This recipe for cinnamon roll cookies is simple to make and will have you looking like a total baking rock star. You won’t believe how delicious these cookies are!
Table of Contents
Frosted Cinnamon Cookies
This dessert combines two of my favorite sweet treats — cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies. I mean, does it get any better than that? I’m happy to report that combining the flavor of cinnamon rolls and cookies turned out better than expected! These cinnamon and sugar cookies are so good!
The texture is almost cake-like and is super soft and delicious. Then it’s topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting and a little sprinkle of cinnamon. Pure heaven!
Although these are one of our favorite Christmas cookies, this treat tastes festive year-round too. I love that pop of flavor you get as you sink your teeth into them. Seriously to die for!
Frosting
My favorite part of any cinnamon roll is always the icing. Did you know that you can buy just the icing at those cinnamon roll kiosks at the mall? People would always ask for extra icing, and eventually, they wised up and started charging for it. This helps me know I’m not alone in my icing addiction! :)
Thankfully, these cookies have an easy to make cinnamon roll frosting on them that’s better than anything you can get from a mall. Plus, since it’s your cookie, you can put as much or as little icing on it as you’d like. I say the more the merrier!
Ingredients
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk (or cream)
- Cinnamon
Instructions: In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Then add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in vanilla and milk as needed until desired consistency is met. Beat until light and fluffy. Then pipe the frosting onto the cooled cookies and add a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Baking Tips + Tricks
As you’re making this cinnamon roll cookie recipe, keep these tips and tricks in mind to help you get the best results possible.
- Use softened cream cheese. There are two easy ways to do this: you can either leave out the cream cheese at room temperature for about 45 minutes or microwave it on high for about 15 seconds.
- The butter also needs to be softened. It’s important that the butter is soft, not melted. For this reason, I skip the microwave. Instead, you can cut your butter into small cubes so they soften in an hour or less. If you need to soften it quickly, you can put your butter in a double boiler and pour boiling water in the bowl underneath the bowl holding butter.
- Flatten the dough with a drinking glass. Once the dough is made, you’ll roll it into 1″ balls before placing them on the parchment paper. Then, grab a clean drinking glass and use the bottom to flatten each cookie to 1/2″ thickness.
- Cool before frosting. Make sure your cookies are completely cool before adding your frosting. It’s hard to wait, but otherwise, they might melt the icing rather than hold its fluffy form.
- Frosting. Instead of a thick frosting, you can drizzle on a cream cheese glaze if preferred. A cinnamon buttercream or sour cream frosting would also taste delicious on top. Making these at the holidays, this eggnog frosting recipe is a must!
Love warm spiced treats with icing? This eggnog cupcake will also be a new favorite!
More Delicious Desserts
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Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 teaspoons milk or cream , as needed
- Ground cinnamon , for sprinkling
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, and mix well.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and mix until a firm dough forms. Chill 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball slightly with your hand or with a drinking glass to be about 1/3- to 1/2-inch thick. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until the bottom edges are just slightly golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool before frosting.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Pipe onto cooled cookies (you can use a 1M tip or snip off the top of a zip-top bag) in a spiral shape. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar. Store in a covered container up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Originally written by Alicia from The Baker Upstairs for I Heart Naptime.
I don’t know what I did wrong…they were SO dry..even with frosting! I made them according to directions. I am trying to figure out where I went wrong because everyone said these were such a hit. Epic fail for me and I’m sad about it.
I’m so sorry they didn’t turn out for you. :( It sounds like you may have added too much flour if they were dry. Check out my tips on how I measure flour: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/how-to-measure-flour/
I just made these for Christmas and they were a HUGE hit! Made a double batch because I knew they would be delicious! That was a good call. They just melt in your mouth. Thank you for this recipe!
So glad the cinnamon roll cookies were a hit! Thanks for your review :)
Made them with friends and had a lot of fun and they were delicious!! The icing was amazing and I’m not a big icing fan. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Thanks Kady for your review! So glad you enjoyed the cinnamon roll cookies!
I’ve made this recipe and it was a huge hit with my friends and neighbors! They’re delicious both warm and chilled!
I’m glad to hear they were a hit with your family! Enjoy!!
I just made these as a trial run before a Christmas party next weekend. I accidentally put too much milk in the icing, so it’s a bit too liquidy, still very delicious. When I make then for the party I’ll put in less. But so far they’ve been a hit for my family!
So glad they were a hit! You can always add more powdered sugar to thicken it :)