These NO CHILL cinnamon roll cookies are soft, warm sugar cookies with a thick layer of cinnamon sugar filling rolled to create the perfect swirl, generously drizzled with a cream cheese glaze!
This is a special post, in collaboration with Davidson College, my alma mater! If you’re reading this and you’re a Davidson student, I wish you the best of luck this finals season. This recipe was specifically created with you in mind! These cinnamon roll cookies are so easy to make. They’re the most rewarding study break!!
Because I’m writing this cinnamon roll cookie recipe for a bunch of busy students, I will keep the actual blog post short, here are just a few quick tips for the best results!
Quick Tips for the BEST Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Be sure to flour your surface well when rolling out the dough! If you don’t flour the surface well the dough will stick to the surface when trying to roll it. If the dough does stick, just use a knife to press it against the rolled dough and keep rolling!
- This recipe requires no chill time. However, you can chill the dough for an hour after rolling and before cutting. Chilling the dough will create much smaller cookies with a more distinct swirl!
- Store in an airtight container for up to three days. They are best when warm so I like to reheat mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds if I’m eating them after they have cooled!
If you make this recipe, be sure to tag me in your post on instagram @karisscorner. And be sure to tune into The Roku Channel this Friday, May 5th 2023 to watch The Great American Baking Show to see me bake in the tent!
Can baking be therapeutic?
I often talk about baking being a therapeutic hobby but I’d like to share more about why I feel that way as well as how it can become a relaxing hobby for you!
When I bake, it’s my creative time. I may put on my favorite nostalgic movie or tv show in the background, or a Spotify playlist titled “French café” and leave my troubles behind.
Sometimes I pour myself a glass of wine and light a candle. Then, with the mood set, the mixing of batter, kneading of dough and smoothing of icing is my only care in the world.
When I say baking is therapeutic, sometimes people respond saying “not for me it isn’t!” I completely understand why someone might feel that way. There have been plenty of times where I spend hours on something only for it to fail or something breaks that shouldn’t or I forget to clean as I go and am left with a disastrous kitchen to clean.
So I should in reality, have a caveat to my “baking as therapy” claims…
Baking is therapy when you curate the experience to be relaxing.
How do you curate that relaxing experience for yourself, you ask?
How to make baking therapeutic…
- Prepare your mind–know that it’s okay if the cake doesn’t rise, or the butter wasn’t chilled enough. Shift your mindset from seeing your failures as mistakes to seeing them as opportunities for learning.
- Prepare your space–I cannot and will not bake on top of a messy kitchen. If I were to do this I would be starting from a place of stress! Take an extra 10 minutes to clean any dishes in the sink and wipe down the counters, this small effort will pay you back greatly in brain space and clarity.
- Clean as you go! I’ll tell you the one way to make baking stressful and tiresome, is to not clean as you go! After I use each ingredient that I no longer need, I put it away.
After each major step in the process, I wipe down the counters and put dishes that are no longer needed in the sink. If there is chill time or baking time I don’t sit, I do the cleaning then. Make this shift and you’ll really notice the difference!
By the way, this last tip really helped me when I was on The Great American Baking Show–and the crew that cleaned up behind us made a point to tell me that my workspace was always so clean they didn’t have much to do!
I would reply by saying “it’s how I stay sane in this tent!”
Additional suggestions:
*Maybe try printing off the recipe instead of looking at it on your phone, tablet or laptop and use this time to unplug from technology for a few hours
**Invite friends or family over to share your creation with you. Time spent with loved ones over food is a universally special experience
And that’s how I discovered baking for my mental health. If you try any of these suggestions, let me know how it went for you! I’m really invested in spreading this message to others in hopes that baking will enhance your lives more than it already does!
Happy Baking, and Happy Finals Season to the Wildcats!
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp milk or cream
- 2 oz cream cheese room temperature
Instructions
For the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (roughly 180°C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of unsalted butter with 1 cup of sugar for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add 1 egg and 2 tsp of vanilla and mix until combined.
- Then add 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt and mix until just combined. Do not overmix, dough should be crumbly, but there should not be anymore flour visible.
- Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface and bring it together with your hands into a square shape.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
For the Filling
- In a small bowl, melt 4 Tbsp of unsalted butter in the microwave. Then add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp of ground cinnamon and give the mixture a good mix.
- Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture onto the rolled out dough in an even layer, leaving about an inch of dough without filling all the way around the outer edge.
- (Optional) cut off the bottom inch of dough without filling so that the inner most swirl on the cookies is tight and distinct!
- Roll the dough tightly and carefully. If any of the dough sticks to the surface, gently use a knife to remove it from the surface, press it back and keep rolling.
- Once you have your log of rolled dough, you may either chill it for 1 hour OR slice it into slices about 1/2 inch thick, place onto your baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the outer edges of the cookies just barely start to turn brown and the middles are still soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly.
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 2 Tbsp of milk.
- Add the 2oz of room temperature cream cheese and mix until combined. The mixture will be lumpy at this stage. Beat the mixture vigorously with a whisk to remove the lumps.
- After many of the lumps have gone away, add the last 1 Tbsp of milk and beat again. At this point you should have a smooth cream cheese glaze.
- When the cookies have cooled slightly, generously drizzle the glaze over the cookies, serve and enjoy!
These cookies are divine! I’m not great with rolled cookies, but I followed this recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly! Great texture, sweet but not overly so, great amount of cinnamon flavor. Definitely making these again!!
Amanda, I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!