Extra Soft Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles (That Don’t Spread!)

Learn how to make the best gluten-free snickerdoodles with this easy and well-tested recipe! Here you find easy tips to make soft, thick and chewy snickerdoodle cookies that don’t excessively spread, bake thin and greasy, or taste gritty. I will teach you how to avoid common gluten-free cookie mishaps to make perfected homemade GF cinnamon cookies!

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies

After many years of developing easy gluten-free cookie recipes, I’ve learned some simple tricks to perfect homemade cookies. While it’s possible to make classic snickerdoodles by simply swapping out an all-purpose gluten-free flour, the end result won’t be perfect.

Substituting a 1-to-1 GF flour will get you to an edible, passable cookie. However, there are some common drawbacks – overspreading, greasiness, or a gritty texture. So what’s the fix for making gluten-free snickerdoodle cookies so good, no one will detect the difference?

The starches in gluten-free flour blends have a harder time homogeneously blending with fat and moisture. The separation between the flour and butter leads to thin, flat and overly greasy cookies. But there is an easy fix for that!

When researching gluten-free recipes for snickerdoodles I found all the “top” recipes take the dough from the bowl straight to the oven, without allowing time for chilling and rest. After many trials perfecting these homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, I learned chilling cookie dough greatly improves results.

It allows extra time for the butter to coat and saturate the gluten-free flour, softening and relaxing the starches. Not only does this prevent greasy cookies, but eliminates a gritty, ricey texture, especially when paired with my preferred gluten-free flour blend.

There’s one more effortless trick for making soft and thick gluten-free cinnamon cookies. Typically cookies rely on only baking soda to provide lift and a chewy texture. However, when developing this gluten-free ginger snaps recipe, I found adding a dash of baking powder makes a slightly thicker cookie that doesn’t excessively spread.

Learn more easy tips below to make the best GF snickerdoodles, including ingredient substitutions and notes, dairy-free modifications, and how to freeze the cookie dough to bake later. It’s all included, along with easy, step-by-step photos!

Ingredient Notes

Making a gluten-free snickerdoodle recipe requires basic, kitchen-staple ingredients. However, for its signature taste you will need cream of tartar. If you don’t have that on hand already, see the cream of tartar substitution section below.

• Gluten-free flour – There are a variety of brands to choose from, all which will affect the recipe differently because they are made of varying starch blends. I use and highly recommend Cup4Cup gluten-free flour because the cornstarch in the mix gives a nice chewy finish and it mimics the texture of wheat-flour baked goods.
• Butter – Soften to room temperature. For dairy-free cookies, substitute vegan butter sticks, such as Earth Balance.
• Cream of tartar – The purpose of this is two-fold. It gives snickerdoodles its signature tangy taste and has a similar function of baking soda or baking powder, helping with rise.
• Sugars – A combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar gives a hint caramel chewiness and builds structure.
• Eggs – Helps bind the dough, adds moisture and makes a soft, thick cookie. I have not experimented with an egg-free substitute for vegan snickerdoodles, but please leave a note in the comments if you do!

how to make Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)

1. In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together room temperature butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
2. Add the dry ingredients. First stir in the cream of tartar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then add the gluten-free flour and mix on low speed until well combined.
3. Cover the bowl and chill for 1 ½ – 2 hours or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. If not using parchment paper, leave baking sheets ungreased.
5. When ready to bake use a use a medium cookie scoop portion out 1 ½ tablespoon-size cookie dough balls. Alternatively, roll into balls using your hands.
6. Add the additional sugar and cinnamon to a small bowl. Roll the cookie dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and transfer to the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Preventing Cookies from overspreading

Whether you are new to gluten-free baking or not, we have all been there. The cookie dough is perfectly rolled and spaced evenly on baking sheets. Then high expectations are dashed when the baked cookies over spread and conglomerate into a greasy mass.

Snickerdoodles with gluten-free flour have a higher butter to flour ratio, which causes them to easily spread. But there’s two easy tricks to prevent this from happening!

First of all, make sure the dough is well chilled before baking. Chill the cookie dough after mixing, which prevents a gritty texture and helps with shaping the dough balls. If you don’t plan on baking all the cookies at one time, store the baking sheets in the fridge (instead of at room temp), until ready to bake.

Secondly, adding a little baking powder, along with baking soda, helps lift the cookies. They will still bake with crispy edges and chewy centers, but will be slightly higher, instead of thin and flat.

Cream of Tartar in snickerdoodle cookies

While the absence of leavening gives buttery gluten-free shortbread a tender, crispy crunch or prevents sugar cookies from spreading, cream of tartar adds an extra boost of lift for a thick, soft snickerdoodle texture.

Additionally, it adds a tangy taste and prevents sugar from crystallizing, which the softens the cookie into a slightly cake-like texture. Therefore, to make gluten-free snickerdoodles mimic the classic taste, using cream of tartar is preferred.

If you don’t have any on hand, or want to make snickerdoodles without cream of tartar, leave out the baking soda and increase the amount of baking powder to 2 teaspoons. This will achieve the right texture, but the taste will be more of a gluten-free cinnamon cookie.

Dairy-free modifications

To make gluten-free dairy-free snickerdoodles, replace the butter with a dairy-free butter stick substitute, such as Earth Balance. Since vegan butter is a little more salty, decrease the salt to ¼ teaspoon.

Please note, the recommended flour, Cup4Cup does contain milk powder. If making a dairy-free recipe you will need to substitute an allergen-free brand, such as King Arthur Measure-for-Measure, not King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour, which doesn’t contain xanthan gum.

Storing, Make-ahead, and freezing

Gluten-free baked goods tend to dry out quickly so these are best enjoyed the day they are made. Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 1-2 days, or see below for other options.

The dough may be made up to 1 day ahead of time. Cover well and refrigerate until ready to bake.

To freeze after baking: Coo the cookies completely on a wire rack. Wrap 2-3 cookies in plastic wrap. Transfer the wrapped cookie stacks to a freezer ziplock bag. Freeze up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter for about an hour when ready to enjoy.

To freeze before baking: Shape the cookies into balls, roll in cinnamon sugar, and place on a cookie sheet (fit as many as possible). Transfer to the sheet to the freezer. Once the dough is frozen transfer the balls to a freezer ziplock bag. Freeze up to 2 months. When ready to bake, place the frozen cookie balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart, and bake according to the the recipe, but add an additional minute to the baking time.

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