Soft, thick, and chewy Cinnamon Roll Cookies are topped with a rich cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
Cinnamon roll lover? Try these homemade cinnamon rolls and cinnamon roll monkey bread next.
The Best Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Lovers of cookies and cinnamon rolls this is about to be your new favorite cookie! Soft, chewy, and rich in cinnamon flavor, they’re topped with creamy cream cheese frosting and a final touch of cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
- Butter: Cooling it after melting prevents the dough from becoming greasy.
- Sugars: Adds sweetness and helps create a slight crisp on the cookie’s edges.
- Eggs: Use leftover whites in these Spinach and Feta Wraps or Meringue Cookies.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract gives the best flavor.
- Flour: Measure accurately; too much flour will make the cookies dense.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps the cookies stay soft after baking.
- Salt: Fine salt blends better in cookie dough.
- Baking Soda: Ensure it’s fresh for the best results.
- Ground Cinnamon: Mix well with the dry ingredients to distribute evenly.
- Butter: Adds richness and moisture to the dough.
- Sugars: Provide sweetness, with brown sugar adding moisture.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Gives that signature cinnamon roll flavor.
How To Make Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Prepare Dough: Mix melted butter and sugars, add eggs and vanilla, then combine with dry ingredients. Form dough balls and coat with cinnamon sugar.
- Chill & Bake: Refrigerate dough balls, then bake.
- Make Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar.
- Finish: Frost cooled cinnamon roll cookies and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Expert Tips
- Measure Flour Correctly: Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife for accurate measurement.
- Shape Tall Cookie Dough Balls: Roll dough taller rather than round for a chewy center and crisp edges.
- Roll in Cinnamon Sugar Before Chilling: Coat the dough balls in cinnamon sugar before chilling to make sure it sticks better.
- Bake at 325°F (162°C): A slightly lower temperature than usual gives us softer cinnamon roll cookies.
- Use a Baking Mat or Parchment Paper: To prevent over-browning and ensure even baking, avoid foil and use a baking mat or parchment paper.
Quick Tip
For a fun flavor variation, replace the cinnamon in the cinnamon roll cookies with pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice. This will give you a pumpkin or apple pie-spiced Cinnamon Roll Cookie.
Storage
Cinnamon Roll Cookie Storage
- Separate Storage for Frosting and Cookies: Store frosting in the fridge and cinnamon roll cookies at room temperature in airtight containers. Frost them just before serving.
- Frosting Thawing: Let frosting reach room temperature for about 30 minutes before use. Use any extra frosting on waffles or pancakes for a fun sweet breakfast!
- Freeze Dough, Not Baked Cookies: For future baking, freeze unbaked dough balls instead of baked cookies. Once solid, store in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen adding a minute or two to the bake time.
More Cookie Recipes
- Lemon Cheesecake Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
- DoubleTree® Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Soft, thick, and chewy Cinnamon Roll Cookies are topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
Cookies
- 16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter, (melted and completely cooled)
- 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, (packed)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups white, all purpose flour ((See Note 1))
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Frosting
- 8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, (at room temperature)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste ((or use 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract))
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
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WET INGREDIENTS: Place the butter in a large bowl and melt in the microwave. Set the bowl aside to cool to room temperature. If the butter/bowl is warm or hot, it will melt the sugars and cause greasy cookies. Once completely cool, add in the white sugar and brown sugar. Whisk together briskly until creamy. Add in 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk (reserve the whites for a separate recipe or discard) and the vanilla extract. Whisk until just combined and smooth.
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DRY INGREDIENTS: In another bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Whisk together.
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DOUGH: Add all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and, using a strong wooden spoon, mix until JUST combined. Do not over mix the dough. Roll balls of dough that are 1 and 1/2 tablespoons in size. Roll the balls tall instead of wide (see pictures in post; See Note 2). In a small bowl, stir together the white sugar and cinnamon. Roll the balls of dough generously into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Reserve the rest of the cinnamon-sugar mixture for later.
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CHILL DOUGH: Place dough balls on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheet pan or plate and chill for 1 hour.
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BAKE: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (162°C) Place 6 cookies at a time on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheet pan (they need a good amount of room) and bake straight from the fridge for 9-11 minutes. Gently remove from the oven so they don’t deflate, let stand on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then gently remove to a cooling rack.
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FROSTING: Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the room-temperature butter and cream cheese until completely smooth. mix in the vanilla and salt. Add in the powdered sugar and then beat until the frosting is smooth (it will seem like you need more liquid, but just keep beating; it will come together!
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FROST COOKIES: Transfer the frosting to a plastic bag or piping bag and cut off the tip. Frost each cooled cookie by piping the frosting in a swirl on top. Sprinkle tops of the cookies with leftover cinnamon sugar mixture.
Note 1: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour and scoop, you will pack in way too much flour, resulting in the wrong texture of cookie. To properly measure the flour, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the measuring cup until its overfilled. Then use the back of a table knife to level the measuring cup at the top. (Video visual here).
Note 2: Instead of rolling a perfectly round ball, roll the dough so it’s taller and skinnier. When the cookies bake you’ll get that perfect thick and chewy center and the crisp edges. Using this technique, the bottom of the cookie ball bakes first, which will push out and become the crisp edge. The top of that tall cookie dough ball then becomes the thick and chewy center. Perfect texture every time!
Did anyone that commented actually make these? The amount of flour is absurd and I know how to measure flour. Additionally, the cream cheese/butter measurements should be cut in half and the powdered sugar cut in third for the frosting. Not sure who commented but assume you did try making the recipe.
Did you try the recipe?
I’ve made these cookies many times and the flour amount is correct if spooned and leveled. Additionally, there is a lot of frosting, but the frosting ratios will yield a delicious frosting; I’ve made it many times as well. You can halve the frosting if you don’t like a lot of frosting on the cookies as mentioned in the “leftovers” section in the post.
I’m thinking about cutting the recipe in half, but the only thing I’m hung up on is the egg. Would just cracking one egg do the trick?
It’s hard to say, sorry! Baking is so finicky that I’m really not sure how they’d turn out with just one egg; wish I could be of more help, but I’m not sure without personally testing
Just wanted to say that one egg was fine! They came out great for anyone else interested in cutting this recipe in half. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know! So glad it worked well 🙂
Yeah one egg works perfectly for half the recipe as that is what I did for a smaller batch
These cookies look delicious! Definitely going to give them a try! I love recipes that you can switch out the ingredients!
So excited for you to try! Thanks Rose! 🙂
You never cease to amaze me with your delicious treats!!! My family would flip over these cinnamon roll cookies and request them every day if I made them!
These cinnamon roll cookiess look incredible, Chelsea!
These are waaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy for someone who loves cinnamon rolls. Sigh.
Happy Holidays!
Cinnamon rolls are our Christmas tradition!!! These cookies look amazing 🙂