Today officially marks the last day of my cookie week, and I may have saved the best for last with these gluten-free snickerdoodle cookies! Your favorite cinnamon sugar cookie made gluten and dairy-free, with all the same delicious flavor!
These cookies are so delicious, whether you’re familiar with snickerdoodles or not. They’re soft-baked, packed with cinnamon flavor, and perfectly sweet!
What makes these cookies different than the original snickerdoodle?
When creating this recipe, I wanted to make sure all ingredients were ones people had lying around. If you aren’t familiar with snickerdoodles, they’re typically made with cream of tartar.
Cream of tartar acts as a leavening agent, and reacts with the baking soda to give the classic cookies a slightly tangy, chewier texture compared to a standard cookie.
I don’t know about you guys, but cream of tartar is not something I keep around. So instead, I used lemon juice and baking powder to create the same results!
Classic snickerdoodles are also made with real butter. I used refined coconut oil in my recipe to keep these dairy-free, but using butter or a vegan butter substitute would work just as well.
Are there any flour substitutes?
Unfortunately I haven’t tested any flour subs for the almond flour. The almond flour is what helps give these cookies their soft, pillowy texture so I don’t recommend any subs!
Do I need to chill my dough?
I would only suggest chilling your dough if your oil is too hot or melted. If it’s soft and at room temperature, you don’t need to chill!
Refined vs. unrefined coconut oil
Refined coconut oil has no coconut flavor or smell, which makes it a great baking oil in place of butter. Unrefined coconut oil is also a great option, but gives your baked goods more of a coconut flavor. I like to use refined when i’m baking something that’s not coconut related.
What you’ll need to make these gluten-free Snickerdoodle Cookies:
- Super fine almond flour– I prefer a fine almond flour in my baking for a lighter, fluffier texture
- Coconut oil– using refined coconut oil will have no coconut flavor, but still give these cookies that buttery texture. You want to make sure your coconut oil is softened and not fully melted, otherwise your cookies may not hold up well!
- Coconut sugar
- Eggs– baking with room temperature eggs is key when using coconut oil, otherwise the cold egg may harden the coconut oil and you’ll end up with chunks of coconut in your batter
- Vanilla extract
- Lemon juice
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Cinnamon + sugar to coat
More recipes from cookie week:
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Double Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cookies
Gluten-free Sugar Cookies
Gluten-free Snickerdoodle Cookies
Course: Dessert12-15
servings10
minutes10
minutes20
minutesNOTES:
If your coconut oil is hot or warm, I suggest chilling the dough for 10-15 minutes before baking
Ingredients
2 + 1/4 cups almond flour
1/3 cup softened coconut oil *use refined coconut oil for a neutral taste
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 egg, at room temp
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
- Cinnamon Coating
2 tbsp of sugar, you can use granulated, brown or coconut sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg, coconut oil, sugar and vanilla.
- Fold in the almond flour, baking powder, lemon juice, and salt and mix well until a dough forms.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and scoop out 2 tbsp worth of dough. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture and layer it on the baking sheet, about 1″ apart from each other. Repeat until all dough is coated
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. If your cookies don’t flatten as much, gently press down on each one a few times in the center to flatten.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes.
- Keep stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @somethingnutritious on Instagram- I’d love to see your creations!
Wow….. I never comment on recipes but these are my new favorite cookie! Will be making them monthly…. way better than store bought!!! So chewy!!!!
Thank you so much Ally! ❤️
Can I use normal flour and normal sugar instead?
Hey Aylah, the regular sugar would work but I’m not positive regular flour would be an equal substitute. I would try to find a classic snickerdoodle recipe online if you wanted one with regular flour/sugar. You’ll even find some without cream of tartar if you type that in 🙂
These are amazing! I love that I didn’t need to buy cream of tartar for these. I only had unrefined coconut oil but they’re still delicious. I did flatten them a little before putting in the oven and the shape came out perfectly.
Hey Emily, so happy to hear that! I know cream of tartar is inexpensive, but figured many people don’t just have it lying around 🙂
I made this for the first time and it was soooo good! The only thing I substituted was butter for the oil and regular sugar instead of coconut sugar. My cookies did not flatten like at all so maybe my substitutions had something to do with it? Other than that they are so tasty and I will for sure be making them again!!
Hey Courtney, I’m so happy you enjoyed them! My guess would be the butter. It’s usually an equal substitute for coconut oil, but would have to be softened and at room temperature, the same way coconut oil would be. If its cold, you may be able to skip the chilling step completely for them to flatten more!