No-Bake Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Balls Recipe

The classic snickerdoodle cookie is akin to a sugar cookie but with a wonderful, whimsical name. Traditional snickerdoodle cookie dough is formed into balls and rolled in a mix of cinnamon and white sugar before baking, giving the cookie a distinctive flavor and wonderful aroma in the oven. This no-bake snickerdoodle cookie dough balls recipe — courtesy of recipe developer Julie Kinnaird – eliminates the oven, and the result is a rich, chewy, and perfectly safe to eat snickerdoodle ball bite! 

Finely ground, blanched almond flour forms the base of these cookie dough balls, with the sweetness coming from both dates and coconut sugar. Natural almond butter gives the cookie dough bites their rich flavor and texture. The dough easily comes together in minutes in a food processor, and the prepared cookie dough balls are ready for a quick snack or dessert anytime. Although these treats taste decadent, they are a bit more nutritious than the originals!

Use finely ground and blanched almond flour for this recipe to achieve the best texture for the dough. Medjool dates are the best variety to use for this recipe, as they tend to have a creamy and caramel-flavored interior. If your dates are hard or dry, this recipe will show you how to handle them. Creamy almond butter with no added sugar (almonds only) gives this dough a rich flavor and helps to bind everything together. Touches of vanilla extract and sea salt balance the sweetness of the dates and enhance the flavors. Coconut sugar and ground cinnamon are combined to coat the cookie dough balls and give them their distinctive, snickerdoodle flavor.

Soak the dates in warm water for 5 minutes to soften.

Add the almond flour and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.

Remove the dates from the water and add to the food processor.

Process until the dates are finely chopped and the mixture comes together in a dough.

Add the almond butter and vanilla and process until the mixture is just combined but still has some texture.

Combine the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a separate, small bowl.

Using a 1 ¼-inch cookie scoop, form balls with the dough.

Roll each ball in your hands until smooth.

Roll the balls in the coconut sugar mixture to coat.

Serve the snickerdoodle cookie dough balls immediately, or store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Although this simple recipe is designed around specific ingredients and is meant to replicate the taste of traditional snickerdoodle cookie dough, Kinnaird gives a few suggestions for substitutions. "I like Medjool dates in this recipe because of their intense sweetness and caramel flavor. If you can't find Medjool, Deglet Noor dates are a great substitute," she says. In either case, if the dates you purchase at the grocery store have gotten a bit hard or dry, the soaking tip mentioned in step 1 of the recipe will soften and replenish them.

If you want to try using a different nut butter in the dough, natural, unsweetened cashew butter will work well. The sweetness and mild flavor of the raw cashews blend well with the almond flour. If you don't have coconut sugar on hand, doing a customary mix of white sugar and cinnamon for rolling the balls will work just fine.

The best way to achieve a smooth and even texture for the no-bake snickerdoodle cookie dough balls is to use a food processor. The recipe can be done in a stand mixer, however, you may notice a bit more texture from pieces of the dates that do not get pureed by the food processor blade. When making this recipe in a stand mixer, the key is not to overmix the ingredients, or else a "gummy" texture might develop. If mixing by hand, the best method for handling the dates would be to make a paste out of them first, either using a mortar and pestle or simply chopping them up as fine as possible with a chef's knife. The date paste will mix into the almond flour by hand more easily this way. However you choose to prepare your cookie dough balls, the end result will undoubtedly be delicious!