These Vegan Snickerdoodles are up there with the best of them. They're soft, chewy and cinnamon-y, but instead of eggs, they use a small amount of date paste for moisture and structure. The dates don't make the cookies taste "healthy" or overly fruity. They just round out the flavor and give the cookies a subtle richness that works surprisingly well with the cinnamon and vanilla.
What is Date Paste
Date paste is softened dates that are (sometimes) blended with water until smooth. It's naturally sweet and works as both a sweetener and binder in baking. I recommend making larger batches in a blender or food processor, but if you want to hack together just enough for a batch of cookies, try this: Pour about ¼ cup boiling water over 5 large pitted very soft Medjool dates. Let sit for 20 minutes, drain off water not absorbed by the dates, then mash with a fork. This won't be a super smooth paste, but it will be thick and smooth enough to use in cookies.
Why Make Vegan Snickerdoodles with Date Paste
I've been using date paste as an egg replacer in cookies lately, and this is one of the easiest ways to try it. You only need a couple of tablespoons, and it blends right into the dough.
- No eggs, no dairy
- Soft centers with lightly crisp edges
- Easy one-bowl dough
- Subtle caramel-like depth from the dates
Notes on Vegan Butter aka Plant Butter
I originally made these with Country Crock Plant Butter -- the kind with almond oil. I haven't seen the almond oil version in years, so I re-wrote it with Soy Free Earth Balance (from a tub) which works just as well and is easy to find. It's a little saltier and gives the cookies more spread, which in this case is not a bad thing.
Recipe
Date Paste Vegan Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan butter (Earth Balance Soy Free) (120 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons thick date paste (60 grams)
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F if you plan to bake immediately. This dough can be chilled or scooped and baked right away.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix together flour, cream of tartar baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the vegan butter, sugar, vanilla and date paste until creamy. You can do this with a mixer or by hand since the butter is already creamy and soft.
- Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir by hand to make soft dough.
- Using a medium size cookie scoop, scoop about 12 rounds of dough onto a dinner plate and chill for about 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll or scoop and bake immediately. The dough should be thick enough to bake right away.
- Roll the rounds in cinnamon sugar.
- Arrange rounds about 2 ½ inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Tops should appear set and slightly cracked. Slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter and let the cookies cool on the parchment paper.
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