Vegan Snickerdoodles

I think a lot of foods have been given weird names; the snickerdoodle cookie is one example. I saw a recipe for snickerdoodles on one of my favorite blogs recently (The Suburburan Life) and it caused me to ponder about the origins of its name. What makes this simple, but delectable cookie worthy of such a silly name? Of course, I felt it was my duty to try out this recipe before writing about it (oh, the things I won’t do for this site). My family and I haven’t had snickerdoodles in years because, well, we’re vegan and these cookies are not typically found in that category. So the first step was “veganizing” the recipe!

But before we get to the recipe, first we should discuss where the name “Snickerdoodle” comes from. Adding intrigue to temptation, there appears to be a bit of a mystery behind this name. There are those who claim the word has German origins from “Schnecken nudeln” which basically translates into snail noodles. I couldn’t find any reference to why Germans would refer to these cookies as snail noodles. (If anyone wants to fill us in here, that would be great!) They’ve also been lovingly referred to as kinkawoodles and tangle breeches and the recipe has been dated as far back as 1889. New England cooks were known for giving odd names to their dishes and so there is speculation that snickerdoodle comes from this whimsical style of naming. One recipe from 1901 says that “Snickerdoodles is the somewhat fantastic name of quickly-made little cakes especially dear to the children’s heart.” I’m here to testify that these cookies are dear to more than the hearts of children!

Below is my veganized adaptation of this long-standing and heartily-enjoyed recipe. Replacing the eggs in this recipe was the trickiest part. According to the Joy of Baking, eggs can play many roles in baked goods; providing texture, richness, leavening, and binding to name a few. The key is knowing what role the eggs are performing in your recipe. Overall, I have noticed that vegan baked goods don’t rise as much, so I like to add a little vinegar to mine. We could argue in this recipe that the combination of the cream of tartar and baking soda provides enough lift, but I added some vinegar to boot. And according to my taste testers, the end result was really yummy. I hope you enjoy these snail noodling Snickerdoodles!

Vegan Snickerdoodles

½ cup dairy-free margarine, softened
½ cup shortening
1 ½  cups white sugar
½  cup applesauce
1 tablespoon coconut milk (you could substitute soy milk)
½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cream together margarine, shortening, sugar.
3. Add in applesauce.
4. In a small bowl mix together coconut milk, vinegar and vanilla; add to margarine mixture. 5. In a separate bowl, blend flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well.
7. Shape balls of dough, slightly smaller than a golf ball. 
I found the dough to be a bit sticky so I placed the bowl of dough balls into the fridge for a few minutes while getting the cinnamon sugar ready.
8. Prepare mixture of white sugar and cinnamon on plate.
9. Roll balls of dough in mixture until well-coated.
 Place on ungreased cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookie should be set but not crispy. Remove from cookie sheet as soon as possible and cool. Cookies should be soft and chewy so DO NOT OVERBAKE.

Yield: ~48 cookies (depending on how big you make them)