Snickerdoodle Cake

5 from 3 votes

This Snickerdoodle Cake is a cinnamon lover’s dream come true. It has two layers of soft cinnamon cake with cinnamon sugar swirls, filled with a cinnamon brown sugar buttercream and broken up snickerdoodle cookies! This cake is so simple to make, no mixer is need to make the batter! Best yet, this cake is gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be dairy free (vegan)!

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

Assembly Time30

Total Time1 25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: Slices

Calories: 698kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Sugar Swirl

½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the Snickerdoodle Cake

2 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup light brown sugar , packed
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Filling and Top

10 snickerdoodle cookies , broken into chunks

For the Brown Sugar Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter or vegan baking sticks, room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Snickerdoodle Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the ½ cup granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon for the swirl. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the 2 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 ½ cups milk, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together. If it gets too thick, switch to a spatula.
Using an ice cream scoop, place 4 scoops of batter into one of the cake pans. Repeat with the second cake pan. Smooth the tops.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture all over the top of the batter in one of the pans. Repeat with the other pan.
Using a butter knife, gently swirl the cinnamon sugar all around the batter in each cake pan and then smooth the tops.
Using an ice cream scoop, place an additional 3 scoops of batter in one of the pans. Repeat with the second pan.
Gently use a butter knife to smooth the tops. You don’t want to see the cinnamon sugar.
This step is crucial to making sure your cakes do not collapse.
Bake the cakes in the center rack of the oven for 35 minutes until slightly springy when carefully poked.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10-15 min and then let cool on a wire cooling rack.
Once the cakes have cooled completely, slice thin layers off the top of the cakes so you have nice flat surfaces.

Make the Brown Sugar Buttercream

While the cakes are baking, make the frosting.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat together the 1 cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon until smooth and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
With the mixer on very low speed, slowly add in the 6 cups confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; beat until combined.
Slowly beat in the 6 tablespoons water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may not need to use it all.

Assemble the Cake

Separate the frosting into 3 equal sections.
Place one layer of cake on a cake plate or stand. Scoop ⅓ of the buttercream (about 1 cup) on top and use an icing spatula to spread it around.
Place ⅓ of the frosting in a piping bag. Pipe a ring around the outside edge of the cake. This is to prevent the cookies from falling out. There will be extra frosting in the piping bag. Save it for decorating.
Sprinkle chunks of gluten free snickerdoodles on top of the buttercream, in the center of the ring and gently press to make sure they stick.
I used 4 normal size cookies.
Place the second cake bottom (or flat) side up so that the top is nice and flat.
Use an icing spatula to frost the top and a thin layer on the sides and a cake scraper to neaten up the frosting. You should only use ⅓ of the frosting on both the top and sides combined. This is a semi naked cake.

Decorate the Cake

Use extra frosting in the piping bag to create swirls going all the way around the top rim of the cake.
Place extra snickerdoodle cookies around the piped swirls and also in the center of the cake.
I used 6 normal size cookies for the top decorations.

Video

Notes

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk and vegan snickerdoodle cookies.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 ¼ cups packed AP flour (378 grams) and only 1 ¼ cups of milk.

Storing: Once the cake is cut into, it’s best to cut the entire cake into slices and wrap each slice in foil and store in a zip top bag in the fridge. Eat extra slices within 2 days.

When ready to eat, let the slices sit on the counter, in the foil for about an hour or until the cake is room temperature and soft. If you want to microwave a slice, do it in 5 second increments and be careful not to burn your mouth on hot frosting.

Freezing: If not eating all the extra slices within 2 days, take the slices wrapped in foil and place in the zip top bag and freeze them. You can keep the slices frozen for up to 30 days.

When ready to eat, put the slices in the fridge the night before or leave them out on the counter for 2 hours prior to eating or until the cake is room temperature and soft.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition