Vegan Snickerdoodles

These soft-baked vegan snickerdoodles are thick and fluffy!  I use applesauce to cut down on the butter needed and to help the cookies stay soft instead of becoming crispy. I reduced the amount of sugar needed, which still makes them still sweet, but not super sweet.  

If you’re new here, most of my recipes are plant-based and oil-free.  These dairy-free snickerdoodles, however, do use vegan butter as a treat, making them special for the holidays.  I wanted a chewy holiday sweet treat, but quite frankly I’m not a fan of super sweet and really buttery desserts anymore.  

Ingredients Notes

Flax egg - This will help bind the cookies together since they are egg-free.

Cream of tartar - This gives the vegan snickerdoodle cookies their signature tang.  Without it, they’re pretty much sugar cookies with a cinnamon sugar coating.  It also reacts with the baking soda for the cookies to rise.

How to Make Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350˚ F (180˚C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Mix one tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 2 ½ tablespoons of water and let it sit and gel while you prep the rest of the ingredients (about 10 minutes).

Step 2: Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping together in a small bowl. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl, then set aside.

Step 3: In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar together until it's combined and creamy.  Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

Step 4: Then add the unsweetened applesauce, flax egg, and vanilla extract to the butter and blend.

Step 5: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine. 

I briefly use a hand mixer to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients, then finish combining by using a silicone spatula and scraping around the bowl. The dough should be thick and easy to form a ball. 

Step 6: Use a cookie scoop or an overflowing tablespoon to form about 1 ½ tablespoon dough balls and roll them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture to coat.

Step 7: Spread the cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking tray. Lightly press them down (flattening them a little bit), because they don't spread too much while baking. Check on the cookies at around 12 minutes.

The vegan snickerdoodles will take about 12-15 minutes to bake depending on your oven.  Slightly under-baking them produces a soft cookie, so they don’t brown much or get crispy.  To check if the cookies are done, gently press the top of a cookie with your finger, if the top springs back the cookies are done.  If it leaves a fingerprint, bake longer.

Step 8: Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack, they'll be soft but they firm up while cooling.

Tips

• Use ground flaxseed, not whole flaxseed.
• Whole-wheat flour gives a nice nutty flavor to baked goods and can be used instead of all purpose flour. Whole-wheat flour will soak up a little more liquid than all-purpose flour, so if the dough is a little dry add a splash of dairy-free milk.
• The butter should be softened not melted.
• A lot of oven temperatures are inaccurate. For years I've used just an inexpensive stainless steel instant read oven thermometer to remedy this issue.
• Spoon the flour out of its container, then level off with the back of a knife.  Flour can settle and compact while in storage, scooping it out ensures the cup of flour is not too tightly packed.  Too much flour in the recipe can result in dry cookies.
• The dairy-free snickerdoodle cookies can also be flattened after baking while they are still warm, creating pretty little cracks from the cinnamon coating cracking.  Baking them in mounds may take a couple more minutes to bake (closer to the 15-minute mark).

Troubleshooting

I tested the recipe with Country Crock and Trader Joe's dairy-free plant butter.  Since all dairy-free butter isn’t the same, here are some tips to troubleshoot the recipe if the texture is off.

• If the cookie dough is too dry and crumbly, add a tablespoon or two of dairy-free milk. If the dough is too wet, add a tablespoon of flour. 
• If the vegan snickerdoodle cookie dough is too sticky to roll, it can be refrigerated to firm up for 30 minutes to an hour.

Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.  They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

More Vegan Dessert Recipes

• Oil-free Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies
• Oil-free Banana Bars with Chocolate Chips
• 2 Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
• Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
• Chocolate-Covered Cookie Dough Bites
• Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

I made these eggless snickerdoodle cookies for a holiday party and they were a hit, I hope you enjoy them too!

Originally published on December 21, 2020, updated on December 8, 2022.

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