These snickerdoodles… not my typical cookie. In fact, I don’t think I’ve had a snickerdoodle since I was maybe 12 or so.
I started working on the recipe a while back thinking I would post them for Mother’s Day. They’re my mom’s favorite cookie– or so I thought. When I told her I had a great recipe for her favorite cookie ready to post, she said “oatmeal raisin?” No, mom, your other favorite. “Chocolate chip?” Your 3rd favorite. “Gingersnaps?”
Okay, so maybe it was in my imagination that my mom’s favorite cookie is a snickerdoodle.
I actually didn’t think these would turn out very well. I didn’t want to use white flour. I didn’t want to use rice flour, or lots of starches or gums. I wanted them to be light and fluffy and a bit crispy around the edges, but made with whole food ingredients, and not very much sugar. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
Apparently, it wasn’t. These blew me away from the first batch. I actually made the first several trials with almond flour, and then after I ran out of almond flour, I decided to try making cashew flour, since I had a bunch of those in my freezer.
It resulted in an even sweeter cookie, but kept all the other great snickerdoodle qualities, so I ended up cutting out even more sugar.
Like with my other favorite low-sugar cookie recipes, these won’t spread out on their own. Leave them in a ball, and they will come out a really soft and fluffy rounded cookie. We ate that batch just as quickly as the flatter batches 🙂 Just a preference for how you want the final product to look.
I made several batches of these for my 3 friends who threw my baby shower a few weekends ago. It was such a special afternoon, I didn’t feel a card and note was enough of a thank-you.
These would make a great father’s day gift. What man can resist a batch of homemade cookies? Certainly not the soon-to-be-dad sitting next to me.
Gluten Free Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Dry
- 3/4 cup oat flour* +2 tablespoons
- 3/4 cup cashews 110g, process in a blender to form 1 cup of cashew flour**
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Wet
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons organic cane sugar not coconut or molasses sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Mix together all the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine all wet ingredients, and mix well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until all the dry ingredients are mixed in.
- The dough will be sticky. Although it's difficult, it's fine to take the dough and form the balls at this stage.
- To make the dough easier to work with, refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight. I've baked these both from the warm dough and from chilled dough, and both bake nicely and come out the same- except the chilled dough makes more uniform, nicely rounded cookies.
- Use a ½ tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the dough out. This measurement will yield 24 mid-sized cookies.
- Roll each mound of dough into a ball, and coat with the cinnamon and sugar topping.
- Bake for 10 minutes for a soft cookie.
- For a crispier cookie, bake for 10 minutes, turn off heat, and leave the cookies in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Notes
**Almond flour can be subbed.
Delicious and perfect with a cup of tea. I have never used cashew flour how brilliant is that! I so need to get a vitaminx! How are you feeling little mama? Sending a virtual hug your way. Pinning and sharing, of course!
Thanks Bobbie. They are delicious… and yes, a Vitamix opens up new worlds in the kitchen 🙂 They are quite an investment in Asia though!
ahh these look delicious and I LOVE that you made your own cashew flour too
Thanks Arman. They are pretty delicious. Nice to have a different kind of cookie from the normal oatmeal types I usually make.
Yum! I’m not gluten free, but I can definitely see myself making these 😀
I love gluten free baking because #1- more nutrients than wheat flour– and #2- nut flours are naturally sweet, meaning less sugar is needed 🙂
Must eat ALL THE COOKIES!