Learn how to make the absolute BEST Vegan Gluten-free Snickerdoodles ever! They are so buttery, moist and delicious with the classic cinnamon sugar taste and crackle top, yet are gluten-free, oil-free, made in 1 bowl and in 25 minutes!
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VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE SNICKERDOODLES
It’s exciting to be sharing these Vegan Snickerdoodles with you today because it took me 4 trials to get them the way I wanted, as you all saw since I was sharing my testing trials in my Instagram stories and on Facebook. They really are the best vegan snickerdoodles you’ll ever have, shoot, best ever!
The most amazing part of these cookies is the fact that they taste so legit, yet are:
gluten-free, vegan, grain-free, oil-free and just 8 ingredients! The most challenging thing about baking my recipes in a lot of cases, is achieving optimal results, in taste, texture and appearance, all at 8 ingredients. That’s often why I have to trial multiple times. It would be a lot easier if I could do 9 or 10 ingredients, LOL.
THE BEST VEGAN SNICKERDOODLES
I wanted them to spread and crackle and look just like traditional snickerdoodles I used to get at bakeries. After much experimentation with flours and liquids and ratios, I finally got it. I tell you what, it is not easy to get a cookie the way you want it all the time, especially a snickerdoodle without using any butter, oil or nut butters! I was quite frustrated, but I kept on until I nailed these vegan snickerdoodles. The almond flour is the special ingredient here.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN OIL-FREE SNICKERDOODLES?
To make these vegan gluten-free snickerdoodles, you only need 10-15 minutes of prep and 1 bowl, that’s it.
First, gather these 8 ingredients:
- blanched almond flour
- tapioca starch/flour
- baking powder
- cream of tartar
- pure cane sugar
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon
Next, whisk your dry ingredients, then add the syrup and vanilla to the same bowl and stir until thick.
Roll into balls and coat into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place the balls onto the lined pan. Flatten them and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes until golden and they should have puffed up and slightly crackled.
WHY DO YOU ADD CREAM OF TARTAR TO SNICKERDOODLES?
The reason for cream of tartar is for that classic subtle tang that the classic snickerdoodle cookie has. It is what sets them apart from just a sugar cookie. This is one reason I’ve always loved these cookies because they have that taste. So, naturally, these vegan oil-free snickerdoodles need it too. It also helps the baking powder react, so don’t omit!
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES TO TRY:
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- 5 Ingredient Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Thin Mints
- Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies
- Vegan Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Almond Butter Blossoms
- Grain-free Chocolate Coconut Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Double Chocolate Espresso Almond Cookies (my all-time favorite cookie)
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Snickerdoodles (Gluten-free, Oil-free)
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (252g) superfine blanched almond flour (please weigh for accurate results!)
- 6 tablespoons (48g) tapioca starch/flour
- 3 tablespoons (36g) pure cane sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) pure maple syrup
- 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar coating
- 6 tablespoons (72g) pure cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
NOTE
- Please do not ask to sub the almond flour, as you can see, it is the main ingredient. With no oil or butter in this recipe, it is the very source of moisture and buttery flavor. It simply will not work with any sub.
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the almond flour, tapioca, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt and whisk very well, making sure to break up lumps from the almond flour.
- To the same bowl, add the syrup and vanilla and stir with a spoon for several minutes until it all comes together into a thick, somewhat sticky batter. Keep stirring and pressing the mixture with the back of the spoon until this happens.
- To a small bowl, add the sugar and cinnamon for the coating and whisk well.
- With the batter, form balls using 1 1/2 tablespoons worth of the cookie dough. If you would like larger cookies, then use 2 tablespoons worth of dough. Roll into tight balls with your hands. The batter, if you weighed everything correctly, should be somewhat sticky, but you SHOULD be able to roll into balls. If it is too sticky to roll into balls, place in the fridge for 15 minutes or so.
- Place each ball in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and rotate it several times to really coat them well. Add them to the pan 2 inches apart. I got 18 cookies (9 on each pan). Depending on how big you make them you may get more or less.
- Press each cookie down between 1/4 to 1/2 inch, making sure the whole cookie is pressed down evenly. Pressing them down properly is what will help them crackle as they bake and spread.
- Bake 1 pan at a time. (While the first pan cools, bake the 2nd one) Bake for 10 minutes. They should have puffed up and slightly crackled, that is when they are done. I found 10 minutes to be perfect.
- Leave them to cool on the pan 10 minutes, then transfer to cool another 10 minutes. They will flatten back out a bit as they cool. These cookies do finish cooking as they cool in the insides, so I would wait before eating one until they are cooled, or they will seem a bit underdone still in the middle. They will fluff up on the inside more as they cool. They should have a crispy edge with a moist and soft, chewy center. Store sealed in a container.
This is an excellent recipe and so well written. I followed it exactly as you wrote it and the cookies look beautiful. They have a lovely flavor overall. The snickerdoodles are a bit soft and a little too sweet for me. I wonder if I could use less syrup or substitute part of it. Also is there anyway to crisp up GF cookies? What about corn starch?
Hi Margo, so glad to hear that! The edges should be crispy! I would cook them longer. These have tapioca starch in them which helps them to crisp up even better than cornstarch. It just sounds like yours need to be cooked a bit longer. You can try omitting the white sugar in the cookies and see if you prefer them but it may affect the texture a bit.
Hi! Have you tried freezing the dough to use later?
Hi! No, I haven’t. It might dry out too much, not sure, since there’s no oil in it.
This recipe is so easy and delicious. I have made it multiple times now. Non-vegans have no idea that this is a vegan cookie. I have a convection oven so I set two racks equally spaced in the oven that is set to 350. I rotate the baking sheets halfway through (after five minutes) and they are perfect.
This recipe needs a lot more cream of tarter + some acid to open up the cookie. I used 2 tsp and 1 tsp lemon juice. But add the cream of tartar to 3 Tablespoons of liquid aqua faba, then whip it still thick + opaque, almost stiff. Fold into the rest of the cookie dough that’s been blended already. The acid will add further lift. Also, heat oven to 400 instead of 375 for even further lifting action. Bake about 10 minutes, rotating tray halfway through. Cool for 2 minutes on baking tray then move cookies (still on paper) to cooling rack
These are snickerdoodles and look and taste just like snickerdoodles. They are not meant to be macarons which it sounds like that is what you are going for since you completely made a different recipe. The recipe doesn’t need more cream of tartar or aquafaba. They are snickerdoodles and the cream of tartar is classic in snickerdoodles for the taste and mild crackling, not for airiness or lift. You are making a different recipe.
Yes! I was looking for a cookie recipe for our Easter celebration that was not chocolate, but similar in structure to your Chocolate Coconut cookies (the Best ever). This one fit the criteria and they are absolutely tasty. Another winner Brandi!
That is wonderful to hear!!
I don’t have any cream of tartar , would a little lemon juice be okay?
No lemon juice is a liquid and won’t replace the cream of tartar. Cream of tartar helps to spread the cookies by assisting with the baking powder and add a specific tang. Cream of tartar is sold in the spice isle of any grocery store, so it’s easy to find!
Looking forward to trying these. Can I substitute cornstarch for tapioca starch? Thanks.
I made this recipe and loved it! I modified the 48g tapioca starch to 24g rice flour, since that is what I had on hand. I also used a small cookie scoop and got 33 smaller cookies. They still turned out beautifully!
Do you think it would work to substitute a little cocoa flour for some of the almond flour to make chocolate snickerdoodles? Most recipes use about 1/2 cup cocoa powder for every cup flour. Thanks!
Cocoa powder is just flavor, it does not give any structure so subbing the almond flour with it wouldn’t work well. You could try adding some cocoa flour to the recipe with a little milk to make up for it, but I have never tried that so it would take some experimenting.