Reimagine glazed cinnamon rolls as cookies using an orange-scented sugar cookie dough filled with crunchy cinnamon sugar. Topped with an orange glaze, you'll want these breakfast pastry look-alikes any time of day!
[February, 2022: I've reworked the recipe and updated this post with all new pictures. Enjoy!]
Why this recipe works
- An easy and flavorful sugar cookie dough that gets flavor from orange zest and an orange-vanilla extract
- The filling of brown sugar, coarse sugar, and cinnamon gives these cookies great flavor and crunch
- A cute cookie pastry that's delicious any time of day
Cinnamon rolls are a wonderful breakfast pastry. And cookies are wonderful bits of portion-controlled food hugs.
When cinnamon rolls are reimagined as cookies, you really are in for a treat: Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies. They look just like the pastry version, complete with a crunchy sugar-and-spice filling and topped with an orange glaze. Perfect for snacking on any time of day!
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What you need
A sugar cookie recipe is made with butter, sugar, flour, salt, an egg for richness, and flavorings. Essentially, they're like an enriched and flavored shortbread recipe. Here the flavoring comes from vanilla and orange zest, and you can enhance the flavor using an orange-vanilla extract called Fiori di Sicilia if you wish.
Normally, baking powder would also be used in sugar cookies, but here it's omitted in favor of leavening the cookie with air. Why? So that the cookies will retain their tight spiral and not spread as much as if a leavening agent is used.
For the filling, dark brown sugar mixes with cinnamon for a deep, warm, and spicy flavor, and coarse sugar is added for a crunchy texture.
And what would cinnamon rolls be without glaze? Naked, that's what! So mix some orange juice with powdered sugar (and more Fiori di Sicilia if you'd like), and drizzle away!
How to make cinnamon roll sugar cookies
The process for making cinnamon rolls cookies (aka cinnamon swirl cookies or cinnamon bun cookies) is just like a recipe for cinnamon rolls, whether made from a yeast dough or a quick no-yeast version.
For a traditional cinnamon roll recipe, you make a yeasted dough and wait several hours (or overnight) to let it rise. Then you press it into a rectangle, brush it with melted butter, and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar. Roll it up, cut it up, and bake. Easy peasy.
The difference here is that sugar cookie dough replaces the yeasted dough. Everything else is the same.
Step 1: Make the sugar cookie dough
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or if using a hand mixer, just a large bowl), and cream them together until the mixture is light and fluffy. You want to incorporate a lot of air into the creamed mixture.
Add in the egg, vanilla, orange zest, and Fiori di Sicilia (if using) to the bowl and beat until thoroughly combined.
Add in the flour and salt and mix on low speed until the dough is combined and crumbly (photo 1).
Use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball, trying not to overwork it. The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky, but not sticky. If the dough is too dry, add water slowly in 1 teaspoon increments and knead it into the dough. If the dough seems too wet, knead in 1 teaspoon of flour, again kneading gently until the dough reaches the right texture.
Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Flatten each into a disk and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes.
Step 2: Make the filling
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, coarse sugar, and cinnamon until the filling is well mixed (photo 2). Fish out any hard lumps of brown sugar, if necessary.
Step 3: Shape the cookies
This is where the fun begins.
Roll one of the dough disks into a rectangle, roughly 7- x 9-inches and about ¼-inch thick, leaving the other disk in the refrigerator until you're ready to shape it.
Try not to use too much extra flour as you're rolling out the dough. Also, rolling out the dough on a rolling mat, Silpat silicone mat, or parchment paper is helpful as this is a sticky dough. I wouldn't recommend rolling it out on the counter.
With the long side facing you, brush the melted butter over the rolled out dough (photo 3).
Sprinkle the dough with half of the filling, then tightly roll up the rectangle into a 9-inch log, keeping the edges as even as possible (photo 4). Smooth out any cracks in the dough with your fingers, but some cracking is fine.
Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap, then transfer back to the refrigerator. Repeat shaping a log with the other half of the dough. Chill both dough logs for at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
Step 4: Slice the cookies
Remove one of the chilled dough logs from the refrigerator. If needed, gently round out any flat areas on the log on the counter. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into ½-inch rounds. Place the slices onto a half sheet baking pan about 2-inches apart, and tighten up the spirals as needed (photo 5).
Step 5: Bake the cookies
Chill the cookies on the baking pans for about 5 to 10 minutes before baking. Repeat shaping and chilling the second dough log.
Bake the cookies at 350˚F for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides (photo 6). Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 6: Glaze the cookies
In a small bowl, sift the powdered sugar to remove any lumps. Add 1½ tablespoons of orange juice and the Fiori di Sicilia (if using), stirring until you get a thick glaze. Adjust the consistency by adding more orange juice as needed.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and allow to set a few minutes (photo 7).
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
Snickerdoodle cookies are sugar cookies that are rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. Cinnamon roll cookies have the same components, but the cookie dough is rolled up with the cinnamon sugar on the inside, giving it the appearance of a baked cinnamon roll.
Baking powder and baking soda lift cookie dough, allowing it to rise and spread as the dough bakes. If the dough is well aerated (i.e. the butter and sugar are beaten together until light and fluffy) and contains eggs (to assist the protein structure), then the air can replace the leavening and lift the cookies. The benefit is that the cookies won't spread as much, and eliminates any possible aftertaste from the baking powder or baking soda.
Yes, especially if there's a high amount of butter in the dough. This orange-scented sugar cookie dough recipe is the same one I use to make hamantaschen (triangular-shaped butter cookies filled with jam or chocolate). And like with hamantaschen, chilling is the key to make these rolled cookies hold their shape.
Because cinnamon roll cookies are made from a butter-rich sugar cookie dough, the dough will get difficult to roll out and cut if it's too warm. Plus, the cookies will spread more during baking, losing that nice spiral shape.
Therefore, it's important to keep the dough chilled throughout the whole process, from making the dough to baking the cookies. Specifically, chill the dough after you've made it, after you've shaped the logs, and after you've sliced the cookies before baking.
Yup, you'll never be too far away from your refrigerator when you make cinnamon roll cookies.
Pro Tip: Change up the spice mix
For the filling, choose any mix of sugar and spices (with or without chopped nuts) that you'd like. Use a ratio of 3 parts sugar to 1 part spice (that's about ¼ cup sugar to 1 tablespoon of spice).
Try maple sugar mixed with cinnamon, cloves, and chopped walnuts or use a ready-made sprinkle mix. For a different take, skip the sugar-and-spice filling for other flavor combinations, like chocolate chips sprinkled on raspberry or apricot jam.
For the glaze, complement the flavor of your filling by replacing some of the liquid with milk, juice or a liqueur of your choice. Spread your wings and let your creativity soar!
Breakfast pastry as a cookie
This cinnamon roll cookie recipe yields cookies that are sweet and buttery, with flavors of cinnamon spice complemented with orange. Their crumbly texture is contrasted by crunch from the coarse sugar, and the overall effect mimics cinnamon rolls wonderfully.
And since cinnamon rolls have to have icing, the glaze completes the picture and adds more orange flavor. Win!
The cookies will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Baked cookies (with or without the glaze) can be frozen for up to 3 months and thawed overnight in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze the disks of unshaped cookie dough or the shaped cookie logs for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before continuing with the recipe.
These cinnamon roll sugar cookies are a cute way to have the yummy sugar-and-spice of cinnamon rolls any time of day.
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
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Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- pastry brush
Ingredients
For the dough
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, optional
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 to 5 teaspoons water, if needed
For the filling
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons coarse sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1½ to 2 Tablespoons orange juice
- ⅛ teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, optional
Instructions
- Make the dough: Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or if using a hand mixer, just a large bowl), and cream them together until the mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla, orange zest, and Fiori di Sicilia (if using) to the bowl and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Add in the flour and salt and mix on low speed until the dough is combined and crumbly.
- Use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball, trying not to overwork the it. The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky, but not sticky. If the dough is too dry, add water slowly in 1 teaspoon increments and knead it into the dough. If the dough seems too wet, knead in 1 teaspoon of flour, again kneading gently until the dough reaches the right texture.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Flatten each into a disk and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes.
- Make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, coarse sugar, and cinnamon until the filling is well mixed. Fish out any hard lumps of brown sugar, if necessary.
- Shape the cookies: Lightly flour a Silpat silicone mat or parchment paper. Roll one of the dough disks into a rectangle, roughly 7- x 9-inches and about ¼-inch thick, leaving the other disk in the refrigerator until you're ready to shape it. Try not to use too much extra flour as you're rolling out the dough.
- With the long side facing you, brush the melted butter over the rolled out dough, then sprinkle with half of the filling. Tightly roll up the rectangle into a 9-inch log, keeping the edges as even as possible. Smooth out any cracks in the dough with your fingers, but some cracking is fine.
- Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap, then transfer back to the refrigerator. Repeat shaping a log with the other half of the dough.
- Chill both dough logs for at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
- Bake the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a half sheet baking pan with a Silpat silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Remove one of the chilled dough logs from the refrigerator. If needed, gently round out any flat areas on the log on the counter. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into ½-inch rounds. Place the slices onto the baking pan about 2-inches apart, and tighten up the spirals as needed.
- Chill the cookies on the baking pans for about 5 to 10 minutes before baking. Like with all butter cookies, this will help keep their shape while baking. Repeat shaping and chilling the second dough log.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: In a small bowl, sift the powdered sugar to remove any lumps. Add 1½ tablespoons of orange juice and the Fiori di Sicilia (if using), stirring until you get a thick glaze. Adjust the consistency by adding more orange juice as needed.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and allow to set a few minutes. Serve and enjoy!
- The cookies will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Baked cookies (with or without the glaze) can be frozen for up to 3 months and thawed overnight in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the disks of unshaped cookie dough or the shaped cookie logs for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before continuing with the recipe.
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