These keto snickerdoodle blondies are a delicious way to indulge your craving for sweet cinnamon cookies. Tender almond flour bars with a sugar-free cinnamon topping.
To me, Snickerdoodles are a quintessentially American treat. I had never even heard of them until I moved to the US for graduate school and was perusing a cookie baking book. The name made me giggle, to be honest. Or should I say…it made me snicker? But it definitely didn’t make me doodle.
But these soft, sweet cookies have quickly found a place in my heart. Honestly, how can you go wrong with melt in your mouth cookies dredged in a coating of cinnamon sugar? Also be sure to check out my classic keto snickerdoodles too!
It’s been fun trying to come up with variations of snickerdoodles that are keto friendly. I first came up with these easy Snickerdoodle Blondies way back in 2012, when I was part of a fun blogging group called the Secret Recipe Club. We would be assigned another person’s blog and we had to make something inspired by their recipes. The inspiration for these bars came from The Cookaholic Wife.
But since that long ago time, my low carb baking skills have improved dramatically. These were pretty tasty bars way back then and they’ve been a reader favorite for a long time. But I always felt that they didn’t have the right texture. So I recently set about to re-make and improve them.
Soft and chewy Snickerdoodle Blondies
Use Cream of Tartar:
I didn’t change much in terms of the flavor profile. Snickerdoodles are unique among cookies because they contain cream of tartar. If you don’t have cream of tartar, I urge you to go get some. You will find it in the spice aisle of your local grocery store and it’s actually a byproduct of wine making. It’s a dry powdery acid and when combined with baking soda, it produces carbon dioxide to help baked goods rise. Which gives snickerdoodles their classic pillowy softness.
Cream of tartar also helps egg whites whip into shape, because it stabilizes the air bubbles. I always use some when I make low carb meringues.
Fewer eggs:
When I first made these, they had 3 eggs. Which made them cakier and less dense than true blondies. This was early on in my keto baking days and I thought I needed the eggs for the bars to hold together. But I’ve since found that it’s not necessary to have so many eggs and I can get a better result with only one. So I reduced the number of eggs and got just the right snickerdoodle blondie texture.
Gelatin for chewiness:
Finally, I pulled out a trick that I’ve learned only in the past year, but that seems to make a difference in low carb cookies. Adding a tablespoon of grassfed gelatin can really help give keto baked goods the chewiness we are all looking for. In the low carb world, we have to come up with a lot of interesting work arounds to get the right texture and flavor for classic desserts. This little trick really works and I’ve used it in a few recipes, including my Chewy Ginger Cookies and my Keto Brownies.
The results:
Well, I have to say that tackling Snickerdoodle Blondies again was a great success. They were soft and a bit chewy, and had all the wonderful flavor of a classic Snickerdoodle. We took them on a late summer getaway and topped them with keto vanilla ice cream and some of my sugar-free caramel sauce. The kids couldn’t get enough of it! It was a decadent low carb dessert.
If you just want some Snickerdoodle Cookies, try these Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles. They just need a change of sweetener to be keto-friendly!
More delicious low carb Snickerdoodles
Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches
Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Truffles
Snickerdoodle Blondies (Low Carb and Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
Blondies:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 tablespoon grassfed gelatin
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ⅓ cup Swerve Brown
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Topping:
- 1 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, gelatin, cinnamon, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with both sweeteners until lightened and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add the almond flour mixture and beat until the dough comes together, scraping down sides of bowl and beaters as necessary.
- Spread the batter in prepared baking pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until set and top is golden brown.
- In a small bowl, whisk together Swerve and cinnamon. Sprinkle over hot bars in pan. Let cool in pan, and then cut into squares.
Shellie O'Hara says
Just made these with one tweak. I coarsely chopped pecans in my little chopper, and I pressed them firmly into the top of the mixture before baking. These were amazing- the spicy taste of Fall in an easy-to-cut, moist, chewy bar. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Sounds good to me!
Nicole says
Finally got my brown sugar and excited to make these!. I ended up ordering Sukrin Gold fron amazon. Can you use Knox unflavoured gelatin in this recipe?
Carolyn says
Yes, Knox should be fine.
STACY says
I have to try these keto blondies. This could replace our family’s favorite blondies and be far healthier for us.
Bertha Sanchez says
I’m getting the cooling effect of the Erythritol and Xylitol how can I prevent this? I read in one of your recipes that you will subsitute liquid stevia but how much do I use when you call for 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup for the recipe? I also need the equivalent for the powdered sugar ?
Carolyn says
Depends on what kind of stevia but usually 1/4 tsp = 1/4 cup.
Becky says
I’m a lacto/ovo vegetarian – if I leave out the gelatin would you suggest any other changes? Maybe another egg?
Carolyn says
You can simply leave it out. They won’t be as chewy.
Erica B says
I made a pan of these. Didn’t have Swerve brown and accidentally forgot my usual blackstrap molasses drizzle for brown sugar flavor, and then accidentally overbaked them. They were still fantastic! Great texture. I can’t wait to try them again, when my head is screwed on more tightly. Thank you, Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Glad they still worked out!
Nicole says
These look amazing! Not sure if my usual stores here in Canada sell Swerve Brown but assuming I can use Splenda brown sugar as a last resort?
Carolyn says
I am sure they will soon, since Swerve is big in Canada!
Nicole says
I went today to look at my local health food stores and one only carries the regular swerve granulated and the other one had a problem with their supplier so they stopped selling it. I’m going to to order it from low carb grocery here in Ontario. If anyone lives in Ontario, they sell Swerve at Loblaws for $9.99 and Sobeys is $11.49. Excited to make these!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Nicole!
Erica B says
Nicole, just in case you didn’t know, Splenda brown sugar is half real sugar. 12 carbs per tablespoon, according to package labels. I usually add a small drizzle of blackstrap molasses to mimic brown sugar flavor when a recipe calls for it. Just 1/2 tsp or so, which adds less than 3nc.
Nicole says
Thanks for the tip Erica! I’m not fully Keto as I do eat smaller amounts of sugar but I guess better than eating regular brown sugar. Going to health food store today to see I can get some Swerve brown which would be a much better choice.
Lauralee Oster says
Why the difference in the nutrition numbers? Which is correct?
Carolyn says
The ones in the notes were for the old recipe. I’ve deleted them now.
Lauren A. says
Hi there! What a beautiful looking recipe. I need these in my life. Just wondering, is there a substitution for the gelatin? I’m a mostly vegetarian and gelatin really freaks me out! Thank you!!!
Carolyn says
You can just skip it but they will be a little crumblier.
Donna Wolf says
I have a question about Swerve Brown
Brown sugar is usually packed into the measuring cup, so do you pack Swerve Brown or simply scoop and level?
Hillary says
Refrigerate leftovers?
Carolyn says
They are fine on the counter for a few days but that is up to you.
Amanda Butler says
I can’t get the brown swerve in time, what would you suggest instead? Some molasses or yacon?
Lindsay Cotter says
These look crazy delicious! Such a great fall dessert!
Jamie says
Hi can I sub out the swerve brown for regular sugar substitute. So 2/3 cup xylitol instead of 1/3 and 1/3?
Suzy says
Love that you have a gluten free option here! I have a few friends that are GF and it’s so nice to have tasty recipes to make for them. Thank you!
Jennifer Blake says
Snickerdoodle flavor in blondie form – how can you go wrong? While I can certainly appreciate chocolate desserts, I definitely tend toward those without. Can’t wait to dig into these!
Liz says
My youngest LOVES snickerdoodles and this is such an easy way to enjoy all their classic flavors!!
Sheila says
What consistency is the batter supposed to have? My dough is like cookie dough, so it was very hard to spread in the pan
Carolyn says
You want it to be like cookie dough! Press it into the pan if you need to and then smooth the top. Or use an offset spatula…that’s what I do.
Angela says
So I’m in the middle of making these and in the directions there is no step including the cream of tartar or the baking soda?!
Carolyn says
All fixed!
Mama Owl says
Not sure what happened… these did NOT turn out like blondies. It was soft and fluffy like cake. A very yummy spice cake. Duncan Hines soft yummy cake. Not flour free dense hard cake. Made me want some cream cheese frosting on the top. Almond flour hating daughter even liked it. So while the blondies were not a success, the cake was! LOL