Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

from bankobakerecipes.com
Dessert
45 min

The perfect way to get that cinnamon roll fix without the hassle of actually making cinnamon rolls. Though cinnamon rolls will always be one of my favorite desserts, it always nice to have a simple twist in the recipe collection for when you're in a time crunch!

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cupall-purpose flour (166g)
  • ½ tspground cinnamon (1g)
  • ¼ tspbaking powder (1g)
  • ¼ tspfine salt (2g)
  • ½ tspbaking soda (3g)
  • ½ cuproom temperature unsalted butter (please make sure it's room temp. and not softened or melted! if your butter is too soft/warm, your cookies will spread too much)
  • ½ cupgranulated sugar (105g)
  • 2 tbsplight or dark brown sugar (not packed!) (20g)
  • 1 tsppure vanilla extract (add more or less to taste)
  • 1 largeroom temperature egg
  • 2 tbspunsalted softened butter (30g)
  • 2 ½ tbsplight or dark brown sugar (packed) (42g)
  • 2 ¼ tspall-purpose flour (7g)
  • 1 ½ tspground cinnamon (add more or less to taste) (3g)
  • 2 ozcold cream cheese (57g)
  • 1 cuppowdered sugar (121g)
  • 2 tbspheavy cream (30ml)

Directions

For the cookie dough

  1. 1

    In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the room temperature butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. I like to do this with a rubber spatula and mix well until it’s smooth. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer.**Please see the "Notes" section below for more information on room temperature butter.

  2. 2

    Add the room temperature egg and vanilla extract and mix until very well combined.

  3. 3

    In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

  4. 4

    Add the dry ingredients to the wet and begin mixing slowly with your rubber spatula (or stand mixer/electric hand mixer). Mix until everything is just combined and remember to never over-mix the dough!

  5. 5

    Set the bowl of dough aside.

For the cinnamon roll filling

  1. 1

    In a small bowl, combine all of the cinnamon filling ingredients and mix well.

  2. 2

    Place this bowl in the freezer for ~5-8 minutes until it’s very firm to the touch. You don't need to cover the bowl as it will only be in the freezer for a few minutes!

Assembly & baking

  1. 1

    Once your filling is firm, spread half of the cookie dough out onto the bottom of the mixing bowl (I like to push the remaining cookie dough to the side of the bowl as opposed to taking it out and dirtying up another bowl but please do whatever is easiest for you!).

  2. 2

    Using a 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp, scoop out half of the firm cinnamon roll filling and place it all around the top of the spread out cookie dough. Once you have half of the cinnamon filling spread over the first half of the dough, spread the remaining dough overtop and press it down gently to really set the filling into place.

  3. 3

    Lastly, scoop the remaining half of the cinnamon filling on top of the dough. Make sure you spread out the cinnamon filling pieces to ensure that it's evenly distributed throughout each cookie once they are baked.

  4. 4

    To ensure that your cookies do not spread too much when baking, refrigerate the finished dough for 20-30 minutes before moving onto the next steps.

  5. 5

    Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I use two baking sheets for this recipe as the cookies will spread out a bit while baking).

  6. 6

    Take the dough out of the refrigerator and evenly scoop out 10-12 cookie dough balls. Roll them into neat circles, place them a few inches apart from one another on your baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes or until they are just slightly golden on the edge. The baking time will vary depending on your oven so be sure to keep an eye on them!

  7. 7

    Optional: If you would like to give the cookies a more "perfect" circular shape, immediately reshape them using a large cup or a large circle cookie cutter the second they come out of the oven. Just move the large cup or cookie cutter in a circular motion around each cookie and it will easily form into a perfect circle! This must be done while the cookies are still hot!

  8. 8

    Allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack before adding the frosting.

For the frosting swirl

  1. 1

    In a small bowl, mix together all of the frosting ingredients until smooth (since the cream cheese is cold, you may want to use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to make it easier).

  2. 2

    Add the frosting to a piping bag, cut a small piece off of the tip of the bag, then add the frosting to the cooled cookies in a swirl design to mimic cinnamon rolls.