Perfect Vegan Snickerdoodles made with just a few simple ingredients, no oil & no special equipment. They come together in under 25 minutes and are super soft-baked, puffy, buttery, cinnamon-y, sugary & totally & utterly irresistible!
My life changed forever the day I stumbled upon Vegan Snickerdoodles as big as my face in a bakery in Seattle. The name made me chuckle and Hello??? Cookies as big as your face? You can bet I bought one three.
I'd never heard of them before that day. I'm pretty sure there is no English equivalent, at least I've never come across one.
Hmmm...Digestive Biscuits V Snickerdoodles in a stand-off ????
English cookies although yummy, seem to be a little less fun. I absolutely love Digestives, but if I hadn't heard of either and had to choose by name alone it would be Snickerdoodles all the way!
I have no idea whether the ones I scoffed in Seattle were 'good' Snickerdoodles or not as I haven't anything to compare them to, but they were pretty cake-y and a little dry and crumbly. After I ate them I wasn't beating down the hotel door to get back there for some more, but I could totally imagine how wonderful they could be.
So I made it my mission to recreate them, but recreate them BETTER.
It's been quite a journey as this girl had no clue, but with a love of cookies and cinnamon and vanilla (and cookies) I've sure had fun practising ever since.
OIL-FREE VEGAN SNICKERDOODLES
I got them pretty perfect a few weekends ago. You might have seen on my Instagram stories. I was really pleased but wanted to go one step further and get them oil-free. And guess what?
I've only gone and done it!
These Perfect Vegan Snickerdoodles are completely oil-free! And I have included an inclusive of oil version too for those of you who might not have coconut butter to hand. I have also reduced the sugar as much as I can get away with and used as little coconut butter/oil as is possible without sacrificing great results.
Whether you make the oil-free version or not, the results are almost identical. The coconut butter version does impart a very slight coconut flavour, but it also makes them taste buttery. I love both. It's very hard to tell the difference.
VEGAN SNICKERDOODLE COOKIE PERFECTION
I cannot be totally sure that these cookies are exactly how Snickerdoodles are supposed to be because I only have one example to compare them to, but what I can tell you is that they are amazingly, ridiculously delicious and I am 100% happy with my take on them.
Everybody, and I mean everybody who I have fed these to has loved them. I barely got a look in on the many, many numerous occasions I made them.
These absolutely Perfect Vegan Snickerdoodles are thick, light and fluffy like Snickerdoodley pillows. They are soft with a very slight chew on the outside. They are buttery, cinnamon-y, sugary cookie perfection.
Where have they been all my life?
MADE BY HAND - NO STAND MIXER NECESSARY
These puffy pillowy cookies are really easy to make. No special equipment is needed, in fact I advise not to try making them in a stand mixer or food processor. They really don't turn out so well if you do.
Snickerdoodling is to be done by hand and by hand only. And don't worry about effort. There is hardly any needed. You can whip them up so quickly. I made you a little video so you can see just how easy they are to make. Check it out just above the recipe.
TO SQUISH OR NOT TO SQUISH?
You will notice in my video, and when you read the method, that I squish the tops of my Vegan Snickerdoodles with a fork prior to baking. Before the Snickerdoodle police come and lock me up, let me explain myself.
I know they are supposed to go into the oven as balls, but in all of my tests I preferred the results when they had been squished. I have no idea why, but when made with coconut oil, one batch on the same baking tray, half squished, half not squished, the squished ones come out so much softer.
The un-squished ones develop a bit of a crust. They do soften later but if you have immediate eating plans... (Umm cookies just out of the oven...Doesn't everyone have immediate eating plans?), then take my advice and squish them with a fork. Also, when you make the oil-free version they don't melt down in quite the same way when baking, so need a bit of help in the form of squishing. Trust me, it works, and trust me, you are going to LOVE these cookies!
I love these Perfect Vegan Snickerdoodles just on the slightly underdone side. They kind of have a cookie dough edge that is just O-M-G. It takes them to over the top deliciousness levels.
Buttery, soft, thick, melt in the mouth Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookie perfection. Perfect for now, perfect for the holidays, perfect for any occasion.
Now go and get Snickerdoodling, then be a ☆ and let me know what you think by rating the recipe and leaving a comment below. I love to see your pics on Instagram too. Use the #avirtualvegan. That way I wont miss them.
Oh and if you love Snickerdoodles, be sure to check out my Snickerdoodle Dessert Hummus!
Perfect Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For rolling
- 50g / ¼ cup cane sugar , I use organic cane sugar. It must be a light variety of sugar. Do not use brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cookies
- 50g / 3½ tablespoons soft coconut butter (not liquid) , sometimes called Coconut Manna. Or 50g / ¼ cup soft coconut oil (not completely melted liquid coconut oil). If you do not want a coconut flavour to come through use refined coconut oil
- 45mls / 3 tablespoons aquafaba , liquid from a can of chickpeas. I do not recommend you subbing this for any other vegan egg alternative. Aquafaba gives by far the best results in this recipe.
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup , real natural maple syrup, not the imitation pancake syrup
- 70g / ⅓ cup sugar , I use organic cane sugar. It must be a light variety of sugar. Do not use brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 156g / 1¼ cup all purpose flour , spooned into the cup then levelled off gently. I use an unbleached variety with no additives
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar , this is a crucial ingredient. DO NOT sub it for anything else.
- slightly heaping ¼ teaspoon baking soda , NOT baking powder (Baking Soda is known as bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon , feel free to add an extra ¼ teaspoon if you want extra cinnamon flavour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375°F and have a cookie sheet ready. If there is a chance they might stick line it with parchment paper or a Silpat.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon for rolling in a small bowl and set aside until the end.
- Make sure your coconut butter (or coconut oil) is soft. Not liquid, but easily scoop-able and not hard. If it is liquid pop it in the fridge for a while so it solidifies a bit.
- Put the coconut butter (or oil - NOT both) in a mixing bowl. Add the aquafaba, maple syrup, sugar and vanilla and whisk until well combined and smooth.
- Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix with a spoon until well combined. Try not to over mix. Stop as soon as you have a dough.
- Roll the dough into balls roughly the size of walnuts and then roll each one in the cinnamon sugar mixture then place gently on the cookie tray. If it's warm in your house and the mixture is too soft, simply put the dough in the fridge for 15- 20 minutes to allow it to firm up before you roll it up into balls.
- Using a fork, press down gently on the top of each cookie dough ball twice in a cross shape (I show how in my video just above this recipe).
- If you have some cinnamon sugar left in the bowl you can sprinkle a little extra on each cookie, then place your cookies in the preheated oven.
- Bake for 9 minutes if you want them very slightly underdone. I personally think they are best like that. 10 minutes if you want them cooked a little more.
- When you remove them from the oven they will be really soft. That is normal. Leave them on the tray for 2 or 3 minutes before moving them carefully to a cooling rack.
NOTES
NUTRITION
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Eleanor says
These were great! Thank you!!
Wendy says
OMG these are amazing!! Made them yesterday and only 1 left. Let the battle begin :) I only had self raising flour so used this and missed out the bicarbonate soda and they were still amazing so I'm looking fwd to making them again (today) using plain flour this time to see if there is any difference. They didn't flatten as much as I thought even though I used the fork method so maybe using the exact ingredients will make more of a difference but hey, we enjoyed them immensely. Thank You!
A Virtual Vegan says
So pleased you enjoyed them! The baking powder in your the self-raising flour will be why yours were extra thick. They'll be much more cookie-like with plain flour. Enjoy your next batch!
Cara says
These are fantastic! I don't love the taste of aquafaba, so I was a little skeptical, but you don't taste it at all. By far the best vegan cookie recipe I have tried!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Cara! I'm so pleased you enjoyed them. This is a favorite recipe of mine. Aquafaba is by far the best egg replacement in baking (except for when making cookies that are intended to be crunchy) and I use it in lots of my recipes. I'm glad you gave it a chance despite your initial reservation!
John'ae says
Hi. I just attempted these cookies and my batter turned out more like a pancake/cake batter than a thick dough. I was confused as to how you said set the sugar & cinnamon mixture aside for rolling the dough in but then listed to add the liquids to the sugar. I saw nothing about an additional cinnamon/sugar mixture ratio to sit aside.
A Virtual Vegan says
If you look at the ingredients list there is a "For rolling" heading with separate amounts of cinnamon and sugar listed under it. They are what you needed to mix together then set aside for rolling the balls of dough in and should not be added to the cookie dough. I'm not sure how you ended up with a pancake better type consistency as there is 1 cup of flour and only 9 tablespoons of liquid in the recipe if you use coconut butter, and only 5 if you use coconut oil instead of coconut butter. Did you add too much of one of them or did you use melted coconut oil or butter instead of soft perhaps?
Beth says
Same result here. I made the dough with liquid coconut oil, because it is a hot summer and all of my coconut oil is liquid. To make the balls, I chilled the mixed dough in the refrigerator for about 15 or 20 minutes before shaping it into balls.
Marie-Jade Champagne says
These are DELICIOUS!! I rarely leave comments, but I wanted to thank you because these are so so good. Good job!!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm thrilled that you enjoyed them so much Marie-Jade and thank you for making an exception and coming back to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Ines says
I'm really excited to make these for Christmas! Quick question since I've never made snickerdoodles: will making the dough in advance and freeze it, change the texture/taste of it?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never attempted freezing the Snickerdoodle dough so I really can't say. If you do freeze it, I would make the dough, roll it into balls, roll in the sugar and cinnamon then squish them all down with a fork as directed, then freeze them on a tray. Once they are hard you will be able to take them off the tray and put them in a freezer bag or sealed container. Then I would bake them when needed from frozen. Don't defrost them first. They will probably take about 2 minutes longer to bake.
If you are relying on them for guests etc at Christmas you could have a trial run first to make sure it goes ok. I would imagine they would be at their very best when baked right away with no freezing though.
Ines says
Thank you! :)
Sheri says
Thank you for this fabulous recipe! These are the best Snickerdoodles I’ve ever tasted! Thankfully I had a jar of coconut manna/butter on hand. Now I need to buy another jar so I can make several more batches of these jewels! ????✌????
A Virtual Vegan says
Yay! I'm thrilled to hear that. Thank you Sheri!
Jody Gayhart says
Have you tried using vegan shortening? I hate coconut flavor.
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't ever baked with shortening because I prefer not to use very processed ingredients. It might work but I can't say for sure. If you don't like the coconut flavour you could use refined coconut oil as I mention in the recipe. It has no taste or smell of coconut.
Jasmine says
These are SO GOOD!
Sophia says
I've tried a lot of vegan snickerdoodle and these are the best by far!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Sophia. I think they are probably my favourite cookie too!
A Virtual Vegan says
I totally agree! :)
Stephanie says
YUMMMM! These are amazingly delicious.
Kim says
These are awesome! And yes we ate them all in one day. I could not get the coconut to turn into butter, I need a Vitamix or similar. My little food processor just couldn't do it and the blender just flipped it all out of the way of the blades. But I still used it & the cookies were wonderful. Glad it only made 12!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha! I don't blame you for eating them all in one day. We did the same on many occasions during testing. So glad you enjoyed them!