These chai spice snickerdoodle cookies from Post Punk Kitchen turn out bready and pillowy when adapted to WFPB, but I still like them a lot! They are good cookies to serve with tea or coffee because they are thicker and chewier, like a sweet bread you may have with coffee for breakfast. Instead of oil we’re using applesauce and whole wheat pastry instead of regular flour, both of which will affect the texture and thickness of the cookies (oil would make them thin out a lot more, which is why they come out chewier the way I make them). This is a still-in-the-works recipe as I adjust measurements to make them more cookie-like than bread-like, but I’m ready to share it because I already like them for myself as bready cookies!

Ingredients:

Servings: About 16-20ish cookies depending on how big or small you make them

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch cloves

For the cookies:

• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 1 cup pure cane sugar (or raw turbinado, be aware the texture will be slightly different but will taste fine!)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons plant-based milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line one large baking sheets with parchment paper (depending on the size of your cookies you may need two, though I got away with only using one). I used regular baking sheets and not air-bake cookie sheets because the cookies were too thick to have cooked properly on an air-bake. In the picture below you can see I flipped a cookie over to see how it baked on a regular baking sheet – came out just fine!

Mix together the topping ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside for now.

In a medium mixing bowl, vigorously whisk together applesauce, sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix for at least a minute, then mix in the vanilla.

Sift in the remaining ingredients, pastry flour through cinnamon, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a sticky but pliable dough. The original directions recommend mixing with your hands, but this version of the cookie is so gooey that I stuck to using a spatula.

The best way to transfer this to the baking sheet is to use a spoon. I used a normal dinner spoon to make large-ish cookies. Plop the dough on the parchment and use the spoon to smoosh them into ball-shapes – or not, if you don’t care about making them pretty circle shapes.

I know you’re supposed to roll snickerdoodles in the cinnamon-sugar mix but there is just no way to do that with this gooey dough; so, instead I simply used my fingers to pinch and sprinkle the mix over each cookie. Cover them with as much as you want!

I did not care about making my cookies into pretty circle shapes and I overloaded the top of each with cinnamon-sugar mix!

Bake for 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow them to cool about 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to allow them to cool completely.