These pillowy soft Vegan Snickerdoodles are a delicious cinnamon cookie, perfect for weekend baking. Made with apple sauce and cream of tartar instead of eggs, these melt-in-your-mouth cookies like a cross between a cinnamon cake and a cookie. They only take 10 minutes to prep and are vegan, nut-free, and soy-free.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy: Requires only 10 minutes of prep time and 10 minutes of baking
- Cozy Fall Flavor: With its mild spiced flavor and hint of apple cinnamon, this is such a fun way to get into the autumn-vibe!
- Soft and melt-in-mouth consistency – these snickerdoodles are like a cross between a cake and a cookie with a slightly crisp outside and soft, doughy inside. They are so delicious!
Ingredients You’ll Need
You won’t need any unusual ingredients to make snickerdoodles. Apple sauce and cream of tartar are used to bind the cookies instead of eggs and get that lovely soft pillowy texture. You should be able to find all of these at your local supermarket.
There’s a detailed list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here is a shopping list for your convenience:
- Neutral oil (canola, sunflower, vegetable)
- Granulated sugar
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Vanilla extract
- Cornstarch
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon (not pictured in image below, but definitely needed!)
Instructions
Making Vegan Snickerdoodles is very easy – you really just combine the wet and dry ingredients, chill, then shape and bake! Here’s a step-by-step visual guide. For precise measurements, cooking times, and temperatures, refer to the recipe card at the very bottom of this blog post.
Step One: Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Step Two: Mix oil, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla until smooth.
Step Three: Combine wet and dry ingredients and chill for 30 minutes.
Step Four: Shape the chilled dough into balls.
Step Five: Prepare the cinnamon sugar coating.
Step Six: Coat each dough ball with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Step Seven: Bake the cookies until they’re firm and slightly golden.
Step Eight: Allow the cookies to cool before serving or storing.
Substitutions & Variations
Looking to switch out an ingredient or add some variety to this recipe? Here are a few substitutions and variation ideas:
- Pumpkin snickerdoodles: so I have this crazy idea… Substitute ground cinnamon with pumpkin spice mix AND swap apple sauce for pumpkin puree. I think would be SO yum. But proceed with caution, as I haven’t tested it myself yet. I will update this blog post when I do.
- Extra spices: add 1/4 tsp of cardamom and 1/8 tsp of nutmeg for a subtle, chai-spice twist. It complements the apple and cinnamon beautifully!
- Vegan margarine: replace neutral oil with melted vegan margarine for an even more melt-in-mouth flavor profile. The cookies will be slightly denser and less soft, but still delicious.
Storage
The cool thing about snickerdoodles is that because they are already kind of soft, they actually taste fresher for longer. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Plus, if they soften a little in their container, it really only improves their texture (win win).
You can also freeze the cookies before baking for up to 2 months. This is a great way to prepare a big batch in advance, but still enjoy them at their best. Prepare the cookies as per the recipe instructions below, up to step 4. When you’re ready to bake them, resume the recipe at step 5. No need to thaw the cookies, bake them from frozen, but add an additional 2 minutes onto the total bake time.
Expert Tips
For perfect snickerdoodle shapes, gently press down the dough balls before baking, especially since the vegan version is slightly more crumbly. After baking, tap the baking tray to flatten them a bit more. If you prefer an ultra-soft, fat puffy snickerdoodle, check them at the 9-minute mark; it’s better to slightly underbake than overbake for a moist texture. If still too soft, bake for another 2 minutes (11 minutes total).
FAQ
Snickerdoodles are done when they are firm around the edges and slightly golden on the bottom. They will still be soft in the center but will set as they cool.
Snickerdoodles may come out cakey if there’s too much flour or leavening agent in the dough, or if they’re overmixed. To prevent this, ensure precise measurements and mix the dough just until combined.
The origin of the name “snickerdoodle” is uncertain, but it’s believed to be of German or Dutch descent. Some suggest it’s a corruption of the German word “schneckennudeln,” meaning “snail dumpling.”
Snickerdoodles crack during baking due to the expansion of the dough caused by leavening agents like baking soda and cream of tartar. This creates a characteristic cracked surface that adds to their rustic charm.
Serving Suggestions and More Recipes
Looking for more vegan cookie recipes? My all-time favorite cookie recipe is my One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies – like, I know, there are a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, but this one SERIOUSLY takes the cake and is so simple. For something a little different, try my Pecan Pie Cookies, Blueberry Thumbprint Cookies, Walnut Shortbread or these Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cindy at Intentionally Eat blog.
I hope you enjoy these Vegan Snickerdoodles – they are such a cozy fall cookie! If you make them, I would love to know what you thought of them, so please feel free to leave a comment and star rating below. You can also share your photos on Instagram and tag me (I’m @glowdiaries___) and I will like and re-share your posts to stories. I always love to see what recipes you’re making 🙂
Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookie:
- ½ cup neutral oil (120ml) canola, sunflower, vegetable
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce* (120ml)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (5ml)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (8g)
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (330g)
- 1 tsp baking soda (5g)
- 1 tsp cream of tartar (3g)
- ½ tsp salt (3g)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (1g)
Cinnamon sugar coating:
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar (75g)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon (4g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cream of tartar, ½ tsp/1g cinnamon, and salt.
- In a separate, large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients: oil, granulated sugar, apple sauce, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir to combine. The mixture will become very thick, use your hands if needed.
- Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes to reduce spreading. If you don't mind a thinner cookie, with a crackly top, you can skip this step.
- Prepare the cinnamon sugar coating by combining the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Shape the chilled dough into small golf-ball size cookies, then coat in the cinnamon sugar. Place the cookies onto lined baking trays, about two inches apart. If you prefer a thinner cookie, you can gently press each cookie down with the base of a clean glass.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until slightly golden around the edge of the base. Tap the tray once to help the cookies to 'settle' and leave them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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