These decadent and delicious Snickerdoodle Cupcakes are just perfect for the festive season! They taste exactly like a Cinnamon Roll – in cupcake form! And they’re so easy to make too.
Snickerdoodles are a deliciously buttery type of cookie baked with plenty of cinnamon sugar for a perfect festive treat! These Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes are the cupcake version of that biscuit! The cupcake batter is layered with cinnamon-sugar, so that they really do taste like a cross between a snickerdoodle cookie and a freshly baked cinnamon roll – with a whole lot less effort of course!
The great news about these cupcakes is that they’re made from all the same stuff you’ll have in your fridge and cupboard at this time of year! Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, cinnamon, vanilla and milk. The cupcakes are also enriched with greek yoghurt to keep them moist and flavoursome. The cinnamon-sugar frosting is a gorgeous buttercream with butter, sugar, cinnamon and some double cream. No dash to the shops for special ingredients required!
Having said that, if you don’t go through lots of cinnamon like me, it’s worth checking that yours is still in date! It’s really worth having the freshest ground cinnamon you can to make delicious desserts with! You might have noticed that I’m a huge fan of cinnamon. It’s not a coincidence that next week’s festive recipe is also loaded with cinnamon (okay it’s homemade cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting!) – it’s just the smell and taste of Christmas!
These cupcakes are a great example of a really impressive festive dessert that is secretly super easy. I took these along to our festive themed Cake Club, and they disappeared in record time and were raved about! People really love the layers of cinnamon gooeyness baked right into the cupcakes! Don’t worry, it’s super easy to do – we just layer up our cupcake cases with two tablespoons of cake batter, followed by cinnamon sugar, then more cake batter, then more cinnamon sugar! The smell of these cupcakes baking on a frosty afternoon is better than any scented candle, trust me!
To frost the cupcakes, I used a disposable piping bag (I just find them so much easier!) fitted with a Wilton1M tip – which gives you gorgeously swirly frosting! If you don’t want to pipe them, that’s fine too! Simply dollop a couple of tablespoons of frosting onto each cupcake and use a knife to smooth it out on top. Dust with a little fresh cinnamon, and add some edible glitter if you’d like too (it is Christmas!).
Oh, and I made some cute christmas trees using some green candy melts too. They’re totally optional, but if you’d like to make some, you can get candy melts from Lakeland or online (or cake decorating shops if you have one near you). Just melt about 100g in the microwave then add about a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Spoon into a piping bag or sandwich bag, and pipe Christmas tree shapes onto parchment or non stick baking paper. Leave to cool and harden, then use to decorate your cupcakes!
PS I have no idea why a snickerdoodle is called a snickerdoodle… do you? But I’m guessing we can agree that it’s about the cutest name for a cookie ever?!


- 250g / 2 cups plain flour
- half tsp baking powder
- half tsp bicarbonate of soda
- large pinch salt
- 250g / 1 cup plus 1 heaped tablespoon golden caster sugar
- 115g / 1 stick unsalted butter
- 60g / quarter cup greek yoghurt
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 180ml / 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 250g / 2 sticks plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 360g / 3 cups icing sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 60ml / 1/4 cup double cream
- Preheat your oven to 170C/gas mark 4/350F and prepare a 12 hole cupcake tray by lining it with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, measure your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. Give the whole bowl a vigorous whisk (yes, with a whisk!). This will aerate the mixture and eliminate any lumps!
- In another bowl (sorry!), melt your butter completely in the microwave and stir in the 250g of golden caster sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla bean paste, greek yoghurt and milk. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring lightly until just combined.
- Combine the 100g caster sugar with 2 tbsp cinnamon to make your cinnamon sugar.
- Dollop 2 tbsp of cupcake batter into the bottom of each cupcake case, and top it with 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Repeat, putting 2 tbsp of batter atop the sugar in each case, then topping with more cinnamon sugar. Pop the cupcakes into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- Beat your very soft butter with an electric hand or stand mixer, for 2-4 minutes, until very fluffy. Slowly add in 340g of icing sugar, plus the cinnamon, pinch of salt, double cream and vanilla. Beat vigorously for another 2 minutes and taste - it may need more icing sugar if it's too runny.
- Once you're happy with the consistenty of the frosting, scoop it into your piping bag and frost your cupcakes! Dust with more cinnamon and/or glitter.

If you use clear white cupcake cases, you’ll be able to see the lovely cinnamon sugar layers too! I hope you love these!
I’m entering these cupcakes into the final Festive Food Friday over at Taming Twins!
x Kerry
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Oh Kerry I can almost smell these! I love cinnamon so much, it’s the smell of the festive season to me. Yum. Thanks for linking to #festivefoodfriday and happy Christmas!
Sarah (@tamingtwins) recently posted…How to Decorate your IKEA Gingerbread House & Festive Food Friday #6
I’m not a huge fan of cupcakes but these look incredible Kerry. Yum.x
Munchies and Munchkins recently posted…Cranberry Sauce Recipe – Hob & Sous Vide Versions
These look amazing. I am so rubbish at decorating cupcakes but these are fab! #festivefoodfriday
Ciara (My Fussy Eater) recently posted…Mint Hot Chocolate {Dairy Free}
Edible glitter? Who knew such a thing existed 🙂 These are just lovely Kerry. They not only turned out great in appearance but I’m sure they taste wonderful too.
Diane @ life of di. recently posted…The Birth of Charlotte Rose.
You are just too kind lady!
I’ve never been entirely sure what a snickerdoodle is (a biscuit I think) but these look lovely and very festive.
Sarah Maison Cupcake recently posted…December book reviews
These look amazing! I bet they’d be gorgeous even without the frosting. Cinnamon = YUM!
Helen recently posted…Crispy Chanukah chocolate bark
Stunning cupcakes Kerry, I really want one right now with a cup of tea!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours recently posted…Top tips for the perfect Christmas turkey and what to do with all those leftovers