These vegan snickerdoodles are light, soft, and fluffy with a cinnamon sugar crisp coating – perfect for impressing the entire family! Plus, this recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, uses just one bowl, and is made with 10 simple ingredients!
Soft Vegan Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
Last week, I posted my recipe for star-shaped vegan cinnamon cookies (called Zimtsterne); this week, I thought I’d go for something similar, but a little more well-known in the US, with these simple vegan snickerdoodles. With the holidays around the corner, it’s just the time to enjoy all-things cinnamon. Not that I need an excuse to enjoy any type of vegan cinnamon cookies, or any cookies (by the handful!).
What Are Snickerdoodles?
Snickerdoodles are a soft, chewy vanilla cookie coated with delicious cinnamon sugar – for a lightly crisp/crunchy topping. Traditional snickerdoodles are made up of butter, oil, sugar, and flour (and often egg). They are similar to soft sugar cookies but with the bonus of cinnamon and a lighter, pillowy texture and slightly tangy flavor thanks to the cream of tartar within the recipe.
Unlike sugar cookies, snickerdoodles are crisp and lightly chewy, with a crinkly ‘cracked’ exterior and slightly tart flavor. In fact, the main difference between the two is the use of cream of tartar – which reacts with the liquids in the cookie dough and helps the cookie rise and gives it the signature slight ‘tang.’ It also helps to give the cookies their signature chew – as it prevents the sugar from crystallizing and becoming crunchy, though mine turned out rather soft and not as chewy.
Not only is my vegan snickerdoodle recipe gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free, but the cookies are still perfectly cinnamon sweet, light, and fluffy – Friends and family would never guess that they’re vegan!
Here are the ingredients that you will need:
The Step-By-Step Instructions
For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, read the recipe card below.
Step One: Prepare the flax egg by mixing the flaxseed and water and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C and line a pan with parchment paper.
Step Two: Add all of the dry ingredients to the food processor and blend for 10 seconds (or use a mixing bowl and spoon). Then, add the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough is formed (refer to the images).
Note: If you believe the dough is too soft and you will have problems shaping it, then you can place it in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes to firm up.
Step Three: Mix the cinnamon sugar in a small bowl.
Step Four: Shape the cookies using a slightly heaped tablespoon of dough per cookie and rolling into a ball. Roll each ball in the cinnamon mixture and then place on the baking sheet 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) apart.
Note: This recipe should make 8-10 vegan snickerdoodle cookies
Step Five: Bake the cookies in the oven for 12 minutes and then remove and allow them to cool before enjoying.
Note: They’ll be quite soft when first removed from the oven but will firm up while cooling.
How to Serve
As delicious as these cookies are alone, that’s not the only way to enjoy these dairy-free snickerdoodles. Other options include:
- With a glass of your favorite dairy-free milk (or a thick milkshake).
- Use the vegan snickerdoodles to make a delicious vegan ice-cream sandwich (i.e., with this Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe).
- Make a few snickerdoodles into a cookie cake by layering them up with a little simple vegan buttercream or the frosting used here.
- If you’re feeling extra indulgent, then you can use them to dip into this Chocolate Pudding.
- Make mini snickerdoodles and use in place of Vanilla Wafers for this Vegan Banana Pudding (Southern Style)
How to Make Ahead & Store
To Make Ahead:
You can make the gluten-free snickerdoodle dough ahead. Keep the dough covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before baking.
The dough is also freezer friendly, for up to 2 months. I prefer to do this with the rolled, cinnamon coated cookie balls that are ready to bake. You can bake them from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the baking time.
To Store The Vegan Snickerdoodles:
Store the baked snickerdoodles in an airtight container at room temperature between 5-6 days or within the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
The baked vegan cinnamon cookies are also freezer friendly for up to 2 months. Simply allow them to thaw before eating.
Useful Recipe Notes
- Flour: I used white rice flour for a gluten-free version. However, if you aren’t gluten-free, you can use 1 cup (120 grams) of regular wheat flour. You might need to adjust the amount of flour slightly. If the dough is too soft, simply add more flour and if it’s too dry, add more vegan butter.
- Cream of tartar: If you don’t have it, you can substitute the cream of tartar and the baking soda with 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder. You could also use vinegar in its place to add tang, though it won’t affect the texture the same way.
- Flax Egg: You could try to substitute the flax egg with another egg replacer, such as applesauce, aquafaba, or pumpkin, for these eggless snickerdoodle cookies. Though I haven’t tried either- so I can’t guarantee the results.
- Butter: If you use a hard butter rather than a soft spread, you may need a splash of plant-based milk to the dough, so it isn’t too crumbly.
- Sugar: The sugar you use will affect your vegan snickerdoodle cookies’ inner and outer texture in different ways.
- You can use a small ice-cream scoop for slightly larger cookies – increase the recipe amount if needed, and you might need to increase the baking time by a few minutes.
Related Recipes
If you love these gluten-free snickerdoodles as much as I do, then you might like some of these other (holiday) bakes:
- Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars) German Christmas Cookies
- Vegan Coffee Cake With Cinnamon Streusel
- Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Homemade Marzipan Recipe
- Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies (Keto, Vegan)
- Chocolate Stuffed Cookies
- Homemade Hazelnut Truffles
If you try the vegan snickerdoodle recipe, I’d love a comment and recipe ★★★★★ rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan/ #elavegan – I love seeing your recreations.

Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For the snickerdoodles:
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax seeds + 2 1/2 tbsp water)
- 3/4 cup (120 g) rice flour or all-purpose flour (*see notes)
- 1/2 cup (60 g) almond meal or almond flour
- 1/4 cup (50 g) organic cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 3/4 tsp cream of tartar (*see notes)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp (40 g) vegan butter softened (I used vegan margarine) or coconut oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp (30 g) maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon sugar for rolling:
- 3 tbsp organic cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Watch the video in the post for easy visual instructions.First, make the flax egg by mixing ground flax seeds and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To a food processor (or mixing bowl) add almond meal, rice flour, organic cane sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice), cream of tartar, baking soda, and cinnamon. Blend for 10 seconds. If you don't have a food processor, just mix with a spoon.
- Then add maple syrup, vanilla extract, vegan butter, and the flax egg. Mix again until the mixture holds together. The dough will be quite soft, not hard or firm (check the step-by-step photos above).Note: If you believe the dough is too soft and you will have problems shaping it, then you can place it in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes to firm up.
- To make the cinnamon sugar for rolling, simply add organic cane sugar and cinnamon to a small-medium bowl and stir with a spoon.
- Use a slightly heaped tablespoon of the dough, roughly shape it to a ball and place it in the cinnamon sugar bowl. Coat the ball from all sides with the cinnamon sugar and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Do this with the remaining dough, leaving about 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) between the balls. The recipe makes 8-10 cookies.
- Don't flatten them, just pop them in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely. They will be very soft at first but firm up once cooled. Enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for a few days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 2 months.
Notes
Video Of The Recipe
- Flour: I used white rice flour for a gluten-free version, however, if you aren't gluten-free you can use 1 cup (120 grams) of regular wheat flour. You might need to adjust the amount of flour slightly. If the dough is too soft, simply add more flour and if it's too dry, add more vegan butter.
- Cream of tartar: If you don't have it, you can substitute the cream of tartar and the baking soda with 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder, however, then the cookies won't spread much.
- Flax Egg: You could try to substitute the flax egg with another egg replacer, such as applesauce, aquafaba, or pumpkin, for these eggless snickerdoodle cookies. Though I haven't tried either- so I can't guarantee the results.
- More tips and step-by-step photos are in the blog post above.
- The recipe makes just a small batch of 8-10 cookies. Double the recipe, if you wish.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Hello,
I just found your blog through and already saw quite a few recipes I want try
First up, these snickerdoodles….
I thought I followed the recipe to the letter and they turned out a disaster … way too dry and crumbly, almost impossible to form a ball….
I put them in the oven but they didn’t spread -like not at all!
When i tried flattening them a bit whit my hand, they fell apart…..
After 12 minutes, when I took them out the taste was sort of ok, but they seemed undercooked in the middle and too dark on the bottom…
I went all over the recipe again…. yes I used the exact measurements, followed the steps exactly and I hardly ever do that 😉.. so what went wrong…..???
And then I realised …… I used coconut flower instead of rice flower…. my bad for not checking the jars properly ☺
Just so you know that you can’t sub rice flower with coconut flower 😃
I’ll be trying them again with the right flower and I’m sure they will turn out great ☺
Hi Miek, coconut flour will end up in a disaster in basically all vegan, gluten-free recipes (except it’s specifically mentioned), so that’s no wonder at all. I am glad you noticed your mistake, and hopefully you will use the correct flour, next time.
Another one of our Christmas cookies this year along with the Thumbprint cookies, and they were a huge hit (along with other recipes we prepared for our guests)! I added 2x the vanilla and 2x the cinnamon because those two are one of my favorite flavor combinations. So, so good! The consistency as well as the flavor came out beautifully!
Now that our guests have left, I will try to make a batch of these using granulated date sugar. I would love for that to work since the date sugar is a whole food sweetener.
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, Michaela!
You are very welcome, Annie. I am so glad they were a hit!
Hey Ela! I used all ingredients as you offered, but they did not spread. I mix with my hand may this be a problem? Please reply me.
Hi Ekin, did you use vegan butter and cane sugar? Also, did you add cream of tartar? How long did you chill the dough? If you chill it too long and if you use other ingredients, they won’t spread. They will still taste good though! 🙂
I made this but using a lot of subs, like using coconut oil instead of vegan butter, cassava flour instead of rice flour, blackstrap molasses instead of cinnamon + organic cane sugar (which is not widely available in where I live), date syrup for maple syrup, baking powder sub. Almost like making another cookie recipe, but it tastes soooo good!!! I don’t care of they aren’t flat though, the taste takes it away. I want to ask, do you think it’s possible if the butter is replaced with applesauce to make it oil free?
Happy to hear your version came out yummy. I think applesauce won’t work here. 🙂
Delicious! Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
You are very welcome. Happy you like the cookies. 🙂
I must of done something wrong. They didn’t spread well.
Sorry to hear they didn’t spread well. Did you use vegan margarine and cream of tartar? 🙂
I did. I used garbanzo flour maybe that’s the reason
Yes, it probably is. I never used garbanzo flour in this recipe. 🙂
Vynikající recept,Elo! Sice se mi nerozpekly,zůstaly kulaté,ale chuť vynikající. Určitě upeču znova.Děkuji! 🙂
Hi I absolutely love this recipe! I was wondering if it’s possible to substitute the butter/oil with something a bit more healthy (so I can make them more often ????) like applesauce ????
Hey, I am so glad you love it. Yes, you can, but they probably will be less tasty. 🙂
It was my first time making gluten-free, vegan snickerdoodles, and they turned out amazing! I love how soft they are, and they spread really well. Thanks for the recipe!
That’s awesome, Vanessa. Thanks so much for your great feedback. 🙂
These didn’t spread for me at all, I’m not sure what I did wrong. I substituted baking powder for the soda and tartar but otherwise followed exactly.
Hi Ash, I made them numerous times with the baking soda and cream of tartar, and they always spread beautifully. Was the dough thick or rather soft (please watch the video)? I am sure if you try my version (with soda and tartar) they will spread as well. If you don’t have access to cream of tartar then you could flatten them a bit with your hands. 🙂
Hello Ela!
I didn’t use cream of tartar either and they don’t spread much. I don’t really care because I prefer rounder cookies, but if Ash had the same problem, then indeed the baking soda substitution must be the problem. They were very tasty!
Thanks for letting me know Eva! I will include it in my recipe notes. Happy you liked the cookies. 🙂
Awesome, delicious cookies!! I watched the video and used a scale to follow the recipe, but made one major substitution. Instead of vegan butter or coconut oil, I used raw cashew butter. The cookies did not flatten in their own (I used my hand halfway through the baking process).
Hi Kathleen, I am so glad you loved them! Yes, the fat does help with spreading, so that might be the reason. 🙂
Happy holidays!
These look incredible. Do you know of any good way to make these cookies nut-free? Thanks!
Hi Kristen, you could use ground seeds, like hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, etc., as they have similar fat content as nuts. Ground shredded coconut would be fine too (if you can eat coconut). I hope this helps 🙂
Hi, what can I use to substitute almond flour in this recipe? Thanks!
Hi, you can use any ground nuts of choice. 🙂
Thanks for the reply! My girls are allergic to quite a lot of thing, nuts are one of them… Do you think GF flour, chickpea flour or brown rice flour will come out the same result?
Hi Kalen, if they aren’t allergic to seeds (like pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, etc.) then I would recommend that instead of the flours you mentioned due to the similar fat content. However, if they can’t have seeds either, then use the GF flour or brown rice flour and add a little more vegan butter, otherwise, the cookies might end up too dry. I hope this helps. 🙂
Thank you so much! Those are really really helpful 🙂 I started to cook/make food when I found it hard to buy food for my allergy girls, it is actually fun! Still have a lot to learn but making healthy and nice presentation food like you do is my motivation! Thank you A LOT!
That’s great, Kalen! You are welcome. 🙂