If you’ve used my recipes or browsed my site, you may have come across this cinnamon cookie recipe. Using a similar ratio of ingredients and a slightly different baking time and temperature it magically transforms into a Snickerdoodle cookie—a crunchy, chewy butter cookie rolled in cinnamon and sugar.
I successfully tested this recipe with honey and maple syrup as the cookie sweetener. The maple syrup/butter batter is a bit wetter than the batter with coconut oil and honey or maple syrup, but both bake the same. I do have a preference for the cookie sweetened with maple syrup, but it’s just my taste buds talking.
For the cinnamon coating I ditched the refined granulated sugar and tested maple sugar and coconut palm sugar, and found no discerable difference in texture or flavor. Maple sugar is more expensive than the coconut palm sugar, if that’s a consideration. If you don’t or can’t eat either of these granulated sugars, just leave it out and lightly dust the cookies in ground cinnamon.
This cookie recipe is egg free, and while I know some of you may be tempted to toss an egg in there when you think the dough seems to crumble before your eyes, keep the faith and press the dough together. The honey and fat will keep things together, and rolling it into small balls will secure the flour granules as well.
Snickerdoodles {using almond flour}
If you can’t or don’t eat maple sugar or other granulated sweetener, leave it out and use a bit of cinnamon to lightly dust the cookie (thanks Susan!). If the dough is too soft to form balls, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so before shaping it into balls. If you’re following SCD, leave out the maple sugar or any other sugar and just sprinkle with a small amount of cinnamon in step 7. Note: I had the wrong weight measurement for almond flour. The correct weight measurement is 192 g.Ingredients
- 2 cups (192 g) blanched almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil (softened)
- 1/3 cup (90 ml) of honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon maple sugar or coconut palm sugar (or other unrefined granulated sugar, such as muscovado; leave this ingredient out for SCD)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter, vanilla, and honey.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients and blend well.
- If the batter is a bit soft to handle, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Prepare baking sheets with a non-stick surface, Silpat mat, or parchment paper.
- Blend the ground cinnamon and maple sugar in a shallow bowl or plate.
- Using the palms of your hands, roll a tablespoon or so of dough into a ball.
- Roll the dough ball in the cinnamon mixture to fully coat the outside.
- Place the dough ball on the cookie sheet, space about an inch or so apart, and flatten with the underside of a jar or glass.
- Repeat to make a full batch of cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Cool for at least 10 minutes.
Makes about 24 cookies
Jamie Collins
March 18, 2013 at 6:03 amCan I use Earth Balance in place of the unsalted butter? Thanks!
Erica
March 18, 2013 at 8:20 amI don’t see why not but I haven’t tried it.
My Delicious Life
March 18, 2013 at 6:20 amI love all of your recipes. Can’t wait to try this one–my kids love your cinnamon cookie recipe already 🙂
Erica
March 18, 2013 at 8:39 amThanks! Yes, I will leave that one to rest :).
Michael
March 18, 2013 at 6:41 amExactly what I was looking for! I really wanted snickerdoodles, but only had almond flour on hand. Thanks!
Erica
March 18, 2013 at 8:41 amGreat! You’re set. This recipe actually has fewer ingredients than the traditional Snickerdoodle.
Melanie
March 18, 2013 at 10:00 amCould I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Erica
March 18, 2013 at 10:10 amThe ratio of ingredients would be way different, so unfortunately no.
Fawn at Cowen Park Kitchen
March 18, 2013 at 10:40 amI have a version of these yummy cookies too! Cinnamon + almonds = a great combination. I made them for a gluten-free friend, but ended up eating far more than I expected to (I’m not a big sweets person, so that’s a good sign I think). Here’s my version: http://cowenparkkitchen.com/almond-snickerdoodles/
Misty
March 19, 2013 at 12:13 amI made these this morning. I do not think they will last through the day! My daughter said they were so good they could pass as cinnamon roll cookies! Yep! I think these passed the test! Thank you for such a great recipe!
Erica
March 19, 2013 at 7:45 amHow funny. Darn, I could have named them cinnamon roll cookies :).
Amy M
March 22, 2013 at 4:59 pmAny chance that stevia could be used? I am on a mostly sugar free diet. 🙂 Looks GREAT!
Erica
March 23, 2013 at 12:03 pmMost probably, with enough liquid to compensate for the honey’s liquid.
Erica
May 30, 2013 at 11:38 amHi Amy. Did you ever test this recipe with stevia? I’m going to try to use it but curious to know if you got it working. Thanks!
Loretta
March 24, 2013 at 5:46 pmI’m eating a slightly warm one as I type this! My hubby and I both loved these. Mine were a little too runny to roll, so I chilled the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge. I probably could have chilled them a little longer because they spread quite a bit, but they still taste great!
Erica
March 24, 2013 at 5:59 pmGood to know. I haven’t had my batters runny, but the maple syrup/melted butter can be much softer. Yes, chilling is a great idea if the batter is runny.
Susan
March 24, 2013 at 11:10 pmWithout the sugar to add to the mix, just rolling it in cinnamon is a bit overwhelming to the flavor, I found. I think I’d just dust one side of the pressed cookie next time.
Erica
March 24, 2013 at 11:12 pmThanks Susan! I can see it being too much if you cover the entire surface. I’ll add that to the notes.
Denise
April 5, 2013 at 9:00 pmGoing to make these tomorrow. Can’t wait to have a snickerdoodle again. I bought your cookbook too. That should be here Monday!
Erica
April 5, 2013 at 9:09 pmThanks! Hope you like both 🙂
katy
May 23, 2013 at 6:27 amThis is a 4-5g CHO cookie–WOOT! I am making these immediately—perfect on a rainy day with a to-do list that fills me with dread. Thank you. I am glad Ann sent me here.
Erica
May 23, 2013 at 9:55 pmHi! Say hello to Ann for me!
katy
May 23, 2013 at 10:31 amvanilla in with the butter and sugar, right?
i have them in the oven. they’re smelling superfine.
katy
May 24, 2013 at 7:09 amthey ate all 27 cookies yesterday. i am making more now. i promise i won’t leave a comment every time i make them.
i’m kind of excited.
Erica
May 24, 2013 at 9:32 amgood news. I love comments 🙂
Amy
August 23, 2013 at 5:02 pmI ran out of local honey (so good) and didn’t have any maple syrup (can be pricey)but I did pick up some black strap molasses! I substituted that for the honey and omg they are so good! I did add an egg though I must admit.
Im loving the molasses though, it is good for you and good for paleo!
Its a win win.
Erica
September 5, 2013 at 11:48 amnice, so good to know it works well with molasses!
Rachel
August 30, 2013 at 11:19 amJust made these for my diabetic husband (who has a sweet tooth!). These are delicious and very low carb. I only used 1/4 cup maple syrup and they were still plenty sweet. There were less than 4g carbs per cookie!
D. Maynard
September 5, 2013 at 1:36 pmMaple sugar and coconut palm sugar are not available in my area, and I’ve never heard of Muscovado. Any ideas what I could use in place of those?
Erica
September 5, 2013 at 2:15 pmyou can use any granulated sugar, really. It’s up to you, or leave it out, or order it online.
spilyoso
November 6, 2013 at 8:56 amWho knew something so basic could be so delicious! Love them!
Anonymous
November 19, 2013 at 1:08 pmI never post comments on blog-type recipes but this recipe was awesome. I was skeptical at first because it only contained almond flour…no coconut flour like the rest of the recipes I googled. I decided to make it for its simplicity (no “hard to find” ingredients like guar gum, xantham gum, sorghum flour, evaporated cane juice, etc.) and hoped that it would come out great. I made the recipe with honey and butter instead of coconut oil and maple syrup. These were so yummy…soft and perfect. Just the right amount of cinnamon. My toddler loved them, my gluten free, egg free husband loved them and I basically ate the whole batch only leaving a handful for my family ;o)
Best part, you can get all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s…and their almond flour is a bargain!
Erica
November 19, 2013 at 1:24 pmThanks, Jennie! Did Trader Joe’s start selling blanched almond flour or did you use almond meal? Just curious. Interesting that they came out soft – I bake them until they’re browning around the edges and when they cool they’re crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle.
kristina
November 27, 2014 at 11:12 amhi is this one or two cups? as says 2 cups but then 8 oz in brackets – thanks
Erica
November 27, 2014 at 11:26 amWow, thanks for that great catch!! I changed it – it’s 2 cups.
Elizabeth
December 13, 2014 at 2:34 pmThese look great! Any chance that these could be prepared with whole wheat flour..?
Erica
December 13, 2014 at 6:34 pmyes, I suggest checking some popular baking sites or cookbooks.
Wendy
May 14, 2016 at 8:48 amWait, I was just coming here to say the opposite. 2 cups of almond flour weigh 8 ounces. 2 cups of water weighs 16 ounces.
Anna
January 20, 2017 at 4:42 amMine keep sticking to the bottom of the glass. I tried coating the glass (and I tried plastics too!) with oil and it still doesn’t help. Any ideas?
Erica
January 20, 2017 at 8:48 amYes, it’s a bit tricky, especially when the dough gets warm. Either put it in the freezer for several minutes, or add some flour to the outside of the dough.
Shirley
December 18, 2018 at 12:24 pmI made these but added a heaping tablespoon of ground flax seed to them and they were so yummy! I made them yesterday and they were delicious and when I had one today they were chewy inside and crunchy outside. Thank you for sharing your recipe!