Gluten-Free Maple Snickerdoodle Cookies

These soft, chewy gluten-free maple snickerdoodle cookies are a delicious spin on a classic! Their flavor is perfect for fall, but these maple snickerdoodles are also a delicious holiday cookie!

Gather Your Ingredients

These chewy maple snickerdoodles are a maple-flavored hybrid of two other recipes: my Brown Butter Snickerdoodles and my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, so you might notice a familiar cast of characters. Let’s take a look at the ingredients list:

How To Make Gluten-Free Maple Snickerdoodles, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Brown & Cool Butter. Before you start the cookie dough, brown the butter. Dice the butter into cubes then add to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly until the butter is golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl to cool. (Get step-by-step instructions for browning butter here!)
2. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined, then set aside.
3. Combine Butter & Sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl), combine COOLED brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix to combine. Drizzle in pure maple syrup, then add egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and maple extract. Mix until evenly combined.
4. Add Dry Ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, with no floury patches left.
5. Chill Dough 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge just 30 minutes while you preheat the oven and prep your pans. (I don’t recommend chilling longer than 30 minutes, or the dough can be hard to work with.)
6. Preheat & Prep. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon to make cinnamon sugar mixture.
7. Scoop & Roll Dough. Use a medium cookie scoop to measure 2-Tablespoon balls of cookie dough and roll smooth between your hands. Roll each cookie dough ball in cinnamon sugar then place 6-8 cookies on a baking sheet. (Return the rest of the dough to the fridge in between batches.)
8. Bake & Cool. Then, bake the cookies 9-12 minutes in preheated oven until the edges are set and the centers look slightly underdone. (The remaining heat will finish cooking them through.) Let the cookies cool 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process, alternating cookie sheets with each batch so you don’t put cold cookie dough on a hot baking sheet.
9. Serve & Store. Enjoy cooled cookies right away or store in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days. If desired, you can freeze cookies up to 2 months.

FAQ + Tricks For The Best Maple Snickerdoodle Cookies

Let The Brown Butter Cool! I know it’s annoying to wait, but you NEED to let the brown butter cool down to room temperature before making the maple snickerdoodle cookie dough, otherwise, it will melt the sugar and cause the cookies to spread drastically.

Metric Is Best! The most common mistake I see in gluten-free cookie baking is adding too much flour. If possible, weigh your flour using an inexpensive kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, make sure to use the scoop and level method to spoon flour INTO the measuring cup, rather than scooping flour WITH the measuring cup (which packs in too much flour!).

Don’t Rush The Chill Time. Another round of waiting–I know!–but this 30 minute chill time lets the cookie dough hydrate, so the flour absorbs just enough liquid from the dough to give your maple snickerdoodles their soft, chewy texture.

Do I Have To Use Cream of Tartar? Yes. Cream of Tartar is a leavening agent (like baking soda or baking powder), so it’s important for the texture & spread of the cookies, but it also gives this classic cookie its signature flavor. It’s widely available in the spices or baking sections of grocery stores and worth buying for this recipe.

Try It For A Cookie Exchange! This soft, chewy cookie recipe is delicious in the fall, but I especially love these gluten-free snickerdoodles as a gluten-free Christmas cookie! The maple, cinnamon & brown butter flavors are lovely paired next to other favorite cookies on a cookie plate or dessert spread.

More Holiday Cookie Recipes To Try

Gluten-Free Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies

Gluten-Free Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies

Gluten-Free Snowball Cookies

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms

Gluten-Free Maple Snickerdoodle Cookies

5 from 1 vote

Author: Emily Dixon, Sweets & Thank You

These soft, chewy gluten-free maple snickerdoodles have layers of flavor from brown butter, pure maple syrup, cinnamon sugar, and vanilla. They're DELICIOUS & perfect for a cookie exchange!

Print Pin Rate

Servings: 20 -25 Cookies

Equipment

• 1 Medium Cookie Scoop
• 2 Cookie Sheets
• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

For The Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough

• 1 cup Butter cut into cubes
• ¾ cup Brown Sugar (150 grams)
• ¾ cup Granulated Sugar (150 grams)
• ¼ cup Pure Maple Syrup
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Egg Yolk (save extra egg white for another use)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Maple Extract
• 2 ¾ cup Gluten-Free Measure-For-Measure Flour (330 grams)
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

For The Cinnamon-Sugar

• ¼ cup Granulated Sugar (50 grams)
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Instructions

• Brown & Cool Butter. Before you start the cookie dough, brown the butter. Dice the butter into cubes then add to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly until the butter is golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl to cool. (Get step-by-step instructions for browning butter here!)
• Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined, then set aside.
• Mix Wet Ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl), combine COOLED brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix to combine. Drizzle in pure maple syrup, then add egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and maple extract. Mix until evenly combined.
• Add Dry Ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, with no floury patches left.
• Chill Dough 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge just 30 minutes while you preheat the oven and prep your pans. (I don't recommend chilling longer than 30 minutes, or the dough can be hard to work with.)
• Preheat & Prep. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon to make cinnamon sugar mixture.
• Scoop & Roll Dough. Use a medium cookie scoop to measure 2-Tablespoon balls of cookie dough and roll smooth between your hands. Roll each cookie dough ball in cinnamon sugar then place 6-8 cookies on a baking sheet. (Return the rest of the dough to the fridge in between batches.)
• Bake & Cool. Then, bake the cookies 9-12 minutes in preheated oven until the edges are set and the centers look slightly underdone. (The remaining heat will finish cooking them through.) Let the cookies cool 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process, alternating cookie sheets with each batch so you don't put cold cookie dough on a hot baking sheet.
• Serve & Store. Enjoy cooled cookies right away or store in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days. If desired, you can freeze cookies up to 2 months.

Notes

• Gluten-Free Flour. We highly recommend King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour, but if you use another 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum for best results! 
• Metric Is Best! The most common mistake I see in gluten-free cookie baking is adding too much flour. If possible, weigh your flour using an inexpensive kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, make sure to use the scoop and level method to spoon flour INTO the measuring cup, rather than scooping flour WITH the measuring cup (which packs in too much flour!).
• Let The Brown Butter Cool! I know it’s annoying to wait, but you NEED to let the brown butter cool down to room temperature before making the maple snickerdoodle cookie dough, otherwise, it will melt the sugar and cause the cookies to spread drastically.
• Don’t Rush The Chill Time. Another round of waiting–I know!–but this 30 minute chill time lets the cookie dough hydrate, so the flour absorbs just enough liquid from the dough to give your maple snickerdoodles their soft, chewy texture.

Video

Course: Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: gluten-free christmas cookies, Snickerdoodles

Find the recipe:

sweetsandthankyou.com/maple-snickerdoodle-cookies/