Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Snickerdoodles are a timeless classic. I’ve yet to meet anyone who could turn one down!
Plus, the brown butter in this recipe takes these cookies to the next level. I love these snickerdoodles for cookie exchanges, parties, and anytime treats!
Why You’ll Love It: This easy recipe is hard to resist! The cookies are chewy in the center with crisp edges. There’s just something irresistible about a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked to golden perfection!
Top Tips: Don’t skip browning the butter or chilling the dough for the best flavor and texture!
More gluten-free cookie recipes you’ll love: gluten-free pumpkin snickerdoodles, gluten-free white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, gluten-free molasses cookies, gluten-free almond cookies, and gluten-free iced oatmeal cookies!
xoxo erin
Featured Comment
From Maggie: “Thank goodness for this amazing recipe! Snickerdoodles are my son’s favorite. Then he had to go gluten free. But hooray! I found this recipe! The cookies have a great taste and texture and my son loves them! I made these for other members of the family who can eat gluten and they don’t even know the difference.”
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make these gluten-free snickerdoodles. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: Make sure you use a high quality gluten-free measure-for-measure flour that contains xanthan gum. This is my favorite brand.
- Almond flour: I love adding a little almond flour to my cookie recipes! It gives them that desired chewiness and helps them bake up golden brown.
- Butter: Browning the butter is so worth it! It adds a caramelized, nutty flavor that complements the cinnamon sugar for rich, one-of-a-kind snickerdoodles!
- Shortening: I like to use organic palm shortening but any kind will work. It’s needed for moisture and stability so that the cookies have a chewy, tender texture.
- Cream of Tartar: Don’t skip this! Cream of tartar is a classic snickerdoodle ingredient that adds a slightly tangy flavor and ensures the cookies end up light and chewy.
How to Make Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
Here’s an overview of how to make these cookies. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Just like with my famous gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, brown butter gives these cookies a rich, nutty flavor. Once it’s browned, make sure you pour the butter into a glass mixing bowl so that it doesn’t burn!
These cookies aren’t the same without shortening either. Cream it with the sugar, then add in the other wet ingredients, followed by the dry. This dough is so simple!
Make sure you plan ahead! This dough needs at least 1 hour to chill so that the flour has time to hydrate. Bonus points: you can even chill this dough for up to 2 days for an easy make-ahead option!
Roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and then bake. Let the cookies cool for just 2 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Like most cookies, they’ll set a little more as they cool. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles (Brown Butter)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113g) butter
- 1/2 cup (98g) shortening
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (107g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons (319g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) almond flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For Rolling:
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted start to whisk constantly. First the butter will begin to foam, then after a couple of minutes it will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan. Turn off the heat as soon as the solids turn brown and the butter gives off a nutty aroma. Pour into a glass mixing bowl to prevent burning.
- Add the shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to the bowl with the butter and mix until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until well-combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl for rolling. Shape the dough into rounded 1-inch balls. Roll the dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until set. Let cool for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in June 2020. It was updated with new instructions in September 2025.
I’m obsessed with these cookies and also love the pumpkin version! Definitely a crowd pleaser even for my non-gluten free family. I’m curious if I would be able to use this recipe and incorporate egg nog for another seasonal flavor.
Hi Kelly, thanks so much for your review! Eggnog cookies sounds delicious. We haven’t tried that! It might work to replace the vanilla with eggnog, and add some nutmeg and clove to the rolling sugar.
Every time I try one of your recipes it turns out SO good. Thank you for taking the time to make these! As someone whose son is gluten free and has been since 9 months old, it’s really hard to find GOOD recipes especially for baked goods. This one was a hit!
Made these and your Brownies for the Gluten Free treats for my daughter’s Jr high dance they were a big hit. The chaperones kept eating them saying you can’t tell these are gf.
We’re so happy to hear the snickerdoodles and brownies were both such a hit at the dance! Thank you for sharing this positive experience with us, Kevin. Happy baking!
Hi! This recipe seems like it would be easy to cut in half. Do you forsee any problems if I did cut it in half?
Totally agree, Julie! This one should work great cut in half. We hope you love the snickerdoodles!
Hello Erin. I am thoroughly enjoying your many recipes after going GF last year. Your efforts on all the recipes are very appreciated by those of us who enjoy cooking and baking and are relearning our skills to be GF. I made the Snickerdoodles today and used the browned butter. I have two questions, please? After browning the butter and moving it to a glass dish, do I need to let it cool to room temp before adding the sugars and shortening? Today I let it cool only a little and the cookies came out okay after chilling them but stayed quite round and didn’t flatten much. Should I have flattened them a little before baking? The flavor is amazing and even a little chubby cookie couldn’t deter my husband from having 2 with his coffee. Thanks for helping all of us along this journey.
Hi Roberta, we’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed the cookies! The brown butter doesn’t need to be cooled to room temperature before adding the sugar and shortening. The cookies may not spread much if the dough is too cold when it goes into the oven (if it seems really hard after chilling the dough, you can let it sit out for 5-10 minutes to slightly soften), the material type of the baking sheets, inaccurate oven temperatures, etc. You can gently press them down a little if you want to keep everything as-is though! We hope this helps!
I was wondering, I don’t have almond flour and have no need to purchase a bag of it (other than this recipe) could I just use the same amount of the gluten free flour? Thank you in advance.
Hi Dee, yes you can replace the almond flour with another 1/3 cup of gluten-free measure-for-measure flour. We hope you enjoy the cookies!
My daughter made these last weekend and they were so good.
We’re so glad you all enjoyed the cookies, Karaleen! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us!
I just made these ,I added a half of a tsp of ginger to the batter.They are delicious Definitely will make them again.
Ginger sounds like a fun addition, Lisa! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us. We’re so glad you loved the cookies!
It turned out great! One note: you forgot to mention that we had to smash the balls of cookie dough because the first time we tried the recipe we got cookie balls instead of cookies because there was no instruction to smash. Tasted great though!
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?? How am I supposed to not eat the whole batch of cookies if you keep creating these wonderful delicious recipes? Oh my goodness. I don’t even like snickerdoodle cookies but these were so good. I only made them since this is my daughter’s favorite cookie. She isn’t even gluten free and she loved them too. These are just incredible and so easy to make. Thank you!
Wow! Thank you for such a kind review! We’re so happy to hear the snickerdoodles were such a hit!
If making ahead of time and freezing, would you wait to roll in cinnamon sugar right before baking? Or can the dough balls be frozen that way?
Hi Taylor, we’d recommend waiting to roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar until right before baking. We hope you enjoy the cookies! Happy baking!
I cannot find the Nutiva shorting you recommend. I think it may no longer be in production. Do you have another brand for shortening that you recommend? I have made the brown butter gluten free chocolate chip cookies (multiple times) and we keep a minimum of 50 in the freezer for emergencies.
Hi Liz, oh thank you for letting us know! We will need to look into the Nutiva shortening further. Other organic palm shortenings will work in its place. Thank you for the additional compliment regarding the chocolate chip cookies! We’re so happy to hear they have become a staple food in your home!
Hi Liz, here is a new link to another organic palm shortening we recommend. Thanks for your patience!
Thankyou for such a wonderful recipe but could you please add the metric measurements as I’m in Australia? Thanks!
Hi Kitty, you’re right we often include those in recipes. We’ve made note of this. Thanks for your comment!