Soft vegan snickerdoodles with thick puffy centers and chewy edges. These nostalgic cinnamon cookies are easy to make and use basic ingredients.
Ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Cream of tartar gives the cookies some lift and tangy flavor, that’s characteristic of snickerdoodles. Without the cream of tartar, these cookies would just be cinnamon sugar cookies.
Granulated sugar helps the cookies spread and keeps them moist for days.
Vegan block butter makes these vegan snickerdoodles melt in your mouth.
Dairy-free milk. Any dairy-free milk will work, for example soy milk, oat milk or almond milk.
How to make vegan snickerdoodles
These cookies are made just like conventional cookies where you beat the butter and sugar then mix in the dry ingredients. It’s really that simple!
For the best vegan snickerdoodle cookies, this is what I recommend:
- Accurately measure your flour and sugar. Use the spoon and level method if you’re using measuring cups (more details are in the notes of the recipe card) or the grams measurements. Adding too much flour to these cookies will make them drier and cakey (and your cookies won’t spread as much)
- Use room temperature butter. If your butter is too cold, your butter won’t mix well with the other ingredients. If your butter is too warm, your dough will be sticky and your vegan snickerdoodles may spread too much.
- Your final cookie dough needs to be tacky for the cinnamon sugar mixture. If your cookie dough is a little dry, add an extra dash of milk.
Coating the cookies in cinnamon sugar
One of my favorite things about vegan snickerdoodles is their cinnamon sugar coating. It gives the cookies extra flavor and makes the outside a little crispy!
For extra flavor and crunch, I like coating the cookie balls in sugar twice.
Every now and then, only the ground cinnamon (not the sugar) will stick to the snickerdoodles. To avoid this, make sure your cinnamon sugar is mixed well. And make sure your cookie dough is tacky. Drier cookie dough balls will only pick up the cinnamon.
Baking your perfect cookie
For soft vegan snickerdoodles, bake them for around 10-11 minutes then transfer them to your wire rack.
If you prefer crunchier snickerdoodles, bake them for 13-15 minutes and leave them to cool on the cookie sheet.
When your cookies have finished baking, they will look very puffy, almost like whoopie pies. Don’t worry – when you remove the cookies from the oven, they will deflate and form beautiful cracks and bumps.
How to keep snickerdoodles soft
These snickerdoodles stay soft for days!
If you like your snickerdoodles to be extra soft, store them in a sealed container with a slice of bread. The moisture from the bread will transfer to the snickerdoodles and make them softer.
Customizing this recipe
For extra thick cookies, chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour. I don’t recommend storing the coated cookie dough balls in the fridge because sugar is hygroscopic and the coating will dissolve over time.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven and roll your balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar. You can bake the cookies while they are cold, but they’ll take at least 13 minutes.
I haven’t tested any substitutions for this recipe so cannot vouch for results.
However, from experience, you can replace butter with softened coconut oil (for crunchier cookies), but add extra dairy-free milk for texture and salt for flavor. Your cookies will also spread less. The sugar can also be replaced with coconut sugar, though your cookies will be brown in color and be less moist.
These vegan snickerdoodles would also be delicious with:
– other warm spices, such as ginger, cardamom and nutmeg
– chocolate chips or chunks
Alternatively, check out my vegan pumpkin sugar cookies or vegan ginger cookies.
More vegan cookie recipes
Or check out my roundup of vegan cookies for the holiday season.
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Vegan Snickerdoodles
Soft vegan snickerdoodles with thick puffy centers and chewy edges. These nostalgic cinnamon cookies are easy to make and use simple pantry ingredients.
Servings: 18 cookies
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Instructions
Prepare the snickerdoodle cookie dough:
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Add the butter, sugar, dairy-free milk and vanilla to a large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer) or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat until light and fluffy and there are no more chunks of butter.
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Add the flour, cinnamon, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix until well combined. The dough should be soft and slightly tacky. If your dough is not tacky, add a dash of dairy-free milk and mix again (we need the dough to be tacky for rolling in the cinnamon sugar).
Shaping the snickerdoodles:
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Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
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Using a small cookie scoop, divide the dough into 18 balls (each should be about 2 tablespoons or 38g). Roll each ball of cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar. If desired, roll each ball in the sugar twice.
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Arrange the cookie dough balls on your lined baking sheets, with about 2 inches (5cm) between each. They will spread in the oven.
Baking and storing the snickerdoodles:
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Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes or until the edges appear cooked and the cookies have puffed up. The cookies will deflate when you remove them from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 15 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. If desired, sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on the vegan snickerdoodles.
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Enjoy the snickerdoodles warm or at room temperature. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can keep them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 2 months. For extra soft cookies, place a slice of bread in the cookie container.
Notes
- To spoon and level your flour, fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add flour to your measuring cup, and level it off with a knife. Using your measuring cup to scoop flour out of the container will pack too much flour into your cup, which will result in drier and cakey cookies that don’t spread as much. For the best results, use a kitchen scale and the gram measurements.
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