Date Sweetened Snickerdoodle Cookies
Date sweetened snickerdoodle cookies are a delicious and healthy alternative to traditional snickerdoodles.
These cookies are sweetened entirely with dates instead of refined sugar, making them a nutritious treat option.
The use of dates adds a natural sweetness and chewy texture to the cookies, while still maintaining the classic snickerdoodle flavor profile.
By replacing refined sugar with dates, these cookies offer a lower glycemic index and provide additional nutrients such as fiber and antioxidants.
Enjoy the guilt-free indulgence of date sweetened snickerdoodle cookies for a wholesome and satisfying dessert option.
Why you’ll love date sweetened snickerdoodle cookies
Snickerdoodle cookies are a favorite treat for many. Here’s what you’ll love about this particular snickerdoodle recipe:
No processed sugar: This recipe cuts out the processed sugar and replaces it with naturally sweet dates for a healthy twist. Dates are great to use to sweeten treats because they are packed with fiber which helps keep your blood sugar levels stable. Making it so you can enjoy a treat without the sugar rush then subsequent crash!
Chewy, soft baked texture: This recipe makes 12 yummy, thick soft baked cookies. Just take one bite and you’ll be hooked.
Packed with flavor: With generous amounts of cinnamon and vanilla in the dough, then a coating of cinnamon-sugar on the outside, these cookies do not lack in flavor.
No date paste needed: Recipes sweetened with dates usually have you make a date paste, a process that involves soaking the dates in water for a period of time then blending them up into a paste. With this recipe, you don’t need to make date paste. Instead the dates are chopped into the dry ingredients using a food processor. This method is much faster.
Ingredients
You won’t need anything especially weird to make these delicious date sweetened snickerdoodle cookies. The one thing you may not have on hand is cream of tartar, but don’t skip out on this ingredient. It’s necessary for that signature tang snickerdoodles are known for!
- Whole wheat flour – Using whole wheat flour gives these cookies an extra boost of healthy fiber and other nutrients, but you can use all-purpose flour if you prefer.
- Dates – Medjool dates is the variety of dates you’ll want to use in this recipe. This variety have a caramel like sweetness to them and are just great for sweetening baked goods.
- Ground cinnamon – Cinnamon is a must in snickerdoodle cookies. While some recipes only call for cinnamon in the coating, this recipe calls for cinnamon in both the coating and the dough, making them extra cinnamony!
- Cream of tartar – Cream of tartar is a key ingredient in snickerdoodles that helps activate the baking soda and gives the cookies their characteristic tangy flavor. Additionally, cream of tartar contributes to the cookies’ soft and tender crumb.
- Baking soda – A leavening agent that helps make your cookies rise so they’re not flat and dense.
- Salt – Essential to make the flavor of the cookies pop.
- Coconut oil – A good fat that lets the other flavors shine while providing moisture. You could use melted butter instead if you want more flavor.
- Vanilla – Provides a warm, rich flavor to the cookies that you’ll love.
- Egg – Provides both moisture and binds all the ingredients together so your cookies aren’t a crumbly mess.
- Coconut sugar – A tablespoon is called for to make the cinnamon-sugar coating. Coconut sugar is deep brown color and makes these cookies a deep brown in turn. If you prefer, you can use regular granulated sugar instead. Your cookies will be lighter in color but just as delicious!
How to make healthy snickerdoodle cookies
These date sweetened snickerdoodle cookies are a breeze to make. Here’s a rundown on how to make these bad boys:
- Put the dry ingredients into a food process with the dates. Processthe flour, dates, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together until the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Put the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk together until combined and homogenous.
- Add the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, mix together until well combined.
- Cover the dough. Chill the dough for 15 to 30 minutes as you heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make the coating. In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar together.
- Make 12 dough balls. Flatten and coat in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then place on a lined cookie sheet.
- Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and set in the center.
Tips for making date sweetened snickerdoodle cookies
Here are some tips to follow to ensure success while making this recipe:
- Don’t over blend/process the dates and flour. The mixture will become clumpy if you blend the dates too much. Blend/process for 20 to 30 second bursts, stopping to mix up the ingredients and ensuring the ingredients are not clumping together. Stop when it resembles brown sugar and there are only very small pieces of dates. A food processor definitely works better for this, but I’ve successfully used a blender too.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Because this recipe calls for melted coconut oil, it’s very important to use a room temperature egg. If the egg is added when it’s still cold, the coldness from the egg will harden the oil and the oil won’t emulsify throughout the dough.To quickly and safely “warm up” an egg, place the egg in a bowl of room temp water for 5 minutes or so before cracking it and adding to the recipe.
- Weigh each dough ball for the most uniform cookies. For perfectly uniform cookies, weigh out the dough for each one. Weigh all the cookie dough, then divide the total weight by 12. The number you get will be how much each dough ball needs to weigh for perfectly uniform cookies. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, try to make each dough ball the size of a ping-pong ball.
- Press the cookies before baking. These cookies don’t spread much if at all during baking, so pressing down the dough is necessary. Press down each ball of dough into a disc that is about 2” wide and 1/2” thick. And because they don’t spread, there’s no need to space each cookie out more than 1” from each other on the cookie sheet during baking.
Date Sweetened Snickerdoodle Cookies
May 21, 2024Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (120 g)
- 1 cup pitted medjool dates (144 g)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp cream of tartar
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil (50 g)
- 1 whole egg room temperature
- 1 TBS vanilla extract
For the coating
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 TBS coconut sugar
Instructions
- Put the flour, dates, cinnamon, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into a food processor. Process until the dates have been chopped finely and incorporated throughout the ingredients, about 1 minute.1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup pitted medjool dates, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¾ tsp cream of tartar, ¼ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp kosher salt
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted coconut oil, the egg, and vanilla together until well combined.¼ cup melted coconut oil, 1 TBS vanilla extract, 1 whole egg
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until there are no more dry patches of flour.
- Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 15 minutes.
- Place a rack in the middle position in the oven. Heat the oven to 350℉.
- Make the cookie coating by combining cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 TBS coconut sugar
- Divide the dough into 12 dough balls (about 32 grams each). Roll each into a ball, then slightly flatten between your palms. Place into the bowl of cinnamon sugar and press into the coating until flattened into a 2" diameter disc. Flip the cookie dough disc over and coat the other side. Place on a lined cookie sheet. Repeat the process with each dough ball.
- Bake in the oven until jut set in the center, about 10 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, let cool 5 minutes on the tray then place on a rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
