Like a warm cinnamon roll, but so much easier! No waiting for the yeast to rise and no rolling up the dough and slicing. Just the warm cinnamon sugary goodness and smooth classic cream cheese icing, with the simplicity of a batch of cookies... but oh so impressive.
Just prepare your dough.
Spoon balls of dough onto cookie sheet and pop in the fridge for a few hours or over night. This allows the flavors to develop and time for the dough to absorb the moisture for a flavorful, hydrated and firm dough yielding rich, golden brown cookies that bake up thicker and more evenly with a better consistency. If
you do not plan on making all of the cookies at once, you can wrap and
freeze dough balls for later use. Cookie dough can be refrigerated for
up to 48 hours or frozen to be used in smaller batches.
No-Roll Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour, weighed or spooned and leveled
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick/4oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (106) packed brown sugar, dark or light
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (75g) granulated white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 oz cream cheese (half of and 8-oz block), optional
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. With an electric mixer, beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar, on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down bottom and sides of bowl. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Slowly pour in the flour mixture, on low speed, just until incorporated. Scoop dough into balls (about 2-3 tablespoons each), cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. Dough balls may also be frozen for later use.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place dough balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, 2 inches apart. Bake for about 9-12 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden brown. Do not over bake.
In a shallow bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the coating. Brush melted butter over each cookie and sprinkle with a heaping teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes to allow center to set.
In small bowl, mix together icing ingredients until thick and smooth. Place icing in a plastic baggie and snip off the corner to pipe frosting in a swirl on top of each cookie. Store at room temperature in an air tight container.
Notes:
- Melt and brown half of the butter to add an incredible caramel flavor and chewy texture to the cookies that makes them extra special.
- Refrigerating the dough balls allows the flavors to intensify and time for the dough to absorb the moisture for a flavorful, hydrated and firm dough yielding rich, golden brown cookies that bake up thicker with less spreading.
- If you do not plan on making all of the cookies at once, the unbaked cookie dough balls can be can be placed in a ziploc bag and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3-4 months, to be baked in desired quantities. When baking cookie dough balls straight from the freezer, add about 1 minute to the baking time.
- Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days or frozen for up to a few months.
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