Homemade cinnamon roll cookies come together with my favorite recipe for sugar cookies as the base, a buttery cinnamon sugar filling, and vanilla icing drizzle. They’re soft in the centers with slightly crisp edges and taste like a cookie version of cinnamon rolls!
I know exactly what your plans should be today and they must include these cinnamon roll cookies. They’re fun to make, taste like cinnamon buns, and they’re itty bitty adorable. Mini cookies are ALWAYS a good idea! (PS: you’ll love my mini M&M cookies, too.)
Cinnamon Roll Cookies Recipe Video
How to Make Cinnamon Roll Cookies
These cookies are prepared just like cinnamon rolls, but without the yeast, dough rising, and all that razzmatazz. Let’s review:
- Make the sugar cookie dough. We’ll use my favorite recipe for sugar cookies. If you’ve already made them, you’re a pro.
- Shape the cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough out into 2 rectangles (about 9×7 inches) just like you would with cinnamon roll dough. We follow the same process for pumpkin spice roll cookies.
- Spread the filling onto the cookie dough rectangles.
- Roll into logs. Tightly roll up each rectangle into a 9-inch log. You’ll have 2 of them!
- Chill the logs. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. We do this prior to slicing them so the cookies keep their cute shape.
- Cut into slices. Each cookie should be about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bake. Unlike cinnamon rolls, these cookies bake up pretty quickly.
- Make the icing. Drizzle vanilla icing on completely cooled cookies.
Here are some step-by-step pictures:
Baker’s Tips
- I always roll the cookie dough out on a silicone baking mat instead of a floured counter because it makes clean up easier. I highly recommend it!
- When you’re rolling the dough into logs, the dough might crack a little. That’s ok! Simply smooth the dough out with your fingers if you notice any cracks. Roll the dough up slowly and tightly.
- Below: The left picture below is the dough all rolled up before chilling and the right picture is the dough log chilled. Chilling is the most important step because it prevents the cookies from over-spreading and losing their cinnamon roll shape.
Cinnamon Roll Cookies Icing
So they taste more like traditional cinnamon rolls, we have to top them with icing! If you’re not into vanilla icing, try any of the following instead: maple icing used on my maple brown sugar cookies, brown butter icing used on my brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies, or cream cheese icing from my cinnamon rolls recipe.
If you are craving a more traditional style of cinnamon rolls but don’t want to wait hours for the dough to rise, try these no yeast cinnamon rolls next!
More Shaped Cookie Recipes
- Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies & Pecan Sugar Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies & Snowman Sugar Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Raspberry Pistachio Linzer Cookies
- Pinwheel Cookies
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
- Yield: about 36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These simple, sweet, and irresistible cinnamon roll cookies are made from sugar cookie dough!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Filling
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the dough: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Shape and fill: Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out in a rectangle (about 9×7 inches) onto a floured silicone baking mat (or floured parchment paper) to about 1/4″ thickness. Spread 1 Tablespoon of melted butter onto each rectangle. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon together then sprinkle evenly over each.
- Working slowly, tightly roll up each rectangle into a 9-inch log. If the dough is cracking at all, use your fingers to smooth it out. Some cracks are OK. Chill the logs of dough for at least 2 hours (or freeze up to 3 months). What I like to do is carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board or plate and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Remove dough logs from the refrigerator. Cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes, until lightly browned on the sides. Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- Make the icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together. Drizzle over cookies.
- Cover and store cookies at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies (with or without icing) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. You can chill the cookie dough for up to 2 days (step 5). You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide into two portions, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Continue with step 4. OR you can freeze the dough logs in step 5. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin or this Adjustable Rolling Pin
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Keywords: cinnamon roll cookies
These turned out wonderfully. I was worried from some of the other comments about cracking, but I didn’t have any. I rolled it in between 2 pieces of parchment paper and didn’t have to add any additional flour. Thanks for a winning recipe, yet again. This is my new favorite blog for sweet treats.
★★★★★
The cookies themselves are good, a little under flavoured. The cinnamon isn’t very strong. The icing was terrible, didn’t drizzle nicely at all, it looked great at first but it spreads very easily and looks messy. I followed the directions exactly.
★★★
I always read reviews before I make a recipe, so here’s my experience with this one: you will NOT regret making these! I wanted to bring something a little fancier than my typical drop cookies to a holiday party. These cookies are impressive-looking (also read: adorable), they were easy to make, and required only basic ingredients. The most stressful part of the baking process was rolling up the dough, and trust, even if you do so imperfectly, the sliced cookies will still have a lovely swirl. Also, people went nuts for these cookies at the party – they really do taste like crunchy cinnamon rolls. A friend who “hates sugar cookies” (what?) was caught squirreling a few of these away to go with his morning coffee. Is there a more ringing endorsement?
★★★★★
Thank you so much for your comment, Holly! I’m so glad you and your fellow party guests loved this recipe!
These are delicious! Not a hassle if you’ve made any type of rollout cookie before. I did not chill the dough before rolling into a rectangle and had no issues.
★★★★★
I made these and substituted gluten free flour. They are phenomenal! Aside from the flour, I followed recipe exactly and they are so dangerously addictive!
★★★★★
Hi Sally, just wondering if you can substitute brown sugar instead of white sugar in the filling? By the way, I love your recipes and have two of your cook books!
Thanks for your inspiration!
Judy
Absolutely! Same amount.
My dough came out very crumbly! Any idea why? I’m pretty sure I followed it exactly. Was the butter not soft enough?
Cookies had to be flipped over 1/2 way through the baking in order to get brown on both sides. I followed the directions so I could not figure why this happened….any thoughts? Otherwise the end result the cookies were very good.
★★★★
The taste is great, but they don’t look great. The dough would NOT stick together.
★★★★
These have become my son’s favorite cookie. I am sending a batch to his college dorm for his birthday. Thanks so much for the recipe!
★★★★★
I made 3 batches of these last Christmas. 1 for a party, 1 for us here at home, and 1 stuck in the freezer. I know we shouldn’t store cookie dough in the freezer for 8 months (lol) because the quality might diminish, I did anyway. And I have to say, after baking them up today, 8 solid months later, they still taste just as wonderful as they did last Christmas.
★★★★★
This cookies came out exactly like the recipe. Thank you for so generously sharing your baking knowledge.
★★★★★
Love these! I made these and they were gone within 24 hours (mostly my husband) they are so good! Will definitely be making these again! Thank you Sally for yet another amazing cookie recipe!
★★★★★
I have baked these cookies for about 2 years now and they have become my family’s very favourite cookies ever! Thank you for the recipe
Just took these to church Bible study….what a hit they were! All 3 dozen gone in an hour, by only 16 people 🙂 Everyone wants the recipe, so I will be sharing your website. I’ve made these several times for different occasions, and they always go over big! My Pastor loved them, he ate 6….and he’s hoping his wife, who is gluten sensitive, will make them with alternative flour and that they will be just as good. Is there a flour substitute that can be used? Thanks so much for making us look/cook so good! <3
Hi Pat, I’m so happy that these were such a hit! I haven’t tested them with gluten free flour but many readers are able to substitute an all purpose GF flour in many recipes so please report back if you try it!
Hi Sally! I’ll be making these tonight. I made your sugar cookie recipe last night and it is just soooo delicious! My first time making sugar cookies and boy did I pick the right recipe for them! Even though they’re more work than drop cookies I plan to make them this Christmas and many times after that. Thanks so much!
Hey! I tried to make these and my dough turned out super crumbly. Is it supposed to?
I made these and the dough was very crumbly. This made it really hard to roll them up and cut them. What did I do wrong?
Absolutely delicious light cookies. Will be making these again for sure !!
Not sure what happened. The dough was all crumbly which made them really difficult to roll out and roll into logs. They look terrible, but they taste great!
My 16 year old son and I both agreed that I should probably stop making these cookies. After 4 batches in a span of less than 2 weeks it might be a good idea to take a little break. (A day should be fine, right?) They ARE that good. And the cutest cookie I’ve ever baked.
I make these vegan. I know, I know, you are undoubtedly horrified that I don’t use butter and eggs. I’ve been vegan for 28 years so that’s not going to change. 🙂 I use a good quality vegan butter substitute and soft silken tofu (blended well) to replace the egg. (You can also use a flax egg but I find that that leaves cookies too hard; tofu will make give you a softer cookie). Organic sugar takes the place of regular sugar and soy or almond milk for the cow’s milk. Easy peasy.
I’ve just started veganizing your recipes and I’ve had great luck so far. I am off to purchase your cookie book now…(after I make some more of these cookies because I’m pretty sure waiting an hour after our declaration of not baking more is long enough). Thank you for adding to our cookie obsession.
I’m so happy you have been able to alter these to fit your needs! I hope you love the book – let me know what recipes you try from it!
I made these today and they’re delicious! However, I always have a problem with my icing– it’s very transparent and doesn’t look white like yours at all. I’ll follow the ratios exactly, or even add extra powdered sugar, but it’s still transparent and runny. Do you know what might be happening?
Hi Kaleen! Try reducing to 2 Tbsp milk and you can add a little more confectioners’ sugar until you reach the consistency you like.
I just made these cookies and they are amazing. The soft texture just melts in your mouth. Thanks for the recipe!!
I like it, I love it, I want some more of it!! Already made them twice and going for a third time today. They’re so easy and super duper delish!!!!!
Sally, I made them yesterday. They are absolutely delicious. I’m sure this recipe will become one of my favorite ones.
Hi Sally, are these crunchy or chewy?
Crunchy with softish centers!
These are amazing. I’ve made two batches in three days 🙂 Sally, I’m not sure how you got these to taste just like cinnamon rolls but you did.
Cutting them with floss stops them from losing their shape! I just wrapped a piece of floss around the log as if I was going to tie it and it cut through perfectly.
These turned out beautifully. Instead of rolling dough on a floured surface, I rolled (as I do with all sugar cookies and gingerbread) between two pieces of parchment paper and used one piece to aid rolling and chilling the logs. Thanks for a great recipe. Going to try and “orange roll” variation next using orange zest and sugar in the filling and oj in the drizzle!
Such a great idea! I want to try an orange version soon too.
Made these yesterday, they are/were amazing! Thank you Sally!