Soft and chewy snickerdoodle cookies filled with warm autumn spices and tart apples!
I love apple desserts just as much as pumpkin desserts when fall slips though the door. Though apples are available in Canada all-year round, I love pairing fresh apples with flavours such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. There’s a reason why these warm spices are consumed more predominantly during the chillier months of the year!
Despite common belief, you don’t need eggs to make chewy snickerdoodle cookies! Scroll down to read about what snickerdoodle cookies are and how we’re making them without dairy and eggs. There are also step-by-step instruction images for your reference. Lastly, I’ve included some FAQs in case you have some lingering questions before making the recipe.
Happy autumn baking! 🍂🍪
What are snickerdoodle cookies?
Appearance:
If you look up images of snickerdoodle cookies on the web, you’ll notice that all cookies are rolled in cinnamon sugar and have a crinkled top. Some snickerdoodle cookies are smaller and puffier, while some are flatter and denser. One thing’s for sure: I’ll take either version any day.
Ingredients:
Traditional snickerdoodle are made with just flour, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, baking soda, and most importantly, cream of tartar.
Source: https://www.marthastewart.com/7839907/snickerdoodle-cookie-explained
Cream of tartar is a byproduct of the winemaking process. When the tartaric acid in the grapes is half neutralized by potassium hydroxide, the result is a compound called potassium bitartrate, or what we would call cream of tartar. Much like baking soda, this white powdery substance can used for baking, cooking, and cleaning. The role of cream of tartar in snickerdoodle cookies is to act as a leaven and to add a distinct tangy flavour.
Source: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/baking-guide/what-is-cream-of-tartar
Taste and mouthfeel:
The combination of these ingredients results in a sweet, fluffy, chewy, and soft cookie with a thin crunchy layer of cinnamon sugar on the outside.
Ingredients
So how do we make snickerdoodle cookies vegan, and add additional flavours while maintaining its iconic structure?
- All purpose flour, as per usual
- Granulate sugar. Cannot be substituted in this recipe unfortunately
- Salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar (the importance of cream of tartar is discussed above!)
- Spices: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and allspice. These spices will not disrupt the structural integrity of the cookies, as they are added in small, but noticeable amounts.
- Vegan butter (not margarine or spreadable butter). Most, if not all, vegan butters on the market are great substitutes for dairy butter!
- Unsweetened applesauce, as a substitute for the egg. The acidity of the applesauce, along with the acidic cream of tartar, will react with the baking soda (a base) to create air pockets in the cookies!
- Finely diced apple. Any variation of apple would work. I used fuji.
How to make the cookies
Snickerdoodle cookies follow a very similar step process as other types of cookies.
First, we whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
The softened vegan butter is creamed with the sugar using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer with two paddle attachments. Make sure you turn the mixer in one direction, and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula frequently. The butter should turn white almost double in volume.
Next, the applesauce is added to the creamed butter and sugar and is further beat until smooth.
The dry mixture is gradually added to the wet mix while beating on low. If you’re using a handheld mixer like me, alternate between adding the dry mix and beating with the mixer.
Once there are no more traces of flour in the dough, add the diced apples and beat on med-low until the apples are evenly distributed in the cookie dough.
Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop equal sized cookie dough balls. Roll each dough into a ball and roll them in the cinnamon sugar before placing them on a lined baking tray. The dough might be a bit sticky. Use the bottom of a glass cup wrapped in plastic wrap to flatten the cookie dough balls ever-so-slightly so that they spread more when baked.
Bake the cookies until they’re crinkly and golden in colour. The edges may not crisp due to the cream of tartar, but they’ll be cooked thoroughly for sure.
FAQs
Unfortunately any other type of sugar may not create the same taste and mouthfeel of the snickerdoodle cookies. That goes without saying that I have not tried any other sugars in place of the white sugar, so let me know if you do try!
I find that the cookies are already quite sweet, so I would recommend using unsweetened applesauce, though sweetened would work as well.
You can absolutely scoop bigger-sized cookie dough balls! Regardless of the size of the cookies, make sure you flatten them to about 1 inch thick before baking. Since we are not using eggs, they will not spread nearly as much. You might even need to flatten them a bit more with a non-stick spatula once they’re out of the oven.
I have not tried freezing my cookies, but in theory, they should be able to stay in the freezer in a sealed bag. To reheat the cookies, simple bake them until soft and warm.
Have a questions about this recipe? Leave a comment on this post or shoot me a DM on Instagram! I’d love to help you out. 🙂
More vegan autumn bakes with apples 🍎
Vegan Apple Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup +2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp + 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ cup +2 tbsp vegan butter, softened
- ¾ cup +3 tbsp granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ small apple, finely diced, with the skin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, cornstarch, 2 tsp of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.1¼ cup +2 tbsp all purpose flour, 1 tsp cream of tartar, ½ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp + 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp allspice, ¼ tsp ground ginger
- In another large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the softened butter with a paddle attachment on high until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the 1½ cups sugar and beat until the butter doubles in volume, about 3 minutes. Add the applesauce and beat on medium until smooth.¼ cup +2 tbsp vegan butter, softened, ¾ cup +3 tbsp granulated sugar, ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture while beating on low. Once there are no traces of flour left, add the diced apple and beat on med-low until a tangible dough forms.½ small apple, finely diced
- Combine the 3 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon for rolling the dough.1 tsp + 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, ¾ cup +3 tbsp granulated sugar
- Scoop ~⅓ cup-sized cookie dough balls, roll them in the cinnamon sugar, and place them onto two baking sheets, leaving as much space as you can. Gently flatten the cookie dough with a round glass or the bottom of a measuring cup until the cookies are about 1 inch thick. There should still be at least 2cm of space between the cookies, as they will spread when baked.
- Bake the cookies for 10-15 mins, or until golden brown in colour. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will be very soft when warm!
I made this Apple Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies, that is super good, all families love it. Thank you Ling Ling.