Protein Snickerdoodle Cookies

Before developing this recipe, snickerdoodles were never a type of cookie I really gravitated towards. Sure, if there’s a cookie buffet in front of me, I’ll take one because I have to try at least one of everything. Right? But when I had to be judicious about my choices, this just wasn’t one of my top picks.

I might be having a change of heart though. When done right, these things are amazing. I’ve always been a huge fan of cinnamon sugar, so it makes sense that these have become one of my new favorites. Aside from the cinnamon and sugar, their characteristic tanginess is something special.

It wasn’t too hard to develop this recipe using our FitHackr Protein Cookie Mix. All that was required was adding the additional flavors (vanilla, molasses, cream of tartar) and chilling them long enough so they could be rolled into balls and dipped in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

But always looking to improve, I didn’t stop there. Tweaking the baking time was essential. If you have the patience, using a twice-baked method yields the best results.

The final piece to the puzzle was swapping some of the applesauce for greek yogurt. This infuses more of that characteristic tang while adding additional fluffiness (more acid to interact with the baking soda), and even packs a little more protein into each cookie.

Walkthrough

Okay so let’s walk through how you can actually make these things. Start by adding all the wet ingredients (butter, vanilla, molasses, applesauce, and greek yogurt) to a mixing bowl.

Add FitHackr Cookie Protein and mix on high with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. This step is similar to creaming butter and sugar in traditional cookies.

Don’t have an electric mixer? You really should get one. Don’t want to get one? Okay, then use a whisk, but make sure you combine everything really, really well.

Next, add the FitHackr Cookie Flour and cream of tartar, then mix with a spoon until combined. The result will be a fairly wet dough. Definitely not dry enough to handle and form into balls, which you’ll need to do in order to coat with cinnamon sugar.

This is typical of our protein cookie recipes because they don’t contain the full amount of starch and fat for tenderness. Dry protein does not have a good texture. But moist protein does.

To fix the issue of not being able to handle the dough, put it in the freezer to chill for a bit. You’re probably looking at 30 minutes minimum, but up to 2 hours is good. Alternatively, you can put it in the fridge for 8 hours, or overnight.

🔥 Feeling impatient and don’t want to bother chilling your dough? I got you. Click here for the no-chill method.

You’re looking for it to harden up enough that you can grab a chunk with your fingers and it doesn’t completely stick all over you.

While the dough is hardening up, go ahead and make the cinnamon sugar mixture. Combine 3 parts sweetener crystals to 1 part cinnamon, then mix it all together.

My favorite (and what is listed in this recipe) is a blend of Allulose, Erythritol, Sugar, and a bit of pure Stevia. However, you can use any combination you like, as long as you’re using granulated sweetener.

Is the dough hardened enough to handle? Cool, we’re almost done.

Get a cookie sheet, line it with parchment paper, and spray with oil.

Then, using a cookie scoop (or a spoon if that’s all you have) drop the balls of dough into the cinnamon sugar and fully coat them.

They become even easier to handle once coated, so my preferred method is to drop the dough balls, then use my hands to put the mixture on top, before picking them up and giving them a few more turns. You could also use a larger bowl and shake them around to coat.

After coating each dough ball, add them to the cookie sheet. You’ll want to leave a good amount of space between because they’ll spread quite a bit in the oven.

And if you’re feeling it, sprinkle a little more cinnamon sugar over them.

Once the cookie sheet is full, bake for about 10 minutes until they spread and puff up and start to get a little brown just on the edges.

They should look like the picture here. Not fully hardened because we want them to collapse when we pull them out, and they will finish setting as they cool. Remember, dry protein is no good. We want to preserve enough moisture so they are still tender, but not so much that they are wet.

Are you an overachiever, looking for the very best possible outcome? Click here to read about the twice-baked method

You could stop here, but there is a secret cookie trick I like to perform to make them about 6 times better. I learned this trick watching cookie baking videos on YouTube and it turned out to be just what our protein cookies needed.

As soon as you pull them from the oven, push the edges of the cookies in towards the center, shaping them into perfect circles with taller (rather than tapered) edges. This improves the appearance of the cookies but also makes them denser and chewier… like a real cookie loaded with butter.

You can shape them with a spoon, or to make it even easier (and get a better result) you can use a biscuit cutter.

Once you’ve finished shaping them, hit them with another round of the cinnamon sugar mixture for good measure. Then let them cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a cooling rack.

Once they’re on the rack, feel free to dive in. They’re going to be wetter than is ideal, but I can never wait any longer. Just make sure you don’t eat them all because they will be much better when they’re fully cooled and fully set.

And that’s all there is to it. The first time you make them, it might seem a little tricky. But once you get the hang of it, the technique is more or less the same for all of our FitHackr cookie recipes.

Get a few batches under your belt and you’ll be a pro, able to whip up protein-packed cookies in no time… with your eyes closed… and one hand tied behind your back.

Addendum 1: No-Chill

The result isn’t going to be as good, but it will still work.

Put about 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon sugar mix on your cookie sheet in each place a cookie will be and spread it out into a circle. Drop the dough balls onto the cinnamon sugar. Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of each dough ball.

And just like that, you’ve hacked the process. Your snickerdoodles are ready to bake, immediately!

Addendum 2: Twice-Baked

I’ve found that a twice-baked method yields the absolute best results. The cookies are denser and chewier. But it does take a little extra work.

Remove the cookies from the oven after 5 minutes, perform an initial shaping (with spoon or biscuit cutter), then let them collapse, cool, and set for 5 minutes. Place them back in the oven for an additional 7-10 minutes (until the edges just start to turn brown).

Addendum 3: Biscuit Cutter Shaping

If you have a set of biscuit cutters, you can use one larger than your cookies to shape them quicker and more perfectly than with a spoon. Check out this video to see the technique in action.