snickerdoodle

noun

snick·​er·​doo·​dle ˈsni-kər-ˌdü-dᵊl How to pronounce snickerdoodle (audio)
plural snickerdoodles
: a cookie that is made with usually butter, sugar, and flour and that is rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking

Examples of snickerdoodle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Kim's Snickerdoodle Crumb Cake Cookie Kim Kardashian's selection combines a snickerdoodle cookie with white chocolate chips, topped with a cinnamon streusel and drizzled with white chocolate. David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025 The stuffed dessert combines, for example, a chocolate chip cookie stuffed with Nutella or a snickerdoodle stuffed with New York cheesecake. Janice Phelan, Kansas City Star, 14 May 2025 These cookies have the characteristic snickerdoodle tang and traditional cinnamon flavor, but with a smoky, rich undertone from the bacon fat. Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 12 May 2025 Wood’s snickerdoodle cookies are covered in cinnamon and sugar, but the base is a buttery French cookie. Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 13 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for snickerdoodle

Word History

Etymology

probably a fanciful coinage, from snicker entry 2 + doodle "doodlebug" (though without clear semantic connection to either word)

Note: An alternative etymology derives the word from Palatinate German dialect Schneckennudel, Scheckennurel, Schleckenurrl "sweet pastry made from yeast dough twisted into a spiral" (from Schnecken "snail" and Nudel "dough in various forms"), with variants in other dialects (Baden, Swabia, Saarland). However, none of these words appear to have surfaced in 19th-century American English, and early attestations of snickerdoodle do not suggest a German-American connection.

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of snickerdoodle was in 1889

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Cite this Entry

“Snickerdoodle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snickerdoodle. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.

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