This experiment comes to you courtesy Cat Cora and the Hilary for President website circa March 2008. Since I’ve got this box of Egg Replacer, which only comes in 16oz which is a lot of eggs replaced when it’s 1 1/2 tsps powder for every 1 egg, I thought I’d try a vegan adaptation of this simple cookie.
Snickerdoodles are a soft, cinnamon and sugar cookie of uncertain original. Some claim the word itself is a corruption of the German schneckennudeln (meaning “snail noodles”) while others suggest a corruption of the Dutch snekrad (meaning “snail”). Why snails would be involved with these cookies I’ll never know as they are neither snail shaped nor slow to bake.
Another site lists the first appearance of this same basic recipe as 1902. Still another puts it at 1908 with no more certainty about the cookie’s origins. Regardless of when this cookie entered the American baking landscape, it’s simple to make and a delight for most to eat.
The Photos
The Verdict
While still tasty, the vegan version of these cookies isn’t even vaguely as soft as the version with butter and egg. Perhaps with the addition of some additional liquid, water or possibly a teaspoon of vegetable oil, they could be.
The Recipe
Cat Cora’s Snickerdoodle Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies
The Dough
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
The Topping
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degF.
- Cream butter.
- Add sugar and egg. Mix thoroughly.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into butter, sugar and egg mixture.
- Form dough into balls the size of walnuts. Roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- Place on ungreased cookie sheet two inches apart.
- Bake 8-10 minutes.
These look awesome, by the way! You inspired me to do a little research about soft vegan cookies, and this web site says chilling the dough helps make the cookies more puffy: http://veganyumyum.com/2008/12/snickerdoodles/ (it has a little more sugar than the recipe above). Some recipes I saw also added 1/4 cup soymilk, but I’d try chilling the dough first before adding more stuff to it.