Some people are chocolate chip people, some are oatmeal-raisin people, and others are plain ol’ sugar cookie people. Personally, I like a chocolate chip and oatmeal-raisin combo, but gluten-free snickerdoodles wrapped in that oh-so-sweet cinnamon and sugar hug are a close second.
This timeless cinnamon and sugar cookie gets a remake here. These gluten-free snickerdoodles are soft and chewy, come complete with that classic crinkle look to them, but are made with much healthier ingredients that not only won’t leave you in a sugar crisis, but provide a nice bit of protein, healthy fat, and all the magic and medicine of cinnamon.
Sugar crash is real. First, we overdo it on the sugar and then we’re reaching for the caffeine. And then look where we are, caught in a never ending cycle of ups and downs. All because of a cookie.
Food is powerful, y’all. Reach for the feel good stuff.
It might be one of my greatest side passions to take classic recipes, the ones that come with a certain hint of nostalgia that will never be truly replicable without key ingredients like bleached white flour and ultra-processed white cane sugar, and meet them head on with an ultimate make-over in health and wellness.
Please make note here that there are no bad foods. Food carries no inherent morality, but some foods are definitely healthier than others and some foods definitely make us feel much better in our bodies than others.
My take on those not-so-healthy foods that you might just not be able to stay away from: add the healthy back in!
I know… I know… sometimes it’s just not the same. Sometimes no amount of tweaking and creativity will yield the same results. Fair enough. But for me, it’s a welcome challenge AND a practice in exercising our power over the way our taste buds perceive certain foods.
We can literally cultivate a taste for healthier foods by eating more of them. (Did you know that by eating more bitter foods, our taste buds slowly change so that vegetables actually taste better to us?!)
If that’s not some magic straight from Mother Earth herself, I don’t know what is.
food as medicine
These gluten-free snickerdoodles are grain-free, gluten-free, cane sugar-free, and vegan. They’re made with a base of super-fine almond flour and are sweetened with a combination of maple syrup and Lakanto Monkfruit 1:1 Sugar Substitute. This has become my favorite sugar-free sweetener. While I like sugar as much as the next person, I don’t like the way it makes me feel.
In fact, sugar makes most people feel not-so-good. I like to find alternatives whenever I can, just to lessen the amount of sugar I’m eating.
Almonds are a calorie- and nutrient-dense food. They are about 80% monounsaturated fats, ie. the good kind of fat, and are also rich in:
- vitamin E;
- fiber;
- biotin;
- minerals calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and copper;
- and a whole slew of beneficial phytochemicals such as anti-inflammatory flavonoids.
And while snickerdoodles are traditionally rolled in a cinnamon and sugar mixture before baking, you could roll them in pumpkin spice and sugar (or a monkfruit sweetener) for a fun flair. Plus, in doing so, you introduce a multitude of other vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and medicinal benefits of the spices characteristic to pumpkin spice like ginger, nutmeg, clove, and allspice.
Pumpkin spice is easy to make yourself, as oftentimes, you already have these spices sitting in your spice cabinet. Check this recipe out for a delicious blend that also includes powdered dandelion root for additional fiber, as well as digestive and liver health benefits.
At its simplest, with the classic cinnamon and sugar coating, these gluten-free snickerdoodles come with all the food, medicine, and magic of cinnamon.
As a medicine, cinnamon is considered to be:
- Antiviral
- Alterative
- Astringent
- Anti-fungal
- Carminative
- Antibacterial
- Anti-parasitic
- Anti-inflammatory
- Gastrointestinal tonic
- Expectorant (helps to remove excess mucus)
snickerdoodles
(gluten-free, grain-free, cane sugar-free, & vegan)
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy24
cookies15
minutes12
minutesThis classic cookie gets a re-write and these snickerdoodles are delicious! They’re moist and chewy, come together so quickly, and have the classic crinkle cinnamon and sugar coating. Or for added seasonal flair, try a coating of pumpkin spice and sugar! Makes about 24 minis or 10-12 larger cookies. (This recipe is adapted from The Vegan8.)
Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients
2 1/4 cup super-fine almond flour (not almond meal)
6 tablespoons tapioca starch (or arrowroot starch or cornstarch)
3 tablespoons Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener (or organic granulated cane sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar*
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
3 tablespoons Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener (or organic granulated cane sugar)
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or Pumpkin Pie Spice)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare a large baking sheet (or 2 small baking sheets).
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together all dry ingredients, making sure to break up any lumps in the almond flour.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add in maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Use a spoon or fork to incorporate all ingredients. The batter will be thick and slightly sticky. Set aside batter for a second while you mix together the cinnamon-sugar coating.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon (or pumpkin spice) and Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to roll the batter into 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls**. Roll dough balls between palms until the the batter holds together in a smooth ball.
- Roll each ball in the dry cinnamon coating until completely covered, then place ball on cookie sheet.
- Use the bottom of a clean glass or the heel of your hand to flatten each ball to ~1/4 inch thick. (These cookies do not spread much at all, but they do puff up a bit. If you don’t flatten them, they will bake as balls and not cookies.) Space the cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Once all balls are rolled, coated, and flattened, place cookie sheet(s) in oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until bottoms and edges are slightly golden.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheets(s) before moving to a cooling rack.
- Once completely cooled, store in an air-tight container.
Notes
- * Cream of Tartar? Cream of tartar is a traditional ingredient in snickerdoodles. It gives the cookies a slight tang or tartness that sets them apart from regular sugar cookies. While you could leave this out, I don’t recommend it and I can’t vouch for results. Recipe test at your own risk. 🙂
- ** Cookie size: You can really make these cookies any size you’d like. Just remember, the bigger the cookie, the longer the baking time and the less cookies this recipe will make. If making 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoon sized cookies, this recipe will make approximately 22-24 small cookies.
I hope you love these cookies! They’re my new favorite, mostly because they come together so quickly! In a blink of an eye, you have delicious and healthy cookies!
And if you’re feeling extra adventurous, make cookie sandwiches! I had some leftover orange blossom and pistachio vegan buttercream from a wedding cake I made, piped it in between two of these snickerdoodles, and lived happily ever after. (And even if I did just add all the cane sugar back into these cookies in doing so, is it worth it? Only one way to find out, y’all.)
Happy baking!
Resources:
- Almonds. The Nutrition Source. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/almonds/
