The Best No-Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies + Video
These no-butter snickerdoodle cookies are so soft and gooey I can't even!!
Sorry about that, I don't know what happened there. I was simply overpowered by my feelings for a second. But I think I can control myself now, so let's begin.
These snickerdoodle cookies are the third in my series of "best no-butter" desserts. It hasn't exactly been intentional, and it definitely didn't start out that way, but no-butter desserts are becoming a series on this blog, a tradition if you will. Sorry, I meant best no-butter desserts. "Best no-butter" desserts are becoming a tradition.
Thus far, I've posted a recipe for The Best No-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and a recipe for The Best No-Butter Chocolate Chip Bars. And now we have The Best No-Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies.
I've been harboring this recipe for quite a while now. I developed it a few months ago but for some reason have never gotten around to sharing it. And the reason may or may not have been that it was too precious to publish. Okay, that wasn't the reason. Because I'm not one of those people that hoards secret recipes and doesn't spread the love around by sharing my recipes with others. If I was, I wouldn't be a food blogger, now would I? That would be a bit of a paradox.
The reason I haven't posted this no-butter snickerdoodle cookie recipe before was simply because I forgot to. Really, that's all there is to it! But, a couple weeks ago I realized I had never posted this recipe, which happens to be one of my favorite cookie recipes of all time, on the blog yet. And that was a shocking realization. So, so super shocking. So I decided to post it now. And really, the timing couldn't be more perfect because of the holiday season upon us. Snickerdoodle cookies are very appropriate for the current holiday season. They're also very appropriate stacked in a box and given as a gift. Um, best gift ever??!!
You know what else is appropriate? This video tutorial I made for you. So you can see exactly how I make and shape and bake these snickerdoodle cookies. Here it is:
Or, watch it on Youtube.
Replacing the traditional butter in this recipe is coconut oil. Creamy, rich, flavorful coconut oil. You could say I'm obsessed. That's okay. I'm fine with that. I've accepted it. I've come to terms with it. I'm obsessed with coconut oil. And miniature stuff. So, another title for these cookies could be "The Best Coconut Oil Snickerdoodle Cookies."
Coconut oil is my favorite oil to bake with because it imparts so much more richness and denseness to cookies than regular vegetable or canola oil does. I even prefer coconut oil to butter. *gasp* Okay, maybe I don't prefer coconut oil to brown butter. But regular butter vs. coconut oil? Not even a competition in my book. Coconut oil wins, hands down.
Now, as I've explained before in my best no-butter chocolate chip cookies recipe, using coconut oil doesn't mean your baked-goods are going to taste like coconut. If you don't want any coconut flavor in your cookies, all you have to do is use refined coconut oil, which has a completely neutral taste. Refined coconut oil works all its magic of making cookies rich and flavorful without leaving a trace of any coconut flavor. But, if you like coconut a lot, feel free to use unrefined coconut oil, which will give your cookies a wonderful tropical and coconut-y taste.
As the title asserts, these seriously are the best snickerdoodle cookies ever. They're thick and dense. Rich and gooey. Soft and chewy. And have so. much. flavor. A lot of that flavor due to the coconut oil.
Snickerdoodle cookies start with a simple cookie dough, similar to that of a traditional sugar cookie. The difference is the addition of cream of tartar that's added to the snickerdoodle cookie's dough. The cream of tartar is what makes snickerdoodles super chewy with that slightly tangy aftertaste. Oh, and of course the cinnamon sugar coating. That's another difference. A major difference. Or upgrade. Upgrade would be a much more better word choice.
After you prepare the dough, which should come out nice and thick, you portion it into balls. And then you roll the balls in a cinnamon sugar mixture. VERY well. And then the cookies are baked. And the coconut oil snickerdoodle cookies come out thick and puffy and pillowy. Slight deflating in the center is fine. It's expected. It's desired. It's the classic snickerdoodle look you want to achieve.
Crispy edges, chewy, soft, pillowy centers, and gooeyness all around. All covered in cinnamon sugar. That's the way to describe the best-no butter snickerdoodles cookies.
the best no-butter snickerdoodle cookies
Yield: about 20 cookies
1/2 cup coconut oil*, melted (measure it in solid form)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour (packed, not spooned)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Coating:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Met the coconut oil after you measure it. *Use refined coconut oil if you don't want any coconut taste in your cookies and unrefined coconut oil if you don't mind a rich coconut taste. Stir the oil with both sugars.
Add in the egg and vanilla extract and stir vigorously till mixture is smooth.
Stir together the dry ingredients and add them into the wet, mixing until just combined.
Round about a tablespoon of dough between your palms and then roll it around in the cinnamon-sugar coating. Coat the ball very well.
Repeat with the rest of the dough, spacing balls onto your prepared baking sheets evenly.
Bake cookies for 9 minutes (10 max), or until a few of the tops just begin to crack. The cookies may not look done but will continue to bake and firm up on the cookie sheets after you remove them from the oven. Let cookies rest on sheets for 5-10 minutes before moving them so they can set.
Note: I never have to refrigerate my dough for this recipe, but if you find your cookies are coming out too flat, chill the balls of dough until they're cold and hardened (about 40 minutes) before baking them. You may want to test one cookie out before you bake all of them.
These cookies are very soft and gooey on the day they're made, but won't stay very soft for more than two days.
On a completely unrelated note, it's pure science:
photo from dump a day dot com
