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!
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
How to Make & Assemble Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
There are 3 parts to these snickerdoodle cupcakes:
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.
If you love snickerdoodles, you might also enjoy these white chocolate chai snickerdoodles, peanut butter snickerdoodles, maple pecan snickerdoodles, and snickerdoodle blondies, too.
Cinnamon-Swirl Snickerdoodle Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 piping 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.
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