My family is dotted about geographically, so we aren’t always together at the holidays. To fill the void, my husband and I have created some of our own holiday traditions. One, for me, is cookie baking (his is cookie eating, naturally). Though most baking is done in the weeks prior to gift to friends and family, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are my times to relax in the kitchen. The perfect moments for some low-pressure experimental baking combined with some Christmas cheer. A result of one of those almost meditative moments was these Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles! 
I did try to make these snickerdoodles egg-free, but combined with grain-free… we had a problem. Almond flour works pretty well, but my husband won’t touch almonds, so coconut flour it is. Coconut flour actually offers a wonderful texture and a lightly sweet flavor that lends itself perfectly to gluten-free snickerdoodles. But, it has zero binding power. So it requires many eggs and lots of liquid to keep it from being a crumbly dry mess.
So if eggs aren’t a problem, these cookies are for you! The original base recipe is from JamieOliver.com, but I adapted it to be dairy-free, changed the sugars up a bit, and expanded on the directions. As is, this is a slightly cakey cookie that is just sweet enough – a nice step back from the sugar-rich holiday season.
I decided to use some coconut sugar to add depth to the flavor of these gluten-free snickerdoodles. If you prefer a refined sugar-free cookie, then I think you will really like my Grain-Free Coconut Crazy Cookies recipe in Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free: A Whole Food Cookbook.
Reader Raves: Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
I originally shared this recipe on my old blog, but transferred it here. This is some helpful feedback that was shared there:
Made these today with my kids…AWESOME cookies! I’d like to share these on my blog…will have my readers come over to yours for the recipe. Thanks SOOOO much for a very yummy cookie!!!! ~ Jenn R.
I got 17 cookies out of this recipe. Also, I would say that if you have a toasty warm house in the winter time, you’ll want to actually refrigerate them, because the dough became warm and gooey just from being shaped in my hands. However, this dough tastes fantastic. I can’t wait to try it with coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. ~ Joel
Special Diet Notes: Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, nut-free, peanut-free, and vegetarian.
- ½ Cup White Sugar (see note above for unrefined)
- ¼ Cup Coconut Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice, or Brown Sugar (I used the coconut sugar from Blue Mountain Organics)
- 4 Eggs, brought to room temperature
- ½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup Coconut Oil, melted (I buy Nutiva brand here)
- ¾ Cup Coconut Flour (I buy Bob’s Red Mill brand)
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons White Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
- Preheat your oven to 375ºF.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the ½ cup of white sugar, coconut or brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and coconut oil together (make sure those eggs aren’t cold, otherwise the coconut oil may solidify and leave little chunks).
- In a small bowl, stir the coconut flour and salt together, and then stir them into your wet mixture.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes. If the dough appears too soft or wet to handle, place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. It will set up quite a bit as the coconut oil chills and solidifies.
- Combine the two topping ingredients in a small bowl.
- Scoop the dough and roll it into balls. Jamie suggests using a small melon ball scooper, but I did them by hand and they were just a little smaller than a golf ball.
- Roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, place the cookies on a baking sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat – I use a baking mat), and flatten them a bit. They don’t spread much.
- Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. They will darken slightly. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes, before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
34 Comments
I loved the flavor of the cookies but mine didn’t spread
Hi Mariluz, I flatten them a bit because they don’t spread much. Easy to miss – it’s in step #7. Glad you enjoyed them!
Hi – I used parchment paper, but the bottom of the cookies burned. What did I do wrong?
Hi Kerry, I’m so sorry this happened to you! It sounds like you have a bottom heating element. When baking with this type of oven, you want to make sure to bake the cookies in the middle of the oven or a little higher to prevent the bottoms from burning. If your oven runs hot, then you may just need to reduce the baking time by a couple of minutes or reduce the cook temperature slightly. They should brown on the bottoms, but not burn. A silicone baking mat (rather than parchment) can also help prevent over-browning, or an insulated cookie sheet.
You said you make cookies early for Christmas. I’m new to the coconut ingredients how long ill they stay fresh and how would you recommend storing them. I made them Saturday and they taste great. Thank you
Hi Vikki, they will have the same freshness as any other type of cookie. Best within a few days, okay for a week, but I would refrigerate or freeze for longer.
My son wants to use this recipe for a kitchen chemistry project. Any ideas about the nutritional value including portion size, gram amounts of carbs,fats,proteins and percent of daily allowances for them?Thanks for any help or where I can look.
Hi Consuela, you can use sites like this one to calculate it – http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Thanks so much.
Has anyone tried all coconut sugar?
Yes, I have used all coconut sugar Stephanie – still good, but not as sweet and cookie like for the gluten-free one in my home.
Hi Alisa,
Any suggestions for someone who cannot use any refined sugar? I only use coconut sugar and honey when baking but would love to try these – any thoughts on what to sub-in for the 1/2 cup of white sugar or should I just delete that ingredient?
Thanks, Margaret
Hi Margaret, you can use all coconut sugar (I wouldn’t omit, they won’t be very sweet at all and the texture will become quite cakey). The flavor will be quite different – not like a snickerdoodle and they may not be quite as moist – but they should still be tasty!
I love the coconut sugar. It’s not sweet like cane sugar. Trader Joe’s brand is what I use.
Can I use canola oil instead of coconut oil? I am baking Christmas cookies for my employee who is gluten AND dairy free, but the price tag of a jar of coconut oil is giving me pause. Thank you!
Yes, but if the dough is too wet/sticky, it may not firm up quickly in the fridge. If this is the case, I would add just a touch (not too much) more coconut flour.
Amazing!!!
I’ve been searching for coconut flour cookie recipes for sometime and have tried many with no luck. They always seem to fall apart or taste funky. These are amazing! I am defiantly saving this recipe, thanks for sharing!
Awesome! They’re a fav in our house Taylor 🙂
Hi,
I’m confused about the sugar. If I use 1/2 cup white sugar is that in addition to one of the choices of coconut sugar, cane sugar or brown sugar or if I select white sugar, I don’t put any of the other sugars in?
It appeared that the white sugar was a separate ingredient and then I was going to select brown sugar out of the 3 you mentioned until I read the instructions. Have I confused you lol? Thanks, Bonniie
Hi Bonnie,
Follow the recipe as written. Bullet points separate ingredients, so the first ingredient is 1/2 cup white sugar, the second ingredient 1/4 cup coconut sugar, brown sugar or evaporated cane juice. Just like how you use white sugar and brown sugar in a chocolate chip cookie recipe.
we LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe. i’ve made tons of these cookies now. simple (if not a bit of a sticky mess while shaping) and delicious. thanks so much for sharing it.
That’s awesome nik! Glad you are enjoying this recipe 🙂
The dough tasted amazing! However when I cooked them they completely melted after
5min. I followed the recipie exactly 🙁 any suggestions on how I could try to fix them? Maybe adding more flower? I really want to eat them 🙂
Hi Erika, this is very bizarre and has never happened to me (I’ve baked them dozens of times!). Are you baking at higher altitude? You used eggs, correct?
You say above: “This year, I will be working on making the scrumptious, seasonal gluten-free snickerdoodles recipe below both egg-free and vegan.” but the recipe calls for 4 eggs. My children are highly allergic to eggs. Is there something else we could use? I was looking forward to making these for the holidays.
Hi Nakia,
Yes, I said that I was working on it, but not that this recipe is! I haven’t successfully made them as of yet. Since this is a coconut flour recipe, egg-free is very difficult. Coconut flour is very dry and lacks cohesiveness. I searched around and this post offers some recipes that are both gluten-free and vegan – http://www.mynaturalfamily.com/recipes/dessert-recipes/gluten-free-snickerdoodle-recipes/. If you only need egg-free, not gluten-free, let me know.
Hi, I also see where it says “This year, I will be working on making the scrumptious, seasonal gluten-free snickerdoodles recipe below both egg-free and vegan.” Do you discover a good egg-free variation of this recipe?
Thanks. 🙂
Hi Sarah – I did come up with another one, but it really is a different recipe. Egg-free with coconut flour is difficult and a different animal!
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You say these are egg free/vegan in the blog…and then they’re not. Do you have a vegan version?
I’m sorry, where did I say that they were egg-free? Most of the recipes here are egg-free and vegan, but this isn’t one that I’ve adapted to work without eggs at this time.
Since this one uses coconut flour and globs of eggs I would use silken tofu but blend Til smooth in the blender. Will have to find exact measurements for egg replaced on google.
These snickerdoodles look amazing! As I have problems with gluten this recipe is just perfect for me, thank you so much!