Cinnamon Roll Cookies
If you’ve had my Cinnamon Rolls, then buckle up for another amazing cinnamon recipe! These cinnamon roll cookies are made with a soft sugar cookie base, filled with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling and then glazed with the classic cinnamon roll glaze. It’s the cookie version of cinnamon rolls!
I love big cookies — hello copycat Crumbl Chocolate Chip Cookies — but sometimes you need a bunch of mini cookies that are just too stinkin’ cute. 🙂 My family are suckers for cinnamon recipes. Grab a bowl of my Cinnamon Roll Popcorn for family movie night, serve a show-stopping Horchata Cake for a big event, or make some of my Cinnamon Chip Pancakes for breakfast on a Sunday morning!
Why This Recipe Works
- Cinnamon roll in cookie form! These slice and bake cookies are made in the same way you’d make regular cinnamon rolls, but without the dough rising!
- Cute mini cookies. These soft cinnamon rolls cookies are spiraled with the cinnamon sugar mixture is equally soft and sweet as a cinnamon roll. It’s also the cutest, most perfect mini version.
- Soft cinnamon roll cookies. These cinnamon roll sugar cookies are incredibly soft and perfectly flavored!
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: I use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt in the recipe. The butter should be softened to room temperature.
- Light Brown Sugar: I love brown sugar in my cookies because they keep the cookies soft.
- Granulated Sugar: This cinnamon roll cookies recipe is made with a sugar cookie base.
- Vanilla: I love a splash of vanilla because it adds great flavor and depth to the cookies.
- Flour: Regular all purpose flour is what you’ll need for these homemade cinnamon roll cookies.
- Ground Cinnamon: Can’t get that delicious cinnamon roll flavor without lots of cinnamon!
- Baking Powder: Since these are cookies and not cinnamon rolls made with yeast, our leavening agent we’ll use is baking powder to help the cookies rise.
- Powdered Sugar: This will sweeten our delicious cinnamon roll glaze that we’ll drizzle on top of these delicious cookies!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Cream wet ingredients. Add 1 cup butter, 1 cup light brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Mix for another 1-2 minutes.
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Add 3 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt. Mix until just combined.
- Chill the cinnamon roll cookie dough. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.
- Make the cinnamon roll filling. In a microwave safe bowl, warm 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 tsp cinnamon until melted and fully combined.
- Divide the dough into two. Roll out each dough half on a lightly floured surface to a 12×6-inch rectangle. Spread 1/2 of the cinnamon filling mixture over each rectangle. Gently roll dough from the long end into a log shape. Place each log on a large plate or small baking sheet and chill for 10 minutes.
- Cut the cinnamon roll cookies. Remove the logs from the fridge and cut into 1 inch slices. Place the cinnamon cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, 2 inches apart.
- Bake. Bake at 375°Ffor 10-12 minutes and then remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and let cool on a wire rack.
- Make the glaze. Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 1/2 T milk and 1/4 tsp vanilla together in a small bowl. Drizzle the icing overtop of the room temperature cookies. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Chilling your cookie dough will keep the cinnamon bun cookies tighter so they don’t spread as much. It will also make it easier to roll once filled.
However, once the dough is filled and rolled, make sure to chill the logs for just 10 minutes. It’s important not to have the dough logs too cold. If they’re cold when the cookies go into the oven, they won’t bake up properly. Chilling will just make it easier to cut. Use a sharp knife to cut the cookies so you don’t flatten them at all.
Don’t over bake these rolled cinnamon cookies. Just like regular cinnamon rolls, you don’t want them to be over baked and dry!
For a thicker or thinner glaze, adjust the amount of milk added to the glaze mixture.
Don’t care to have the cinnamon roll spiral? Then once you cut the cookies into slices, you can take the dough and roll it around in your hands. This will make the cinnamon filling swirl through the dough.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
You can make these slice and bake cinnamon roll cookies ahead of time. Simply make the dough and let it chill in the fridge for 1-24 hours. Then remove from the fridge and continue with the recipe from there.
Store cinnamon roll cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for 4-5 days.
To freeze, let the baked cookies cool completely then store in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Remove and let thaw.
To freeze the dough, follow the instructions up until you have fully rolled out the dough, filled it, and rolled it again. You can then wrap the cookie dough log tightly in 2 layers of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. Remove and let thaw in the fridge overnight before slicing and baking.
Recipe FAQs
I recently read a super cool post on KingArthurBaking.com about all the differences in cookies based on chill time. It’s very fascinating as the writer did some experiments with different variables. The big takeaway is that the longer the dough chills, the richer the flavor and the less of a spread you’ll get when the cookies are baking.
This is a cinnamon roll cookie recipe without yeast. I’m sure there are recipes out there with yeast, but I love the sugar cookie base.
Yes! Obviously the texture is a bit different since one is a bread base and the other is a cookie base, but the taste is very similar! The classic cinnamon sugar filling and the iconic cinnamon roll glaze is cookie cutter similarity (see what I did there 😉) with these cookies.
I’m sure you can! However, I personally haven’t tried it. I would purchase the store bought sugar cookie dough, and hopefully it will roll out easily for you. If you use a store-bought cookie base instead of the cookie base I provide in the recipe, I can’t guarantee it will taste the same! So keep that in mind. 🙂
More Cinnamon Recipes
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar - packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for another 1-2 minutes.
- Mix in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.
- In a microwave safe bowl warm the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until melted and fully combined.
- Divide the dough into 2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each half to a 12×6 inch rectangle. Spread 1/2 of the cinnamon mixture over each rectangle. Gently roll each rectangle into a log, to create a 12 inch log (roll lengthwise). Place each log on a large plate or small baking sheet and chill for 10 minutes, but no longer!
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the logs from the fridge and cut into 1” inch segments.
- Place the cookies on the baking sheet leaving 2 inches between each cookie.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the tray while they are still warm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
- Drizzle the icing overtop of the cookies.
Icing
- Icing: whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.
Welcome to this delicious corner of the internet! Here I share the recipes my family loves.
One Comment on “Cinnamon Roll Cookies”
How do you know when the cookies are properly baked? You said 10-12 minutes but are there any visual clues?