Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Every Christmas season, I usually have 3 MAJOR baking days. The first day occurs around the first or second weekend of December when I’m in Boston, and the remaining two are consecutive days when I’m visiting my home in MN. 

 

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Yield: 36 cookies
Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 3/4 cup butter – softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar – packed
• 1 tbls. cinnamon
• 3 tbls. butter – softened

Icing:

• 1 tsp. corn syrup
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbls. half and half or milk (Use more or less depending on desired thickness of icing)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions: (It seems like a lot of steps, but it is really very easy. Don’t let them scare you!)

1. In a stand mixer cream together butter and sugar.
2. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Incorporate flour with butter mixture and mix until combined.
5. Place dough in refrigerator for at least an hour.
6. Meanwhile mix together brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl until well combined.
7. Once dough has chilled, separate into two balls. Work with one and place the remaining ball back in the refrigerator.
8. Roll out dough into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
• **To do this, I wrapped a large cutting board in plastic wrap, sprinkled it with flour, and rolled out my cookies there. This helps when rolling the dough into a log later on.
9. Spread 1 1/2 tbls. butter over cookie dough and sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture evenly over the dough, patting it down lightly.
10. Starting from the long end, roll the dough into itself to form a log, as you would when making a cinnamon roll. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap.
• This is where the plastic wrap around the cutting board trick comes in handy, as you avoid getting sticky. If you find the dough it too sticky to work with, simply place it back in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
11. Repeat with other half of dough.
12. Return cookie rolls to the oven for an additional hour.
13. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
14. Slice 18 cookies out of each roll. Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are set and just starting to brown.
15. Remove cookies from oven, allow to sit on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.
16. Once cookies are cooled, whisk together ingredients for the icing and drizzle over cookies.