were to die for! I was skeptical of some of the ingredients, but in the end they turned out so moist and delicious and made my apartment smell fantastic for miles. follow the recipe exactly for best results. thanks!
Sally this recipe is AMAZING!!!! everyone in my family LOVED IT! I’m a big fan, can’t wait to try other ones, thank you!!!
Would you suggest these cupcakes for a birthday party? We’re having a large birthday party for my grandma in a couple weeks and the sheet cake we’re ordering has some ingredients that would cause allergies for some people so I plan on making one of two alternatives to the cake for those people. I can’t decided between these cupcakes, the chocolate ones with vanilla frosting or the raspberry lemon ones.
I just made these with my kids and OMG!!! The cake batter is the BEST I’ve ever had!!! Fantastic recipe!!!!!
Theese were DELICOUS. The combination was just lovley. I got lots of comments on how the cupcakes looked with the cookies stuck in them. The icing was a little on the sweet side but still lovley
Hi Sally!!! Amazing cupcakes!!!:) They taste like heaven! They taste like snicker doodles that’s for sure! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!:)
I made these cupcakes and they were amazing! Instead of doing half vanilla and half cinnamon frosting, I just made it all cinnamon. Great recipe and I’ll be making it again!
I made these last night and they are amazing!!!!! Can’t wait for the book to be released 🙂
Made these 2x so far – AMAZING. I got rockin’ reviews and shared your page. Thank you so much for your recipe! The batter alone is also delicious. 🙂
Also made your chocolate icing and all the chocolate-eaters enjoyed.
Hi Sally! This was another awesome cupcake recipe of yours that I baked this past weekend (I recently made your banana chocolate chip cupcakes a few weeks back and your brownie cupcakes with cookie dough frosting two weeks ago), and they were SO GOOD! The cake batter tasted just like a snickerdoodle! This recipe will defintely stay in my arsenal for years to come!
Hi Sally! I actually made these and they are FABULOUS! Made them and took them to work a few days ago and everyone who ate one is still talking about them. I finally ate one and it melted in my mouth and the taste was fabulous. I didn’t use that icing but rather the icing you used for the strawberry shortcake cupcake (don’t like a confectioner’s sugar based icing as I find it way too sweet) and added the sugar/cinnamon mix in the icing and it was fantastic. Now, if I can get my piping down, that would be icing on top of the icing. 🙂 THANK YOU for a great recipe!
I just made these cupcakes last night, and oh.my.word.
I have never had a better cupcake in my entire lifetime. No joke!
They are phenomenal.
Great recipe — Thank you so much!