BellyHealthy

Two dairy free versions of autumn cookie classics: Snickerdoodles and Iced Pumpkin Cookies, too. Originally, the recipe comes from the Disney Family website, who also came up with the 12 Cookies of Christmas. But I made them dairy free for my colleague’s birthday and nobody could tell they weren’t dairy, so I figure mission accomplished!

The Iced Pumpkin ones are like mini pumpkin pies, and the Snickerdoodles, well, they snuck themselves in as they’re my husband’s favorite cookies, but who doesn’t appreciate a good Snickerdoodle treat around 11 o’clock? Enjoy!

Dairy Free Snickerdoodle Recipe

I used Crisco all-vegetable shortening for this recipe — great for buttery flavor without the dairy badness. I followed the original recipe, but my husband peering over my shoulder was surprised that I’d used so much cinnamon in the cinnamon-sugar rolling part (instruction number 5). He says he’s always just sprinkled a fraction of that mix over the tops of the walnut-sized dough balls, and it’s been enough. I’d tend to agree, plus it’s cheaper to do it that way. Oh well, next time.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. 1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. 2) In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir in the eggs.
3. 3) Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended.
4. 4) In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the cinnamon.
5. 5) Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Place them onto an unprepared cookie sheet, two inches apart. They will flatten and expand all on their own, so it’s important to space them out on the sheet.
6. 6) Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Tops may crack slightly if they get a bit dry, but that actually makes them look even nicer (is that possible??). Cool the cookies on wire racks.

Dairy Free Iced Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

I modified the measurements on this a bit from the original as I didn’t have any ground cloves handy (and they were just as good without) and the original glaze came out much too “vanilla-y” and I had to make a new batch. New, shiny and updated version is:

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Nucoa, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I used Trader Joe’s Organic)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons soy milk (plain, not vanilla)
1 tablespoon melted Nucoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. 2) Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
3. 3) In a stand mixer, or using some elbow grease if you’re the old-fashioned type, cream together the 1/2 cup of margarine and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to the creamed mixture, and beat until creamy.
4. 4) Slowly add in the dry ingredients and try to get some air in there so the mixture doesn’t look too “heavy”.
5. 5) With a small bowl of warm water handy, spoon tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto your cookie sheets, pressing the tops down slightly to flatten. The warm water really helped me to measure and flatten as the batter was very, very sticky indeed.
6. 6) Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
7. 7) Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
8. To Make the Glaze: Combine confectioners’ sugar, a smidge of the soy milk, 1 tablespoon melted Nucoa , and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla essence. Add the soy milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.