These pillowy soft keto snickerdoodles have the perfect chewy texture and a delicious cinnamon flavor. I worked hard to perfect a low carb snickerdoodle recipe that lives up to the iconic American treat.
I have quite a number of snickerdoodle-flavored recipes here on All Day I Dream About Food. But until now, I’ve never made classic keto snickerdoodles. Why is that?
Snickerdoodle just wasn’t part of my lexicon growing up in Canada. So while it was extremely important to me to come up with the perfect keto chocolate chip cookie recipe, these soft cinnamon cookies simply weren’t on my radar.
But they are hugely popular in the US and once you taste a good snickerdoodle, you will see why! They are both soft and pillowy, but also a little chewy. And they have a unique flavor that is more than the sum of its parts.
If you love that cinnamon-dusted cookie, be sure to try my snickerdoodle-inspired keto mug cake and delicious snickerdoodle blondies too!
Why you must try this recipe
If you follow me, you know how much I like to perfect my recipes and make them as close to the real deal as possible.
And when it comes to an iconic cookie recipe like snickerdoodles, it was extremely important to me to get them right. Exactly right, with that perfect chewy texture and funny cinnamon speckled appearance.
That isn’t always easy to do with keto ingredients. But I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I really feel like I nailed them. And readers agree that these keto snickerdoodles are the real deal!
Reader Testimonials
“Yum! Thank you for sharing this! You can’t even tell that it’s keto! Same great snickerdoodle flavor!” — Natalie
“These are the best Snickerdoodle cookies I’ve ever had! I cannot tell you how much your recipes are appreciated. Each recipe makes it so much easier to live a keto lifestyle without feeling like we are missing out! Thank you! ” — Laura
“You did it again! Knocked this one out of the park!! Great taste!” — Sandy
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: This is an almond flour cookie recipe and finely ground almond flour makes a big difference to the texture.
- Swerve Brown: Conventional snickerdoodle cookies take white sugar but I find that Swerve Brown gives many keto cookies a soft but chewy quality.
- Collagen powder: I bet you thought this recipe would have gelatin in it, didn’t you! But this time I tried collagen powder and the results were dreamy. If you can, I highly recommend using the Perfect Keto Cinnamon Toast Collagen, but plain works as well. If you need to omit it altogether, the cookies will be less chewy but they will still be delicious.
- Cream of tartar and baking soda: These ingredients give classic snickerdoodles their unique flavor and soft but chewy texture. So I included them in this recipe as well.
- Allulose: I like granulated allulose for the cinnamon “sugar” coating. But any granulated sweetener should work.
- Cinnamon: They wouldn’t be classic snickerdoodles without that cinnamon coating.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter and make sure it’s melted but not overly hot when you add it to the dough.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs and vanilla.
Step-by-step directions
1. Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, Swerve, collagen, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
2. Add the wet ingredients: Stir in the butter, egg, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together. Roll into 1 ½ inch balls.
3. Cinnamon sugar. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the allulose and cinnamon. Roll the balls in the cinnamon mixture and then place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
4. Flatten cookies. Press the balls down to about ¾ inch thick with the palm of your hand. Don’t press down too much as these cookies will spread a bit on their own.
5. Bake. Bake at 325ºF for 15 to 18 minutes, until puffed and golden brown around the edges. They will still be very soft.
6. Cool. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with any leftover cinnamon/sweetener mixture. Let cool completely on the pan.
Expert Tips
Collagen powder is the same thing as collagen protein and collagen peptides. They all refer to a hydrolyzed form of collagen that makes for better absorption. I like to add it to recipes for both texture and and nutrition. If you don’t have access to it, you can also add gelatin. Use 1 tablespoon of grassfed gelatin such as Great Lakes, or 1 envelope of Knox gelatin.
Dairy-Free Option: Coconut oil does change the texture of the cookies a bit, but it works. If you can tolerate ghee, I recommend that instead.
Nut-Free Option: These keto snickerdoodles don’t work well with coconut flour, but you can try sunflower seed flour. Do keep in mind that it reacts with baking soda to cause a funny green reaction (yes, your cookies will turn green!) if you don’t add some acid to the recipe. So use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with the dry ingredients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conventional snickerdoodle cookies have at least 18 to 20g of carbs per serving, so they are not keto friendly. However, these keto snickerdoodles have only 5.5g of carbohydrate and 2.7g of dietary fiber for two cookies. Thus they have 2.8g of NET CARBS.
If you used baking powder instead of baking soda, your cookies will come out softer and more cake-like, rather than thick and chewy. The combination of baking soda and cream of tartar gives these cookies their classic taste and texture.
You can easily make these cookies in advance and freeze them. Layer them between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
More classic keto cookie recipes
Keto Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 2 cups (210 g) almond flour
- 2/3 cup (121.33 g) Brown Swerve
- 1/4 cup (59.15 g) collagen powder, (try cinnamon toast flavor!)
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp allulose, granular
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. (Use 2 baking sheets if yours are small, don't crowd the cookies).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, Swerve, collagen, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir in the butter, egg, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk toghether the allulose and cinnamon. Roll the balls in the cinnamon mixture and then place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Press the balls down to about 3/4 inch thick with the palm of your hand. Don't press down too much as these cookies will spread a bit on their own.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until puffed and golden brown around the edges. They will still be very soft.
- Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with any leftover cinnamon/sweetener mixture. Let cool completely on the pan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi Carolyn, my question is this. I have the beef protein collagen. I could swear I saw a recipe of yours once that showed it, so I ordered it. Will the beef flavor a sweet recipe negatively? If so, what could I use it for? TIA, Susan
I made these this morning….. they’re wonderful! I didn’t have collagen powder so did use powdered gelitan as I love a chewy cookie and they turned out beautifully. Thank you for teaching me how to bake with keto ingredients. ❤️
Thank you for addressing a collagen substitution! I came to the comment section exactly for this information. Gotta make some snickerdoodles now :-)) Thank you for another great Keto baking recipe Carolyn.
These cookies are amazing! Only thing I did different was I mixed the cinnamon with Bocha Sweet for the outside. Made last night. Making another batch now. These and your Pecan cookies are my Christmas cookies this year. Both are so amazing.
Carolyn,
Key keto baking question that I have for you…
I made these and exactly followed the recipe.
I made my dough a day ahead so it was chilled for at least 24 hours prior to baking.
I baked them on a piece of parchment paper.
These spread a lot so really flattened out so don’t look like yours.
I also converted two other traditional recipes and they spread even more.
I have researched all possible causes and exhausted those to help me troubleshoot.
I didn’t find this answer in your Keto Baking book.
Perhaps the while the symptoms above are the same they are caused by different reasons because if it didn’t happen with an already converted keto recipe, I would have suspected there was a key ingredient I missed in my attempt to convert.
Anyhow, I thought I’d pose these to you to see if you have any insight.
Any reason why the snickerdoodle above would have flattened beyond what I addressed above?
Also, any insight for addressing the flattening for a converted cookie recipe – would adding either xanthan gum or protein powder address the spreading issue? So, what in a traditional recipe prevents the cookie from spreading assuming dough is chilled and cookie sheets aren’t warm that I need to compensate for in converting the recipe to keto?
Basic issue? You don’t have enough flour in there. You may be mismeasuring it somehow. Try making sure you have at LEAST 100g per cup. Also… what brand of almond flour are you using?
Thanks. I definitely did not mismeasure. I weigh all my ingredients for precision. I used Bob’s Red Mill – 2 cups is 224 g which is what I used.
Also, do you have a tip for converting traditional recipes to keep from spreading? Do I have to adjust the butter amount because almond flour is high fat causing to spread more? Is xanthan gum (binder) the key to keep from spreading so much?
I don’t know what’s causing the spreading because mine do not, as you can see from the photos. Something is happening differently on your end. What sweetener are you using?
Sukrin Gold
These turned out so good for being Keto! The flavor is there and we all enjoyed them.
These Keto Snickerdoodles are SO good!! I can’t wait to make them again!
Yum! Thank you for sharing this! You can’t even tell that it’s keto! Same great snickerdoodle flavor!
Can the collagen powder be replaced?
Please read the blog post as I addressed that already.
These are tender, delicious & buttery! They were easy to whip up & baked beautifully. I used plain collagen peptides, but I may get the cinnamon toast collagen because I’ll definitely be making more of these snickerdoodles!
I have baked keto snickerdoodles for several years but thought I would give this new recipe a try and I’m so glad I did! They are amazing!! The texture and chewiness is wonderful. Head and shoulders above my old recipe! Carolyn you did it again! Thanks so much!!
Thank you!
I’ve made a few other keto snickerdoodle recipes, but this one is the best! The flavor and texture are perfect. I think I may have baked them a minute or so too long in my RV convection oven, so I guess I need to make another batch just to make sure 😉 I made them for my mom who loves snickerdoodles and I’m bringing them to her today. I’m sure she will love them as much as I do!
So happy to hear this!
Amazing texture- crispy exterior, soft interior and not too sweet. I used Lakanto because Swerve has this cooling effect I dislike.
Carolyn,
These are the best Snickerdoodle cookies I’ve ever had! I cannot tell you how much your recipes are appreciated. Each recipe makes it so much easier to live a keto lifestyle without feeling like we are missing out!
Thank you!
LAURA
So happy to hear it!
Just taking these out of the oven. They smell amazing. Followed recipe to the letter. Hardest part was getting lumps out of the brown swerve, that is what a large spoon is for! The dough was super soft and I was concerned they would fall apart. So far the only thing I noticed is they spread more than expected. Maybe “squish” less next time. I did not get 20, so guess I need to make them a little smaller. I made 17. Thanks for all your delicious recipes and love being able to bake quilt free.
Sounds like perhaps you needed a touch more flour in there. Try another 2 tbsp of almond flour.
I can I use whey protein instead of collagen?
Not if you want a chewy consistency! Whey will make them very cake-y. I recommend skipping it instead, although it’s not quite the same.
I’ve been craving snickerdoodles so this is a dream come true! Wondering how the ratios would change if we used Monkfruit instead.
That depends entirely on what you mean by “monk fruit”. What you probably mean is a “monk fruit sweetener”, which is a total marketing ploy because it’s mostly erythritol.
Please read this to understand more about keto sweeteners. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/best-keto-sweeteners/
You did it again! Knocked this one out of the park!! Great taste!
I am so happy to hear that!
Hi! Can I use sub the collagen with beef gelatin?
Maybe but as I didn’t test it myself, I can’t guarantee the outcome. I would use only 1 tbsp of gelatin, though.
Hi Carolyn, sorry if you get this question over and over, but in Australia we cannot get allulose. It is not yet approved by our food standards authority to sell. What can I substitute in for this?
Thanks
Please read the Frequently Asked Questions as I addressed that.
Really liked these. I used Perfect Keto Salted Caramel Collagen and liked the flavor. Plenty of cinnamon flavor from rolling dough in the cinnamon/allulosee
Wow, I am so happy you made them already!!!