Shortly before I started grad school in organic chemistry, a new dessert shop opened up downtown, just a few blocks away from the university. It boasted create-your-own ice cream cookie sandwiches as its main menu item, along with more traditional ice cream desserts like sundaes, milkshakes, and floats, and the line stretched halfway down the street the day it opened.
I waited a few weeks before stopping by to let the crowds die down, but even then, I still stood in a line that snaked its way through the store and out the glass doors. I didn’t mind very much, though; it gave me plenty of time to think through my order. I’m way too indecisive!
With ten different cookies to choose from (not including the six gluten-free options) and twenty flavors of ice cream, I never fully figured out my ice cream cookie sandwich creation until the exact moment one of the employees greeted me and asked what I wanted. Sometimes I even stalled a little bit longer by asking for a sample of one or two flavors of ice cream… But at least that helped me narrow down my choices!
I always ordered two different cookies to bookend the ice cream (which helped with my indecision!), and I usually gravitated towards the ones with chocolate. However, since I’m a cinnamonaholic as well as a chocoholic, the oatmeal raisins and snickerdoodles often called my name… See? Decisions are much too hard!
So I usually ended up with some combination of chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and oatmeal raisin… Surrounding chocolate, peanut butter, salted caramel, caramel cinnamon, or rocky road ice cream. With that many options to choose from, it was practically mandatory to go there often and try them all! It’s probably a good thing I don’t live in that town anymore…
When my brother recently mentioned that he walked by the same dessert shop in a different city, I started craving those design-your-own ice cream cookie sandwiches all over again. Instead of driving half an hour to the restaurant, I decided to make my own at home, and because I couldn’t decide which cookie flavor I wanted, I combined them into these Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodles! Buttery cookies full of melty chocolate chips and rolled in a sweet cinnamon coating… They’re absolutely irresistible, yet they contain no refined flour or sugar!
Chocoholic + cinnamonaholic = ♥
Because these cookies are really easy to make, let’s just go over a few quick things. To start, it’s very important to measure the flour correctly, using the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale, because too much flour will make your cookies dry or cakey instead of chewy. I highly recommend the latter, and this is the inexpensive one that I own. It’s my #1 favorite kitchen appliance—I use it every day!
Next, these healthier cookies are sweetened with coconut sugar instead of refined sugar. Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: sweetener that comes from coconuts! But no, it does NOT taste like coconut at all. It has a very similar flavor to brown sugar, warm with hints of caramel, but it pours like granulated sugar. You can find it at almost any grocery store, as well as online, and this is the kind that I typically buy.
You’ll also combine some coconut sugar with a little cinnamon to create the iconic snickerdoodle coating. I typically drop all of the cookie dough into rounded scoops on the baking sheet first to make sure they’re evenly sized before shaping it into balls and rolling in the cinnamon sugar. And of course, don’t forget the mini chocolate chips! You’ll use mini chips instead of regular sized to ensure every bite contains at least a morsel of melty chocolate. (I love these because they melt really well and have a richer flavor than the ones in the yellow bags!) Remember to save a few to press into the tops right before baking!
Don’t they look tempting?? And when you bake your own, remember to snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking. I’d love to see your cookies!
| Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodles | | Print |
- for the cookies
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp (56g) unsalted butter or coconut oil*, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (192g) coconut sugar
- 5 tbsp (70g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- for the coating
- 6 tbsp (72g) coconut sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- To prepare the cookies, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the butter, eggs, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in 4 tablespoons of chocolate chips.
- To prepare the coating, stir together the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Roll the dough into 24 spheres, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. (If the dough is sticky, use a spoon and spatula to drop it into rounded scoops onto the baking sheets instead.) Working with one sphere at a time, drop it into the cinnamon mixture, and roll it around until it’s completely coated. Place the sphere back onto the baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining dough.
- Flatten each sphere to about half of its original height, and gently press the remaining chocolate chips into the tops. Sprinkle the tops with a little more of the cinnamon mixture. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, but the cookies will have a more prominent “wheat-y” flavor.
The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft and chewy.
I highly recommend using butter instead of coconut oil for the best taste!
Brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar in the cookies, and granulated sugar or Truvia may be substituted for the coconut sugar in the coating. If either of these substitutions are used, the cookies will no longer be clean eating friendly.
When rolling the cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture, it sometimes doesn’t stick very well. As long as you sprinkle extra on the tops of the cookies just before baking, it’ll be fine.
If the cookies stick to the silicone baking mat or parchment paper, carefully slide a knife underneath each cookie to loosen.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Why are you such a genius?! I like snickerdoodles, but THESE are taking it to the next level because chocolate chips. YES! Thank you so much for sharing Amy <3
Marina, you’re just the sweetest — your comments always brighten my day!! ♥
Oh my friend, the indecision struggle is so real. I love that you combined the two, in fact JUST TONIGHT I was dabbling between wanting a chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookie!!! If I had these I wouldn’t have had to choose!
Oh my gosh, we really are twins at heart Brittany!! I totally would’ve made you a vegan version too! (P.S. Aren’t you up a little late?? 😉 ♥)
Got this recipe email and made these almost immediately, Dissertation defense or chocolate chip snickerdoodles, the choice was easy.
They came out delicious, of all the “clean” cookies I’ve baked from your recipes, these taste the most like the “unclean” version and I LOVE the edition of the chocolate chips!
Baking note: My dough came out very dry, so I added a splash of nonfat milk and that helped it combine and made the cinnamon/sugar mixture happy to stick to my dough balls! DELICIOUS!
Those are huge compliments Rennie, both that you baked the cookies so soon after receiving my email and that you think they taste “unclean!” Thank you so much for sharing that with me — it made my day! 🙂 And I actually laughed out loud from your dissertation comment… I’m very familiar with the grad school process, and I definitely would’ve chosen the baking option too!
Was looking for a healthy snickerdoodle for my daughter to make. I like cinnamon but cookies are a waste of
calories w/o chocolate so figured we would just add some chips like we do for most muffin recipes.
You are a girl after my own chocolate heart! You already did it for me:)
Question: did you try any cream of tartar. Was thinking that was was made this cookie distinctive, not just
a sugar cookie with cinnamon?
I’m so glad I’m not the only chocoholic Tracy! 😉 Each of my grandmas’ classic snickerdoodle cookie recipes didn’t involve cream of tartar, so I didn’t include it in my healthier version either. You’re welcome to add a small pinch of it if you prefer though! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
Do you think one could use Monkfruit instead of coconut sugar? Would prefer zero calories if possible.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jeff! You can substitute the type of monkfruit that measures cup-for-cup like sugar for the coconut sugar, but you’ll need to add 3-4 tablespoons of milk (any kind will work) to the cookie dough and the cookies will also turn out more cakey than chewy because monkfruit behaves differently than coconut sugar in my cookie recipes. I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try that! 🙂
I just tried and…the cookies turned out amazing !! I halved the recipe and got 14 cookies. I used only 60 grams of sugar in total and didn’t coat them with cinnamon and sugar. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, perfect recipe ! Five stars 🙂
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Eda! That means SO much to me that you’d give them five stars — thank you!! 🙂
Amy;
Hi,happy holidays and Merry christmas.i just found out today that I have to make something for the Christmas party that I am going to on Wednesday evening,and after going through your desserts on your website I decided to copy down your chocolate chip Snicker doodle cookie recipe and I am going to make your cookies and bring them to the Christmas party,and I will let you know what us ladies think of your cookies on thursday.our Bible study Christmas party is on Wednesday evening,and we are also exchanging Christmas gifts and cards at the party.
Kim
Merry Christmas Kim!! I’m SO honored that you plan on making my cookies to share with your friends at your holiday party. That means the world to me! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your friends think of these!
Amy
Hi Amy,I made your chocolate chip Snicker doodle cookies for the Christmas party,and I brought a medium sized cookietin full of your cookies with me to the party and some of the ladies loved the cookies,mom and I loved eating your cookies and one of the ladies took a few extra cookies to share with her husband to eat.the party was a huge success and we all had fun and we enjoyed ourselves at the party.we all exchanged gifts as well.i got a pair of homemade warm mitts to wear outside in our cold,wintery cool weather.
I still have a lot of your cookies left over from our party and I was wondering if my mom and I can dunk your cookies in our coffee and tea.
Kim
I am going to make your Apple pie Snicker doodle cookies in January 2018,I am also going to make your single serving cakes in my 6 mini ramakins that I have in the kitchen,and I will let you know what I think of the mini single serving cakes and the apple pie Snicker doodle cookies after I make them ok Amy.
I’m so glad everyone at the Christmas party enjoyed these snickerdoodles Kim! That means a lot to me. 🙂 Yes, you can definitely dunk these cookies in your tea and coffee — what a yummy idea! I can’t wait to hear what you think of my apple pie snickerdoodles and the mug cakes! I hope you and your family had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s!
How many calories are these?!
The full nutrition information is actually included directly beneath the recipe! It can be easy to miss. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these snickerdoodles, Grace!
Thank you so much! I made these today and really enjoyed them:)
It’s my pleasure, and thank YOU! I’m so glad you loved them Grace, and I truly appreciate you taking the time to let me know! 🙂