Cinnamon Roll Cookies: My Easiest Slice and Bake Yet
Cinnamon roll cookies turn soft sugar cookie dough into an easy slice and bake cookie with a rich cinnamon sugar filling spiced with Apple Pie Spice. The dough is extremely forgiving to work with and the cinnamon swirl in each cookie packs a visual punch that’s much easier than you think to pull off.
| Taste | Texture | ||
| Cinnamon sugar, vanilla | Soft, crisp sugar |
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 15 minutes | 2 hours | 32 cookies | Easy |
As much as I love making sweet rolls like Chai Spiced Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Classic Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, and Lemon Blueberry Rolls, they require a little more forethought than a batch of cookies. These cookies are a happy solution to such a thing combining all the flavors of cinnamon rolls in a cookie that takes just a few minutes to put together. From there you can pull out your freezer-stashed cookie dough to bake cinnamon roll cookies whenever you want.
Why You’ll Want Cinnamon Roll Cookie Dough in Your Freezer
- Convenient: All slice and bake cookies are ridiculously convenient with NONE of the low quality ingredients or artificial ingredients that store-bought cookie doughs contain. I could write volumes about all the ways I love my slice and bake Pecan Sandies alone!
- Genuinely Easy: This cookie dough is so simple to make, and friendly to work with. Because I teach young children how to bake, I’m always thinking about ways to simplify my recipes so that they can make them. This recipe combines my techniques for the best cut-out cookies, with my tricks for the best slice and bake cookies for a no-fail cookie anyone can make.
- So Much Flavor: my homemade Apple Pie Spice adds a blast of extra flavor in the form of nutmeg and vanilla sugar that rounds out the flavor of cinnamon rolls without tasting like a true spice cookie like Pfeffernusse.
Ingredients For Cinnamon Roll Pinwheel Cookies
Soft Cutout Cookie Dough
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Sunflower oil, preferably cold-pressed
- Egg
- Vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar
- Salt
Equipment
- parchment (ideally pre-cut sheets that fit 1/2 sheet pans)
- 1/2 sheet baking pans
- rolling pin
- rubber bands
- paper towel roll
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- Dark brown sugar
- Butter
- Apple Pie Spice (homemade or substitute ground cinnamon)
- Cocoa powder (optional for color)
Vanilla Icing Drizzle (optional)
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies
- Make the Dough: Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth. Drizzle in the oil until you have a loose paste. Add in the vanilla, and egg until just combined. Mix the flour with the baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a small bowl. Add the flour into the butter mixture and mix just until the flour disappears.
- Roll the Dough: Scoop the dough into the middle of a sheet of parchment , pressing it with your hands into a rough rectangle. Cover the dough with another piece of parchment , lining up the edges of the paper. Roll the dough between the parchment until it covers the whole bottom piece of parchment. You will not need any additional flour to keep the dough from sticking with this recipe.
- Chill the Dough Sheet: Place the rolled out dough package onto a baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes.
- Make the Cinnamon Sugar Filling: Mix the soft butter with dark brown sugar, apple pie spice (or ground cinnamon), and cocoa into a smooth spreadable paste. You can do this with a fork, by hand, or with a hand mixer.
- Make the Dough Log: Peel off the top piece of parchment. Crumble the filling all over the dough with your hands and then spread it into a thin layer all over the surface. With the long side of the dough facing you, use the parchment to roll the dough over itself to create a tight spiral.
- Chill the Dough Log: Wrap the dough log in the parchment sheet or plastic wrap. Cut down the middle of a paper towel tube and slip the log inside the tube. Use rubber bands to secure the tube around the dough. Freeze the log for at least 1 hour and up to 2 months.
- Slice and Bake: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Cut the dough log in half with a sharp knife. Work with one of the logs at a time, wrapping the other one and placing it back in the freezer. Cut the log into 16 slices and divide the slices between the two sheet pans. Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking. Repeat with the second dough log. Let the cookies cool on their baking sheets until completely cool.
- Glaze if Desired: If you’d like to, mix the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle a zigzag line of glaze over the top of each cookie. Let the glaze air dry before serving.
Tips for Making the Best Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Make Sure the Dough Log is Cold: For all slice and bake cookies, it’s important that the dough log is frozen or mostly frozen before you cut them. This dough is lighter than my shortbread style slice and bake cookies, so there’s no need to defrost before cutting. The cold log will be easy to slice through and the swirl won’t get squished when you cut it.
- Rotate the Dough Log: As you cut, rotate the dough log. This will help you cut more even slices instead of having slices that are thicker on the top and slightly thinner on the bottom.
- Space the Cookies Well: Bake only 6-8 cookies at a time, spacing them out as evenly as you can on your baking sheet. This will give the cookies plenty of room to bake without running into each other. If you do have a cookie or two that bakes into its neighbor, cut between the cookies with a knife or a metal spatula right after they come out of the oven.
How to Store Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Freeze these cookies in an airtight freezer container for up to 3 months.
At room temperature, you can store them in an airtight container, separated by layers of wax paper or parchment for up to a week.
Should I Frost Cinnamon Roll Cookies?
Whether to add glaze or not is a personal choice. When I make these, I skip the glaze because the cookies themselves are quite sweet on their own. We all have different tastes, and that is just fine.
There is an optional glaze in the recipe if you want a little extra glaze swizzle over the top of these cookies. Just for fun, I altered one of my pictures with AI to give you an idea of what these would look like (I will replace this picture with actual glaze the next time I make these cookies).
More Slice and Bake Cookies to Make
Slice and Bake Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 32 cookies 1x
Description
These cookies tie together all the cozy flavors of a cinnamon roll in an easy and convenient slice and bake cookie you can make any time you’ve got a hankering for cinnamon rolls but are short on time. With a buttery cinnamon sugar filling and a tender soft sugar cookie, these are sure to bring a smile.
Ingredients
Scale
Soft Cutout Cookie Dough
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature (113 g)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (60 g)
- 2 Tablespoons oil, preferably cold-pressed sunflower oil (30 mL)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (276 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 1 cup dark brown sugar (213 g)
- 4 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature (57 g)
- 2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice or ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Vanilla Powdered Sugar Glaze (optional)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (60 g)
- 2 teaspoons whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth.
- Drizzle in the oil until you have a loose paste.
- Add in the vanilla, and egg until just combined.
- Mix the flour with the baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a small bowl.
- Add the flour into the butter mixture and mix just until the flour disappears.
Roll the Dough
- Scoop the dough into the middle of a sheet of parchment, pressing it with your hands into a rough rectangle.
- Cover the dough with another piece of parchment, lining up the edges of the paper.
- Slide the paper to the edge of your counter and use your hip to anchor it in place. Roll the dough between the parchment until it covers the whole bottom piece of parchment. You will not need any additional flour to keep the dough from sticking with this recipe.
- Place the rolled out dough package onto a baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes.
Make the Cinnamon Sugar Filling
Mix the soft butter with dark brown sugar, apple pie spice (or ground cinnamon), and cocoa into a smooth spreadable paste. You can do this with a fork, by hand, or with a hand mixer.
Make the Dough Log
- Peel off the top piece of parchment.
- Crumble the filling all over the dough with your hands and then spread it into a thin layer all over the surface.
- With the long side of the dough facing you, use the parchment to roll the dough over itself to create a tight spiral.
Chill the Dough Log
- Wrap the dough log in the parchment sheet or plastic wrap.
- Cut down the middle of a paper towel tube and slip the log inside the tube. Use rubber bands to secure the tube around the dough.
- Freeze the log for at least 1 hour and up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Slice and Bake
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- Cut the dough log in half with a sharp knife. Work with one of the logs at a time, wrapping the other one and placing it back in the freezer. Cut the log into 16 slices and divide the slices between the two sheet pans. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking
- Repeat with the second dough log.
- Let the cookies cool on their baking sheets until completely cool.
Drizzle the Glaze
- If you’re adding the glaze, mix all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Drizzle a zigzag line of glaze over the top of each cookie. Let the glaze air dry before serving.
Notes
Storing Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, separated by layers of wax paper or parchment for up to a week.
- Freeze these cookies in an airtight freezer container for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
