Start your season baking off with these deliciously spiced vegan snickerdoodles. A soft and chewy cookie with a perfectly crispy outside. Made in just 20 minutes!
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Let baking season commence!
I've held off as long as I could. But with September just a day away, I figured it was time to dust off the old whisk, don my apron, and get to work on some sweet and spicy Autumnal baking. Last year I brought you some of my most popular recipes including these Apple Cider Doughnuts and Ginger Molasses Cookies and this year is going to be even better!
It's my most favorite time of the year.
To start off the season of baking, I'm bringing you one of my favorite cookies OF ALL TIME.
Vegan Snickerdoodles, friends!
I can think of no better way to start the season.
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
These cookies are everything you love about snickerdoodles. A cookie with a crunchy outside that gives way to a soft chewiness followed by a slight tang that lingers on your tongue after the last bite is taken.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour - I have also made these cookies with 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend with great success. (<<affiliate link)
- Cream of Tartar - This is a key ingredient in snickerdoodles. The cream of tartar gives the snickerdoodles that signature tanginess and provides the extra chewiness/pillowy-ness that we know and love about vegan snickerdoodles.
- Baking Soda & Powder
- Salt
- Vegan Butter - Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- Granulated Sugar - Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements.
- Vanilla Extract
- Applesauce - This is the binder of the recipe. I believe it's the best option but if you don't have access to applesauce, check out my guide to replacing eggs here.
- Cinnamon
Recommended Equipment
For all my cookie recipes, I recommend a stand-up mixer. These make whipping, beating, and blending so much easier. However, they are pricy and if they are not in your budget, you can make cookies with by hand or with a handheld mixer.
In addition, you will need basic cooking equipment including a baking sheets, silicone baking mats, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Snickerdoodles
Step One – Mix the Dry Ingredients
That’s the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk them together until the spices are well blended into the flour.
Step Two – Whip the Butter and Sugar
In a stand-up mixer, whip the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract until they are light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Add the applesauce, beating to combine. Once the applesauce is added, the dough will start to look curdled. Don’t worry about this. When the dry ingredients are added, the dough will sort itself out.
Step Three – Add the Dry Ingredients
Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix or the dough will become gummy and dense.
Once the flour and spices have completely incorporated, turn off the mixer. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
Note: To get that perfect texture, vegan snickerdoodle dough needs to be soft. For that reason, it is important not to skip the chill step in the recipe card below. Snickerdoodle dough should be chilled for at least 1 hour before rolling. If you are short on time, you can freeze the dough for about 20 minutes instead.
Step Four - Roll and Bake
Once the dough has chilled, rolled it into bite-sized balls and coat with cinnamon sugar. Place the cookies onto a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Pull the cookies out when they are slightly underdone. They will continue hardening as they cool, giving you that delicious chewy texture. Let your vegan snickerdoodles continue cooking on the baking sheet for 5 minutes after pulling them from the oven before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
Serving and Storing
Serve these cookies once they are cool.
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze leftover cookie dough for up to two months. To do this, roll all the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer your cookie dough into a large Ziplock bag and return to the freezer. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer, roll in cinnamon sugar, and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you a gummy and dense cookie.
- Don't press these cookies down, they will spread on their own in the oven to create that perfectly crinkled crust and pillowy texture.
- Bake the cookies at a higher temperature. This allows extra chewiness on the inside while creating a delicate crispy shell on the outside. I choose to bake mine at 375F which, after a lot of trial and error, seems to give me the best texture inside and out.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10-12 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously chewy center.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
- Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Molasses Cookies
- The BEST Oatmeal Cookies
Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies
- 1 and ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. cream of tartar
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ cup non-dairy butter, I use Earth Balance
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup apple sauce
Cinnamon Sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer beat the non-dairy butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the apple sauce and beat to combine. It will look curdled at this point which is fine.
- Add the flour mixture in two batches, scraping down the sides in between. Mix until a soft dough has formed. Do not over-mix.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a shallow bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar. Roll dough into balls about 1 rounded tablespoon big. Place in the cinnamon sugar mixture and coat completely. Put rolled cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. They should look slightly underdone but will continue to harden as they cool.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Don't press these cookies down, they will spread on their own in the oven to create that perfectly crinkled crust and pillowy texture.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10-12 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously chewy center.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Lewis says
Tried making these, they taste fantastic but needed more flour. The batter consistency was too sticky and runny even after chilling, I found adding half a cup more flour and then freezing the batter for an hour helped make it easier to handle and roll the batter into small balls. 🙂 so genius using Apple sauce they taste so much better than the non vegan snickerdoodles!
Natalie says
If I wanted to use bananas instead of applesauce, how much should I use? Thanks!
Sarah says
1/2 cup mashed up. Let us know how it works.
Julie Kesler says
Hey! Intermediate chef, but amateur to vegan foods here. #1 THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE.
I just had to make 200 pink vegan snickerdoodles for my work BCA event I’m hosting on Tuesday, and they turned out fabulous. A couple notes:
I made this in 4 sets of 2 batches. Each double-batch needed a full additional cup of flour, it was basically paste without it and totally unrollable. Probably could have handled an additional 1/2 cup without becoming tough.
12 minutes was the sweet spot in my gas oven at 375, not underdone, came out beautifully cakey.
Thought it could use a little more cinnamon in the dough itself, even though I used cinnamon applesauce.
Made about 200 cookies in effectively 8 batches, likely because of the additional flour volume.
Brittany says
HI! About how many cookies can you make in one batch? I have to make 4 dozen.
Sarah says
It should make about 18 - I'm not sure where that information went, but I added it back to the recipe card.
Lorrane McPherson says
Tried these. The taste was great, but even after chilling for several hours, the dough was too soft and the cookies spread to a thin mess in the oven. I let cool for over an hour, but they didn't firm up. I think the fat/flour ratio was off. I want to try again, but need suggestions. I don't want to pitch another batch.
Sarah says
This dough is typically pretty firm so it sounds like one of the measurements was off.
Sara says
I can't wait to try these. Should the butter be chilled or room temperature? I generally use Earth Balance sticks when baking. Thanks!
Sarah says
Earth Balance is a great choice! It's not a huge deal either way. The butter will get warmed up as it whips so it's okay to use it straight from the refrigerator.
Jules says
Let me just say that I never leave reviews for recipes but I had to on this one. The are hands down the best snickerdoodles I’ve ever had! I did make some slight adjustments - I used coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar, and I used the MELT brand of vegan butter. I was a little worried because they looked underdone when I pulled them out of the oven, but after letting them cool on the baking sheet, they were PERFECT! Thank you so much for this recipe, Sarah!
Irene says
Were you using packed flour? I tried this recipe and it was very wet and not at all like cookie dough texture. There wasn't enough flour. I appreciate the recipe nonetheless but I ended up needing to add a cup more flour.
Ruby says
Hi, interested in trying these, I’m curious though. What is the reason for the applesauce? How does it affect the cookie? Thanks in advance.
Ruby
Sarah says
It acts as an egg replacer to bind the cookie together and give it some of it's chewiness. You shouldn't be able to taste the apple sauce at all.
Megan says
Could coconut flour be used instead of all-purpose? And could you substitute coconut oil for the vegan butter?
Sarah says
Coconut flour would not work as a replacement for all-purpose. And while I don't recommend substituting coconut oil as it will change the taste and texture, that might work.
Binni Khatri says
I just made these and replaced the butter with coconut oil and it worked really nicely! They taste amazing! I still used all purpose flour though!
Sarah says
I'm glad you liked them! Thanks for sharing your tip.
Ashley says
These turned out wonderfully! I've made quite a few vegan snickerdoodle recipes and these definitely have turned out the best! Thank you!
Sarah says
That's great to hear! I'm glad you liked them.