Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Cupcakes Recipe
I was having a conversation with my g-kid Julian about his following a gluten-free, dairy-free diet and he said to me “I just don’t want to have to worry about what I eat!” Of course he doesn’t, he’s 10! I know lots of grown ups who don’t want to worry about what they eat either.
I believe the best way to get kids to embrace their diet, regardless of the intolerance, is to make them a part of the process of creating their food; everything from thinking up menus to shopping to cooking. The best part is enjoying the fruits of their labor.
The other day the g-kids and I planned a whole menu for my son’s birthday, everything was gluten and dairy free and it was abundant; we had London Broil, grilled tilapia, dairy-free mashed potatoes, gluten-free pasta salad, a mixed salad filled with all sorts of fresh veggies and of course a gluten-free birthday cake. The kids came up with the menu, prepared the marinade for the beef, peeled the potatoes, picked basil from the garden and tasted, laughed and enjoyed themselves. They even set and decorated the table. It was a great day and an even better dinner.
A couple days later we actually worked on developing our own recipe together. We decided to make cupcakes and Miss Milla wanted to make a cupcake that tasted like ONE of her favorite cookies (emphasis on ONE because, as per her, it is simply not fair to the other cookies to pick just one favorite) the Snickerdoodle. What a joy to bring the kids into the whole creative process of developing a recipe, they gave their opinions, stirred and wrote down notes and we had a marvelous time, especially when it came to taste-testing.
We kept it easy and started with a packet of Kinnikinnick White Cake Mix which is not just gluten-free but dairy free also. We added cinnamon and vanilla and then topped the cupcakes with cinnamon sugar to replicate the coating from the original inspiration – the Snickerdoodle Cookie. Then we came up with a dairy free “butter” cream frosting and topped it all off with just a tad more cinnamon sugar. The verdict? See for yourself.
I would say that is two thumbs up!
If you have kids, how do you get them involved in their diet?
Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
Topping
- 6 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cupcakes
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup grapeseed (or other neutral tasting) oil
- ¾ cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 Kinnikinnick White Cake Mix
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Frosting
- ½ cup Earth Balance (or other dairy free butter substitute)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch kosher or fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-6 tablespoons rice milk (or other dairy free milk)
Garnish – Optional
- 6 cinnamon sticks , each one broken into thirds.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 standard muffin tins with paper liners.
- Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl.
- Combine eggs, oil, water and vanilla in a mixing bowl and whisk (either by hand or with a handheld mixer) for 2 minutes. Gradually add the cake mix and cinnamon, whisk just until combined, mixture will be a little lumpy. Divide batter among prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle about ¼ teaspoon of the topping on each cupcake. Bake for 20 minutes or until risen, lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.
- While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the Earth Balance until smooth. Add the powdered sugar. Cinnamon, salt, vanilla and 2 tablespoons rice milk. Start with the mixer on low and combine. Gradually add more rice milk until the mixture becomes a spreadable consistency. Turn mixer up to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds or so until very creamy.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle the frosting with the remaining topping. Insert a piece of cinnamon stick into each cupcake cake if desired.
- Cupcakes and frosting can be made several days ahead. For best results store cupcakes unfrosted in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. Store frosting separately in a covered container in the fridge. Let frosting come to room temperature before frosting cupcakes. Frost the cupcakes no longer than a few hours before serving.
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe? Give it a star rating and let us know your thoughts in the Ratings & Reviews section below.
Yum!! Snickerdoodles are a family favorite and a holdiay tradition in my house! Turning them into a cupcake is genius!
Thanks Lauren, we thought so :)
I love snickerdoodles, and love even more your granddaughter’s comment about being fair to the cookies. You definitely wouldn’t want to hurt the chocolate chip cookie’s feelings!
That’s right Iris, can’t hurt the other cookies feelings :)
They certainly look like they had a good time! I like to get my daughter involved with her growing the vegetables for the table- but I have to buy them off her! Also by letting her chose the side dishes for a meal and help making them.
I don’t want to have to worry about what I eat either, but not gfree and dfree, I want fat free, sugar free, low gi, cholesterol free….but full of taste all at the same time!!! Sigh…..
That’s great about your daughter helping to grow the vegetables and hilarious about having to buy them from her! I understand, my boys were always selling me something when they were growing up and usually I had paid for it in the first place :)
Where does one find “Kinnikinnick White Cake Mix”? I live in South Texas and Gluten Free cake mixes are not found on the store shelves . I don’t like Sinkerdoodles but I could adjust this to make other flavors.
You mentioned a gluten free pasta salad….I have not had pasta, a cake, or bread of any kind for over 15 years.
Hi Nathaniel. Do you have a natural foods store? That is where I get the Kinnikinnick cake mixes or you can order from their website. If all you can find in the grocery store is yellow gluten free cake mix my thought is it would be a good substitute, especially if the cinnamon flavor is not your favorite. I have been on a bit of a pasta salad kick lately, making up for years of no pasta!
HEB should special order something for you if you request it. At least, they do in Central TX. I would imagine it’d be the same. Our small town HEB has a whole gluten free aisle!
These look yummy lovely! Looks like there’s a really nice texture to them – you can almost taste it through the photograph :-)
Thanks Toby!
What an adorable post, Carol! Your grandchildren are so cute AND so smart, and they make fantastic food with their grandmother! I love Snickerdoodles anything. Hence, my gf/df Snickerdoodles ice cream a while back. ;-) Cupcakes seem like another good way to get one’s Snickerdoodle fix to me, and these look divine!
xo,
Shirley
I may be a little prejudiced but I agree, they are so cute and smart :) And huge! How do they grow so fast? {sigh}
Do the recipes in the cookbook contain cake mixes?
Hi Karen. No the recipes in my cook book do not contain mixes. They range from super simple to more complex but I try to walk you through each recipe so you get a good result.
Oh, so that’s how you sprinkle sugar on cupcakes! That looks like it would make for more uniform sprinkling. Geez, how come I never thought of that before? I always learn something when I come here to visit.
And by the way, those are the just about the cutest kids I’ve ever seen. That is a magazine cover photo! Seriously, that is wonderful.
The cupcakes look awesome as well. Beautiful all the way around. Including the loving energy!
Melissa
xo
Thanks Melissa. My favorite time of year is summer when the g-kids are here for 2 months. I just adore them! And I agree, they are pretty cute!
What a brilliant idea for cupcakes. Tell Miss Milla that she is pure genius. And I do have to agree that all of the other cookie flavors would be feeling extremely sad if Snickerdoodle were the only favorite. And those g-kids of yours are just beautiful, Carol!! ;)
I will tell Miss Milla what you said and knowing her, she will agree with you whole heartedly :) I agree, they are beautiful, inside and out!
Not sure which is more beautiful Carol – the cupcakes or the g-kids! My goodness, they’re adorable kiddies. Do you know that I’ve never had a snickerdoodle? I should be ashamed. I think I’ll remedy that with a batch of snickerdoodle cupcakes. Good start, right?
Wow, I can not belive you have never had a Snickerdoodle and I agree you will have to remedy that soon! The kids passed out some of these at a party and everyone loved them!
Yum! I’ve been looking for tasty cupcake recipes that aren’t too cake-y… these look like they’ll work perfectly!
I must say, they were very tasty! Let me know what tou think.
xo,
c
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OMG! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I was newer to the GF Realm, and this recipe is AMAZING! I made these for a group of people, and didn’t tell them they were GF, and everyone has been raving about them for over a week!!! THANK YOU!!!
Thanks for letting me know Bobby!. I am always so happy to hear feedback.
I met your grand daugther and son in my cake decorating class this past Tuesday night. They gave rave reviews about your fabulous cup cakes I have to make them for my 5 year old gluten free neighbor. I hope to order the flour soon so I can get started.
Oh thank you! I am sure Miss Milla loved the cake decorating calss, she loves to help in the kitchen.
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What would be a good substitute for the cake mix? These look gorgeous
You can make a vanilla cupcake from scratch and add the cinnamon to your recipe.
This is just what I’ve been looking for to bake for my kids! Sounds delicious! Any recommendations on what to use to replace the eggs with? We have to be egg free as well. I can’t use that Kinnikinnick brand because of the eggs. But I bought a Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix I’m thinking of trying with this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Fo each egg you can soak a tablepoon of flax meal or chia seeds in 3 tablespoons of hot water and let sit for 5 mintues or until it gels up. Or you can buy egg replacer at the heath food store. Enjoy!
If I don’t use cake mixes would there be a flour that you would recommend substituting and how much is one cake mixes ( as in how many cups of flour)? These sound fabulous!! My children love cinnamon and sugar treats.
You could make a basic cake batter with 2 cups gluten free flour blend (make sure it has some xanthan or guar gum in it), 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teasppon kosher salt. Whisk that together, cream 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup sugar, add in 2 eggs, one at a time, add half the flour mixture, a cup of milk and then the rest of the flour. I am of course partial to my own flour blend, I came up with it because I couldn’t find a good pastry quality gf flour out there but if you have another brand you want to try, it should be fine. Here’s a link to mine if you are interested. http://www.gluten-free-flour.com/ Good luck with the cupcakes and enjoy!
Oh and also make sure to add some vanilla to the cake batter 1 – 2 teaspoons!
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Made these tonight For my family, I used a gluten free yellow cake mix only because I couldnt find the white cake mix, this was excellent!!!!Thank you so much, a cupcake that tasted so “real”, no one would ever know its gluten free!!!
I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays..
Thanks, I did it myself :)
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I made the frosting but it is a little too thin how do I thicken it up before tonight pls help!!;(
Hi Rose – just add more powdered sugar until it is the right thickness. Easy! Good luck!!!
I plan on making Snickerdoodle cupcakes to bring Christmas Eve to our family get together. They need to be dairy and gluten free just like your recipe. I found one that has a gluten free flour blend. I have no idea how they will turn out. Am more experienced with vegan baking but am new to the gluten free baking. I never thought of just using a cake mix and then adding in cinnamon. Can I ask how this recipe might differ from the flour blend? How is the texture of the ones with the cake mix? I pride myself on bringing delicious desserts that no one guesses are dairy free (or now in this case, gluten free)! :-)
These sound delicious just asking your opinion.
Of course you can always make your own cupcake recipe and just adapt it. I liked the ease of these cupcakes by using the mix. We all loved them. I have not tried them with mixes other than Kinnikinnick but I will say this, there is a lot going on in the cupcakes with the cinnamon and the frosting so I find the mix is really a great shortcut that does not effect the out come. Hope that answers your question and Happy Holidays!
I’d like to make this recipe, but I don’t have access to Kinnikinnick White Cake Mix. Can you recommend a substitute? I have Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour and Xanthum gum on hand. Can these be substituted for the cake mix? Thank you for your input and help. I’m just beginning to go gluten free.
Hi Elzabeth – can you get Betty Crocker’s gluten free cake mix? They sell it at most regular grocery stores. You could use the yellow cake mix instead. I have not tried with Bob’s flour so I can’t give you an opinion on that. Sorry but I hate to say something is ok to substitute if I am not sure.
Hi I’m about to make these, do you have a measurement in the 1 box cake mix? I could not find that brand so I bought Pamela’s but want to make sure both boxes measure the same amount. Thanks
Hi Lori, it is 500g or 18 ounces of mix, makes 2 – 8 inch cakes or 18 cupcakes. Hope that helps!
Hi Carol, I just stumbled upon your blog in a search for yummy gluten free dairy free dessert recipes. Leading a gluten free + dairy free lifestyle is very new to me, and as someone who loves to bake, I’ve really been hoping to find recipes I feel excited about. So glad I found your blog! Also, I had to do a double take when I saw a photo of Julian and Milla. I recognize them from reading Bleubird, their Mother’s blog. What a small world, and what a wonderful, talented family they have!
Jen,
Wow it really is a small world! I’m so happy to have you here!
Thank you so much! Please let me know if you ever need any help with your journey!
xo,
Carol
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I am gluten, corn and soy intolerant. I also have MCS and react to a lot of preservatives. Plus, I suffer from a lot of chronic pain. I have to be really careful what I eat. My daughter is 15, a dancer, and, by and large, perfectly healthy – but crazily picky about what she eats. In the last year, since I’ve made her help me make dinner and given her input on what that dinner should be, she’s become more food conscious and more willing to make healthier choices. She also has a drive to be a chef – specifically a GF baker – so she is more in tune with food.
But… she is 15 and it can be hard to make her focus sometimes.
This recipe looks good. I will have to peruse your blog further.
Hi Caity. Good luck to the both of you and remember, these recipes are starting points. You can usually adapt a recipe to fit your specific needs.
is there a reason you went with a butter substitute rather than regular butter? (was it to make it vegan? ) i am more of a fan of regular butter, can i use that instead in this recipe? :)
Hi Linda, Yes it was to keep it dairy-free. Feel free to use regular butter if you prefer. Enjoy!
xo,
Carol
I live in a small town and couldn’t find the white cake mix… but did find the angel food cake mix (my cupcakes need to be corn, wheat, dairy free… the only wheat free white cake mix I found had corn flour in it) – any thoughts on whether I could still use this recipe… the box calls for 12 egg whites! I’d rather go with the 4 full eggs, but I don’t want to wreck the whole recipe. I just need your best guess… I doubt you’ve tried this substitute!
Hi Karen,
So I asked the bakers at Kinnikinnick if they have anything like what you’re looking for and this was their response:
“The consensus from our bakers is that this wouldn’t work. While using eggs instead of the large number of egg whites would probably produce an edible cake, the flavor would likely be a little “off” and the texture would be quite dense. There’s lots of leavening in the angel food cake to help it rise and we believe it would stand out in the flavor profile. That being said, we have not tested that in-house to verify (I will be putting it on the list to try).
My personal suggestion would be that it doesn’t necessarily have to be white cake maybe you can find a yellow cake mix? Possibly Betty Crocker may make one. But you can keep a look out in the future for possibly exactly what you’re looking for from Kinnikinnick!
All the best,
Carol
Thank you so much for the help! I did some more research and had come to the same conclusion about the substitute! the grocery store here has a different brand of white and yellow gluten free and dairy free cake mixes, but they use corn flour, so I can’t use them. The only Kinnikinnick mix was the Angel Food Cake one (which does not have corn flour!) So, I’ve decided to follow the recipe box, except adding some cinnamon, and using your frosting recipe for on top. The next decision I have to make is about whether to try it in muffin cups, or in a bundt pan. If I use the bundt pan, I’ll frost it, slice it, place it on a serving tray and then drizzle with more frosting before serving. I’m just not sure how the Angel Food Cake would work in cupcake form (but yours look so GOOD!) I’ll have to look the next time I’m in a bigger city so I can keep a white Kinnikinnick mix or two in the pantry to make treats for the colleague who this cake is for! I can’t even imagine how frustrating the grocery store is for her on a daily basis!
Again, I can’t thank you enough for your thoughts (and also to the Kinnikinnick bakers)!
Karen