Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Why you’ll love this recipe

Taste: Brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla! A delicious and comforting flavor combination.

Texture: Crisp edges, soft centers, with chewiness all throughout.

Basic ingredients: This recipe uses pantry staples, plus eggs and butter.

Ease: No special equipment required. The “hardest” part of this recipe is the cinnamon swirl technique and I have detailed tips and tricks for getting it right.

Recipe overview

*Full recipe below in recipe card*

Make the cinnamon sugar filling:

Stir together softened butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Place in the freezer for several minutes (to firm up) while you prepare the cookie dough.

Make the sugar cookie dough:

This is a variation of our Easy Sugar Cookies. This simple dough comes together in minutes.

Assembly:

In order to get layers, swirls, and pockets of cinnamon all throughout the cookie dough you’re going to layer the dough and pieces of the chilled cinnamon mixture. Here’s how to do that:

1. Remove half of the dough from the mixing bowl and spread the remaining dough out across the bottom the mixing bowl.
2. Remove the cinnamon mixture from the freezer and use two spoons to scoop small pieces (about a teaspoon each) of the cinnamon mixture and place them all over the dough in the mixing bowl.
3. Once you have used half of the cinnamon mixture, get the cookie dough that you have set aside, and spread it or press it with your fingers into an somewhat even layer on top of the cinnamon and dough in the mixing bowl.
4. Proceed to add the remaining cinnamon mixture (in little pieces) all over the top of that piece of dough.

Stir the cookie dough – BARELY:

Once you have your dough layered you are going to fold and mix it just barely. I do two folds, scraping up and over, followed by one to two stirs by hand with a rubber spatula. Do not use an electric mixer, this needs to be a brief stir that leaves some pieces of the cinnamon mixture in chunks and some pieces swirled into the dough.

Scoop and chill:

Scoop the dough into two-tablespoon portions using a cookie scoop. Pay attention while scooping to ensure that each scoop has a fair amount of dough mixed with cinnamon.

Place the dough balls on a plate and freeze for 10 minutes. This quick chill firms up the butter so the cookies don’t spread too much.

Bake:

Bake the cookies on parchment lined baking sheets for 10-12 minutes. They will look slightly under baked but they will firm up as they cool. If some of the cookies are misshapen after baking see the instructions below for shaping them.

Key technique for round cookies

This is a technique that I mention as an optional step for most of my cookie recipes but for this recipe it is crucial.

Some of the cookies will bake up a little misshapen. This is because pockets of cinnamon sugar might melt out while baking. Don’t worry, either of these techniques work for getting a perfectly round shape for every cookie in the batch!

Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. Gently swirl the glass/bowl/cookie cutter in a circular motion. The edges of the cookie will bump against the inside of the glass creating a perfectly round shape. Note: This only works when the cookies are hot, straight from the oven, and still on the warm baking sheet.

Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a round shape.

Recipe tips

Brief freezes for the cinnamon sugar mixture and the dough balls ensure that the cookies don’t spread too much while baking.

Layering the cookie dough with cinnamon sugar and gently folding the dough makes perfect cinnamon swirls.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup and to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.

Space the dough balls a couple inches apart on the baking sheets to give adequate room for spreading.

For thicker cookies leave the dough balls in higher mounds, for thinner cookies give them a slight pat down before baking.

Love cinnamon? Try these: