Soft-baked Vegan Snickerdoodles

5 from 3 ratings

Soft, chewy and generously scented with cinnamon and vanilla, these decadent vegan snickerdoodles are made with almond flour, for a tender crumb and natural sweetness that everyone will fall in love with…no one will know they’re gluten free!

hand holding snickerdoodle cookie — No blending a million flours. No chilling time. Just mix it all up in one bowl, roll and bake!

Want to save this recipe?

Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!

A really good snickerdoodle is magic…tender, chewy on the inside with that sparkling cinnamon-scented sugar exterior. And these almond flour snickerdoodles are that kind of magic times two. Because no one will believe that they’re vegan. Or gluten free. Or actually, kinda healthy. Like, not for one second.

Here’s the deal…you might be surprised to hear a dietitian say this, but I’m not gonna spend my life eating sad approximations of my favourite foods in the name of “health”. Because a healthy life includes plenty of wiggle room to eat what you want.

But I also don’t really love things that are too sweet. I find a lot of other baking recipes are so sugar-forward it gets in the way of flavour so I love creating lower sugar cookies that make my tastebuds happy. If that’s you too, well, you’re in exactly the right spot, and… did we just become friends?

Oh, and I like my bakes EASY. These soft-baked vegan snickerdoodles are as easy as it gets: ready in 30 minutes (yes, you read that right), one bowl and no fussy flour blends…just almond flour and some arrowroot. Why almond flour? It’s my absolute favourite, naturally gluten free flour for a few reasons. The first is that it produces a soft, tender, almost cake-y crumb and has a natural sort of buttery sweetness that doesn’t read “gluten free” from a mile away.

And the dietitian in me loves that almond flour is rich in plant-based protein, healthy monounsaturated fats and fibre, which makes your baking a little more blood sugar friendly (because we all deserve a sweet treat, including those of us with celiac disease or blood sugar issues!). Oh, and a single cookie is even low FODMAP…because I never forget my fellow members of the IBS club.

Want even more craveable plant-based recipes? Grab – or gift! – a copy of my latest plant-based cookbook, Plant Magic?

Sound good? Let’s make some epic gluten free snickerdoodles, friends

almond flour, cinnamon, butter and maple syrup in bowls — First things first: use buttery sticks only, NO tubs! It’s too soft to give the cookies structure.

The one ingredient note you need here is about the vegan butter. Because I have tried a lot of them and wow, they produce different results. I use Earth Balance Baking Sticks because that’s what my local shop carries and it is a *chef’s kiss* butter substitute. I hear that Becel plant-based baking sticks are excellent too. If you’re feeling fancy, Miyoko’s is pricier but delicious and works very well. Oh, and I find Melt baking sticks way too, um, melt-y for baking.

hand pouring maple syrup over butter — Forgot to soften your butter? Just beat it until fluffy before adding your maple syrup and vanilla

hand pouring almond flour into butter — Forgot to soften your butter? Just beat it until fluffy before adding your maple syrup and vanilla

I should probably tell you that these snickerdoodles are actually a wee bit rebellious…because there is no cream of tartar in this recipe. I just never have it in my pantry…so you lose the tang (you could add a squeeze of lemon!) but because I’m using almond flour, you can get that pillowy soft texture without it.

hand scooping cookie dough — A cookie scoop gives you more consistent sizing for a better bake.

hand rolling cookie in cinnamon sugar — A cookie scoop gives you more consistent sizing for a better bake.

hand pressing snickerdoodle cookie — With almond flour, the cookies don’t spread much, so we give them a little press.

vegan snickerdoodles on cooling rack — With almond flour, the cookies don’t spread much, so we give them a little press.

More incredibly easy cookies to help you use up that bag of almond flour