These vegan snickerdoodles use one bowl and 8 ingredients. This healthy snickerdoodle recipe is also gluten-free, grain-free, and paleo too! Perfect for the holidays, easy to make, and can be made nut-free as well!
A traditional snickerdoodle is a cookie made from a simple blend of butter, sugar, flour, and sometimes eggs. The dough then gets rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked. Imagine them as a kind of soft sugar cookie dipped in cinnamon. Crackly on top, soft, and chewy center. Since I don't personally eat butter, white sugar, or flour, we basically had to reimagine how to make these cookies. What we ended up with is a batch of the ultimate vegan snickerdoodles! They've got the perfect texture, amazing flavor and they even crack on top like the traditional ones.
Why You'll love This Vegan Snickerdoodle Recipe
- Snickerdoodles, but healthy. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, and oh so soft! But it has the same flavor and texture you love about the original.
- One-bowl recipe. You don't have to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, which means one less dish to wash!
- Short ingredient list. You only need 8 ingredients to make these vegan snickerdoodles!
What You'll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
- Cashew butter – This is taking place of traditional butter. It's got an amazing flavor, a soft texture and it makes these snickerdoodles taste amazing!
- Coconut sugar – For my granulated sugar, I opted for coconut sugar which can be used as a 1:1 substitute for white sugar. I find that it's still perfectly sweet, your cookies just might have a *slightly* darker color.
- Maple syrup – I often combine coconut sugar and maple syrup together because I love both flavors – the maple imparts some caramel undertones and also helps give the cookies some fluff.
- Vanilla extract
- Flax egg – To make our vegan snickerdoodle cookies we had to swap out the egg for a vegan alternative. I love flax eggs and they're also super easy to make at home!
- Coconut flour – You won't usually find coconut flour in vegan baking because it typically relies heavily on eggs, but for this recipe, it works perfectly! It's also how we're making them gluten-free and grain-free!
- Baking Soda
How to Make Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Make the batter. Beat the cashew butter, flax egg, syrup, vanilla, and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in half the coconut flour and baking soda, then beat in the rest of the coconut flour.
- Mix the cinnamon sugar. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon for rolling the dough.
- Form the cookies. Roll the dough into 1-tablespoon balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer to the baking sheet and flatten with the palm of your hand.
- Bake. Place the pan in a 350ºF oven and bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Swaps for Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies
One of my goals is always to share ways you can make changes to my recipes to suit your dietary needs. Here are some tips for making perfectly soft snickerdoodles using whatever you might have on hand:
- Nut butter. Instead of cashew butter, feel free to swap it with any nut or seed butter. Tahini or sunflower seed butter would be my recommendation! If you do use sunflower seed butter though, swap the baking soda with baking powder as it will turn the cookies green!
- Sugar. If you'd rather use another granulated sugar, go for it! White or brown sugar is totally fine.
- Liquid sweetener. If you're not a maple fan, honey, date syrup, agave, etc. can all be used to replace the maple syrup.
- Eggs. If you aren't trying to make vegan snickerdoodles, feel free to swap the flax egg with a regular chicken egg! The texture might change slightly, but they should still be delicious!
- Flour. The one sticking point with this recipe is the flour. You can't swap the coconut flour for anything else in a 1:1 match. You'll have to do some research into making the swap, but baking with coconut flour is tricky!
How to Store and Freeze
Cookies are one of those things you can absolutely make ahead. In fact, I even recommend it! These vegan snickerdoodles are even better the next day.
How to freeze snickerdoodles: There are two ways you can freeze these cookies. You could either freeze the dough, or you could freeze them once they're baked. I'd recommend the former because I think they yield a better cookie, but it's up to you.
- If you do freeze them before you bake them, scoop all the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (follow the recipe through step 4) and freeze the baking sheet. Here are some great tips about how to bake frozen cookie dough!
- If you want to freeze your baked cookies, just pop them in the freezer once they've cooled and reheat them in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
How to store snickerdoodles: I recommend storing these cookies in a sealed container on the counter. I find they last a good 2 – 3 days if they're kept sealed!
More Healthy Cookie Recipes
Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashew butter
- 1 flax egg
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut flour divided
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
for the coating
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Beat together the cashew butter, flax egg, syrup, vanilla, and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add half the coconut flour, along with the vanilla and baking soda, and mix until combined. Beat in the remaining coconut flour.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough into your hands and roll into balls. Roll the balls in the coconut sugar. Place on a baking sheet and flatten with your hands. Repeat until no dough remains. Bake for 9 – 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 – 15 minutes then enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
