Soft & Pillowy Vegan Snickerdoodles (Gluten Free Option!)

posted by Britt Berlin on Oct 31, 2021 (last updated Feb 29, 2024) 33 comments »

This is the only vegan snickerdoodles recipe you’ll ever need! Chewy and pillowy soft, these undetectably dairy free vegan snickerdoodle cookies are easy to make and completely egg free, dairy free, gluten free, and low in sugar!

The only vegan snickerdoodles recipe you need to make:

As cookie season is quickly approaching, I thought I’d whip up a batch of one of my favorite and surprisingly easy vegan cookie recipes of the fall and winter months.

You know those softy and chewy snickerdoodle cookies that basically just melt in your mouth and have that nice tang to the chewiness?

Yeah, that’s what we have right here.

No joke, these are the best snickerdoodle cookies that I’ve ever tasted, and my family shockingly concurred. Every time I’ve made a batch for testing, they’re gone by the day’s end! They’re one of my most highly requested vegan Christmas cookies to make every season because they taste just like the classic.

(P.S. if you love veganized classic recipes, definitely check out my vegan chocolate chip cookies, vegan peanut butter blossoms, and vegan gingerbread cookies for more holiday treats!).

And you wouldn’t even know that these easy snickerdoodle cookies are not only healthy and lower in sugar than traditional, but they’re also completely dairy free, vegan, and gluten free.

And if my mom can’t tell that they’re healthy, then chances are you won’t be able to either haha! She has a knack for these things 😉

So many people actually think of snickerdoodles as basically a cinnamon sugar cookie…which it is, but there’s another trick to it that really makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle and that is…

Cream of tartar!

Now, cream of tartar is actually dairy free and vegan, despite its name. The white baking ingredient actually comes as a byproduct of the winemaking process! Adding cream of tartar to your vegan snickerdoodles give it that classic snickerdoodle cookie taste!

What does cream of tartar do in snickerdoodles?

Cream of tartar is the key ingredient to making a snickerdoodle cookie taste like a snickerdoodle. It not only reacts with the baking soda, giving the classic Christmas cookies their signature puff and chewy texture, but it also provides a bit of tanginess associated with snickerdoodles. This is also why you don’t need any baking powder. The cream of tartar is naturally acidic, which reacts with the baking soda, creating the rise!

Ingredients and substitutions

These are just about the easiest snickerdoodle cookies you’ll ever make. Mainly because all you really need is two bowls, a spoon, a cookie scoop, a hand mixer, and a baking sheet. And the cookie dough only needs to chill for about 20-30 minutes.

Oh, well, you do need a few ingredients in addition to those baking essentials, or else you wouldn’t get any cookies now, would you?! Check these out:

Flour: you can use all purpose flour or a gluten free 1:1 baking flour.
Vegan butter: This recipe also works with coconut oil.
Unsweetened applesauce (check out my trick for making your own here): you can also use dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream, like Forager Project, here.
Sugar: You can also use coconut sugar to keep these vegan snickerdoodles entirely refined sugar free too.
Vanilla extract
Cream of tartar: As we mentioned, cream of tartar is what makes a snickerdoodle cookie a snickerdoodle, and yes, it’s vegan!
Cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture: This is a combination of granulated sugar and cinnamon, which we’ll roll our vegan snickerdoodle cookie dough in right before baking!

Overview: How to make easy vegan snickerdoodle cookies:

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

Now that we have our ingredients down, let’s go over how to make these this easy snickerdoodle recipe!

To make these easy vegan snickerdoodle cookies:

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Start by whisking together the flour, leavening agents, and cream of tartar, then set that bowl aside.
Cream together the vegan butter and sugar. Then add in the applesauce and vanilla, and mix until light and fluffy, using a hand mixer!
Add in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the cookie dough, just until mixed.
Roll the snickerdoodle cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop about 1 tablespoon worth of cookie dough and roll into a small cookie dough ball. Either sprinkle the cinnamon sugar or roll the cookie dough ball into the cinnamon sugar to evenly coat, then place it on a the cookie sheet. Repeat for all the cookies.
Bake! Once baked, you can lightly tap the baking sheet onto the table, using oven mitts. This will help the cookies de-puff a bit, and turn out to be the best vegan snicerkdoodles ever!

Of course I have tips and tricks for making the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe, I mean, how could I not include this part?! I want these cookies to be the best dang cookies you’ll ever taste. Here are some of my best cookie tips:

You can use gluten-free or regular AP flour! With some exceptions…I have not tested these cookies with a blend of almond flour and coconut flour. But the flours that do work are as follows: regular all purpose flour (go organic if you can), gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill, but not their regular gluten free flour here), and cassava flour for a Paleo flour.
Use either vegan butter or coconut oil. I personally go for the vegan butter here (my personal favorite is Miyoko’s). You can also use coconut oil if vegan butter is unavailable! Now, if you don’t like the coconut taste that comes with coconut oil, go for the refined coconut oil.
Swap in coconut sugar for the cane sugar. To make these vegan snickerdoodle cookies also Paleo, simply use cassava flour and coconut sugar! The only caveat is that the cookies might look more caramel colored due to the fact that coconut sugar is brown!
Use a cookie scoop! This is the best tip for making perfectly round cookies. Great for if you’re making these for a cookie exchange!
Bake longer than you think you’ll need. Because these are vegan snickerdoodles, they need a bit more time in the oven to make sure that they’re baked completely through and that the middles will set. You won’t need more than 10 minutes, but go for more towards the 10 minute mark if you can. Then definitely let the cookies sit for a little before enjoying!

You’re just going to love these easy and secretly healthier vegan snickerdoodle cookies. They seriously come together so easily and make for the most perfect Christmas cookie for cookie exchanges, parties, or just because you want something cinnamon-y and sweet!

If you make these cookies, let me know in the comments below, and as always, I absolutely love seeing your creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there! I truly just have the best community, you guys always knock my socks off.

Happy vegan snickerdoodle cookie baking!

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!