These gluten-free snickerdoodles are made with a combo of almond and oat flour. They’re full of cinnamon flavor with the perfect chewy, but fluffy texture.
When brainstorming recipes for this holiday season, I knew I wanted to share some healthy holiday cookie recipe ideas. I love getting together with the ladies in my family for holiday baking. We make a point to do it every year and it’s such a fun tradition.
What I don’t love is having sugary, not-so-healthy treats all over my house after a day of baking. With that in mind, I’ve been determined to make upgraded versions of all of my faves. So far, I have created EBF-friendly versions for a bunch of holiday cookie recipes including no bake cookies, cut-out cookies and my Nanny’s crescent cookies.
Snickerdoodles are one of Isaac’s favorite cookies, so this year I decided to take a stab at making them a bit healthier, gluten-free and vegan!
When I looked up “gluten-free snickerdoodles” most were made with a gluten-free flour blend and loaded with butter and white sugar. Not exactly healthy… a good reminder that gluten-free or vegan doesn’t automatically mean something is healthy!
Gluten-free flour blends are often made with not-so-great ingredients like potato starch.
In this recipe, I used almond flour and oat flour which are major upgrades. They’re naturally packed with protein, fiber and healthy fats. Almonds and oats vs. white flour or potato? I’ll take the almonds and oats any day.
These cookies have the perfect chewy, but fluffy texture. Isaac and I both loved them and I know you and your family will enjoy them as well!
Snickerdoodle cookies are super easy to make!
Combine dry ingredients: Start by mixing the almond flour, oat flour, cinnamon, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
Mix wet ingredients: Mix in the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, coconut sugar and vanilla extract. Stir until everything is combined.
Make topping: In a separate small bowl, mix together the coconut sugar and cinnamon for your topping.
Bake: Roll out balls of cookie dough and then roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes, in a preheated oven, until slightly golden and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
One ingredient that almost all snickerdoodle recipes call for is cream of tartar! If your brain is anything like mine, cream of tartar makes you think of tartar sauce or something tart… just me?! But really, cream of tartar is a dry powder that comes from fermenting grapes into wine. You can find it in the spice aisle near the baking soda and baking powder.
It’s the cream of tartar that makes a snickerdoodle different from a traditional sugar cookie. The acid gives snickerdoodles their distinct flavor and texture. Whatever you do, don’t swap out or skip the cream of tartar.
If you won’t be eating the cookies right after making them, you’ll want to make sure you store them properly so they don’t get stale! Let them cool completely and then layer the cookies in an airtight container. The cookies will keep for a week. They store really well which makes them great for holiday parties and gifts!
Be sure to check out all of my cookie recipes and the full collection of dessert recipes here on EBF!
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Omg these were amazing! The cookie dough raw was also delicious 😂
Ah yay!! So happy to hear these were a hit, Brittney. Thanks for letting me know!
Made these for myself and my 14 year old daughter and they were a BIG hit! Didn’t have oat flour so I subbed Bobs 1:1 GF and they were perfect! Will definitely be making again!
Ah yay! Happy to hear these cookies were a hit, Tina. Thanks for the review!!
I’m not normally a big snickerdoodle fan, but these are amazing! Love the nuttiness you get from the almond flour and coconut sugar. Also really love that these allow my kids a treat while knowing that the ingredients are wholesome and real! Mine came out flatter than the pic, but I think I pushed them down too much. I also got 25 cookies.
So glad you loved these, Caroline!! Thanks for making them and for the review. I so appreciate it!
I would like to try these but I can’t have oats. Do you have an idea of what I could sub for the oat? Must still be gluten free and vegan. Thank you in advance!
Hey Jenna – I haven’t tried it so I’m not 100% sure how the cookies will turn out, but you could try using all almond flour. Let me know if you end up trying it!!
Could tigernut flour be used in place of the oat flour?
I’ve never cooked with that flour before, so I’m not 100% sure how these cookies would turn out, but feel free to experiment and definitely let me know how they turn out if you try them!