Easy Cinnamon Roll Christmas Cookies
An easy delicious soft cookie full of cinnamon flavor perfect for holiday baking and sharing.
Servings: 36 cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking power
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter softened
- 2 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons milk or heavy cream
- ground cinnamon for garnishing
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- Gather your ingredients and measure them.
- In the large bowl of a standing electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the unsalted butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula.
- Add the wet ingredients: first the eggs, one at a time, beating just to combine. Then add the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl. Mix on medium speed until a firm dough forms. The dough will look very wet until you add the dry ingredients, but it comes together very quickly.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. You can use a 1-inch ice cream or cookie scoop or pinch off pieces of dough and roll in your hands. Place the balls on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan. Repeat making balls with the remaining dough.
- With the heel of your hand, gently press down to flatten the balls to 1/3 - 1/2-thick discs.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 7 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven to a cooling rack and let cool on a cooling rack before frosting.
For the Frosting:
- In the large bowl of the standing mixer combine the softened butter and cream cheese. Beat them together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the powdered sugar to the bowl. Mix with the cream cheese/butter mixture on low speed until combined until smooth. Then raise the speed to medium for a minute.
- Add the vanilla and milk to the mixture to smooth out the frosting. Beat on medium until light and fluffy.
- Place the small round tip into a piping bag. Snip off the end of the plastic bag to fit the piping tip. Place the piping bag in a tall container or glass.
- Using the rubber spatula, spoon the frosting into the bag, filling it about 3/4 full. Twist the top of the bag, pushing down the vanilla icing to the bottom of the bag.
- Starting at the outside edge of the cookie, begin piping the icing in a circle, creating a swirl pattern to the center of the cookie.
- Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with ground cinnamon. If you like. you can combine granulated sugar with the cinnamon.
Notes
I recommend combining all your dry ingredients into a small bowl.
I recommend breaking your egg directly on the counter and then into a small bowl. This method will prevent any shell from getting into the egg and prevent a "bad egg" from being put in with other ingredients and ruining your efforts.
The recipe says it yields 24 cookies. I got 42 cookies from the dough. I don't know if this was a misprint or my 1-inch cookies were smaller than Jamielyn's. I got 16 cookies on a sheet pan.
These cookies don't spread so you can squeeze in more on a pan, if necessary.
The recipe says for 7 - 9 minutes. I tested two batches, at 7 minutes and 9 minutes. The 7-minute cookies had the best texture.
TIP: I highly recommend using plastic food gloves to roll the dough. This will keep your hands clean and roll a smoother ball.
TIP: Transfer the cookies to a cooling wire rack set on a sheet of parchment paper on the sheet pan. This way you can frost and garnish the cookies without dripping on the sheet pan.
TIP: Create a raised tip in the center of the cookie by lifting up the piping bag.
How to Store the Cookies
You can store the cookies at different stages:- Store the cookie dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few hours before baking. You will need to allow time for the dough to soften enough to be rolled into balls.
- Store the cookie dough balls in an airtight container overnight in the refrigerator before baking. You will need to let them soften a bit before baking.
- Store the finished iced cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 - 5 days.
- You can freeze the cooled baked and iced cookies by placing them on a baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then you can stack the cookies in an airtight container and freeze them. Allow to come to room temperature for one hour before serving.