Soft and pillowy vegan snickerdoodles! These puffy and delicious cinnamon-sugary treats are so quick and easy you’ll want to whip them up every other day!
Vegan snickerdoodles! They are my new favorite thing.
So simple, so good and so quick and easy to make. They are the perfect holiday cookie but so good you’ll make them year-round.
Really, if you decide right now you’d like some vegan snickerdoodles and have all the ingredients on hand, you could have a freshly baked batch in front of you in 25 minutes from now! Very tempting isn’t it?
They are very much like sugar cookies, just dressed up in a lot of cinnamon sugary goodness!
The trick to some good vegan snickerdoodles is that they need to be soft. So you definitely don’t want to bake them too long.
You also want them to be nice and thick, so don’t roll those balls too small. You want nice and thick, pillowy soft snickerdoodles.
So aim for around 20 cookies from your batch. If you get a couple more or a couple less that’s totally okay too.
And if you love holiday cookies, you’ll also love our vegan butter cookies and vegan snowball cookies.
How To Make Vegan Snickerdoodles
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Making these cookies is so quick and easy that once you’ve got the hang of these you’ll never need to buy cookies from the store again.
You just cream together some vegan butter and sugar. Add in some vanilla and apple cider vinegar.
Then in a separate bowl mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to the butter and sugar mix and mix in together (by hand, don’t use the electric mixer for this part).
It will be quite dry and crumbly at this point so now you add in a touch of soy milk (or other non-dairy milk as you like) to get it to perfect dough.
Roll the dough into balls and then roll the balls in cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375°F and you have perfect vegan snickerdoodles!
Ingredient Notes
Cream of tartar – this is the ingredient that creates the tangy flavor in a classic snickerdoodle cookie. So I highly recommend it! You can leave it out if you have to, but then it won’t taste like classic snickerdoodles.
All purpose flour – make sure to measure this correctly either by weighing it on a food scale or by using the spoon and level method: spoon it into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. No scooping allowed!
Apple cider vinegar – while this is an unusual(ish) ingredient in cookies, it really works in these cookies, trust me! It reacts with the baking soda, making these cookies so puffy, pillowy and soft.
Storing and Freezing
Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature where they will stay fresh for up to 7 days.
They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Crunchy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Ginger Cookies
- Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ⅔ cup White Granulated Sugar (132g)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (188g)
- 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 ¼ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
For Rolling:
- 3 Tbsp White Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the butter and sugar to an electric mixer and cream them together. Add in the vanilla and apple cider vinegar and mix in.
- Add in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix in by hand (don’t use the electric mixer for this part) until it forms a crumbly dough.
- Then add in the soy milk so that it forms into a proper cookie dough (as pictured).
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Roll the cookie dough into balls and then roll the balls in the cinnamon and sugar mixture and place them onto a parchment lined baking tray. You can sprinkle more of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the balls before they go in the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies firm up and cool down directly on the tray.
Video
Notes
- If you use a brand of vegan margarine that is very hard i.e. not a spread, then it’s possible that you’ll need to use a bit more non dairy milk, just use as little as possible.
- If the cookies haven’t spread at all in the oven (they are supposed to be puffy but should still spread) then you can bake them an extra couple of minutes, or just flatten them very slightly with a fork as soon as they come out the oven still warm and soft.
- Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature where they will stay fresh for up to 7 days. They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
Natasha says
Didn’t have cream of tarter so I used 2 tsp baking powder and cut back the baking soda to 1/2 tsp. Also use 1/4 cup coconut oil and 1/4 vegan butter, as I find the butter replacement I use can add a flavor to baked goods that I’m not a huge fan of. They’re perfect! And I’ve made the recipe this way many times now. They always come out just how I like them, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with a good spread on the baking sheet.
Shelley Calissendorff says
These worked really well for me. I added one teaspoon of cardamom just to make things a little more interesting (I love cardamom!) . Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Cardamom is a great addition! Thanks for sharing and the awesome review. 🙂
Kayla says
Hi! I was wondering if the dough would be able to be stored in the freezer?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kayla! yes sure! If you freeze the dough before rolling it into balls then you’ll need to let the dough come up to room temperature again before rolling the balls. Alternatively you can roll the dough into balls before freezing. Then you can either thaw in the fridge before baking or just bake from frozen but allow an extra couple of minutes of baking time to allow for them being frozen going in. All the best! 🙂
Alicia says
Hi there.
I tried substituting the butter for coconut oil and my cookies were really flat. Do you have Any suggestions to help me? Thanks in advance.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Alicia, coconut oil is a little different to vegan butter, it’s more dense and 100% oil whereas vegan butter also has a water content. So they’re not exactly the same in their effects on baked goods. If you can get hold of vegan butter or dairy-free margarine I recommend you try it as written, I think that will solve the issue. 🙂
Yvonne says
I have actually had great success with coconut oil instead of vegan butter. I replace about a tablespoon (maybe slightly more) of the 1/2 c. coconut oil with applesauce or water, and the cookies come out beautifully…soft and pillowy and delightful! I should add that I usually need 2 or sometimes even 3 T. nut milk to get the desired dough consistency.
Thanks for a terrific recipe! Snickerdoodles are my husband’s favorite cookie, and these have made a more-than-satisfactory replacement since we started a plant-based lifestyle. I make a batch almost weekly now. 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much Yvonne! 🙂
tanner frey says
i’ve tried to make these twice and both times the dough is super crumbly and the balls don’t flatten in the oven. what am i doing wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tanner, sorry to hear that! If the dough is too crumbly add a little more non-dairy milk so that you have the consistency that we have shown in the photos. It should be easy to roll into balls and it shouldn’t be crumbly. If the balls don’t flatten in the oven it usually means the dough is too cold going in, so you can combat this by beating the vegan butter and sugar for a longer time to warm it up, or you can just flatten your cookies with a fork before they go into the oven.
Sally says
Is there anyway you can make these without cream of tartar?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sally, the cream of tartar is part of what makes them puffy and soft, if you leave them out they should still be okay but not as puffy/soft. 🙂
Kiley says
These cookies were so good! Super easy to make! They came out so soft, almost cake-like. Yum! Thanks for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the great review! 🙂
Lon Fiscus says
These turned out much better than I expected. I love them. Even my vegetarian kids and wife really like them a lot. I’m surprised at how well they stay together without any egg substitute. I think I’ll cut back or even eliminate the salt next time I make them, as they are a bit saltier for my taste.
Alison Andrews says
So happy you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂
frankie says
i actually made only around 10 cookies with the batter and they came out super fluffy and similar to a coffe-cake texture!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So glad they were good, thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
Gray says
5 stars for flavor!! Perfect amount of spice. However, mine didn’t cook right at all? Maybe someone can help me? They never flattened out in the oven, but rather they just kept cooking as little dough balls. I let the first batch go WAY too long to see if they’d flatten, then I did another batch without the burning and just ate them as spheres. Anyone know why the wouldn’t flatten? Did I roll the dough too large? Any help is appreciated!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi there! You can try just flattening them a little with a fork next time (or the base of a glass). Usually if they don’t spread on their own it’s because the dough is too cold when it goes into the oven. If you rolled them particularly large then that might also factor in. All the best! 🙂
Cheryl says
These are amazing. I’ve made them 3 times, and I never have the vinegar, so I just leave that out. I also use more cinnamon in the rolling mixture, but other than that, we make it just like the recipe. I was so excited to find a vegan version of snickerdoodles!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review Cheryl. 🙂
Diane says
My family gobbled these up! Thanks for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for the fantastic rating! 🙂
Serena says
These came out perfect! So soft and delicious. Even my non-vegan family members loved them.
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that Serena! Thanks so much for the amazing review! 🙂
Stephen Sinclair says
Easy to assemble. Huge hit with everyone! Thanks so much. As noted I added maybe another 1 TBS of almond milk to make the dough the correct consistency. Also, next time, after rolling the dough balls in the sugar/cinnamon, I’ll use a sieve to put more over the top of them before going in the oven in order for it to be uniformly applied.
Alison Andrews says
So glad they were a hit! Thanks so much for sharing and the great review! 🙂
Lauren says
Can I use brown sugar instead of white sugar?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lauren, that should be fine! 🙂