Good Morning Cookies: Cinnarookies!

Since starting my blog 11 months ago, I’ve noticed that a lot of my baking and cooking is influenced by my childhood. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, though. Several of my family members, including my dad, enjoyed cooking very much, and my parents cooked dinner almost every single night when I was growing up.

I remember my parents made this one cookie when I was little that I used to just love. It was a sort of cinnamon roll cookie, but without any frosting, and they were small, and a bit dry and crunchy, but in the right way. I have fond memories of my mom and dad whipping them up at the last minute as a snack for my sisters and I. Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe, but they did inspire the cookies I have for you today! And maybe soon, I’ll finally have that old recipe figured out so they’re just right! Until then, trust me, you don’t want to miss these!

The hubster calls these “cinnarookies.” I think we all know how I feel about giving fun food a cute name, so cinnarookies they are! Making “real” cinnamon rolls takes quite a bit of work and time, so I wanted another way to capture the flavors and feel of them with a little less work. Plus, these make many, many more, and they’re far easier to share with friends and family. Which, for me, is always a bonus!

The ingredients for these cookies are vanilla, salt, baking powder, brown sugar, sugar, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter (softened), cinnamon, and eggs.In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside.In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping the bowl as needed.

Scrape the dough into a ball in the center of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes, or the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Once the dough is chilled, divide it into two equal halves. Place one half back in the bowl and put it back in the refrigerator for now. We’re going to add the filling to our cinnamon rolls, and all you need is a little cinnamon, softened butter (unsalted), and brown sugar.

On a large piece of plastic wrap, pat the first half of the dough into a rectangle about nine inches by twelve inches, and about half an inch thick. Place half of the butter on the dough and spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar evenly over the buttered dough, pressing it into the dough. Finally, sprinkle half of the cinnamon evenly over the dough.

Once the filling ingredients are all added, use the plastic wrap to tightly roll the dough into a log. Seal the plastic wrap around the cookie dough and place the log in the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for at least an hour. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough and filling ingredients.

Just in case you’re wondering if you can skip the plastic wrap, I wouldn’t recommend it. This is my second half of the dough after thinking it was chilled enough to skip the plastic. Oops.

After the dough has chilled again, slice each log into half inch slices (about 24 per log). I usually do one log at a time, leaving the other in the refrigerator until I’m ready to slice and bake, or I keep the second log frozen for another day. The dough will keep, tightly wrapped, in the freezer for several weeks.

Place the cookies on baking sheets lined with Silpat mats or parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before icing.

You could certainly give these “swirlier” swirls by flattening the dough out into a bigger rectangle before the filling step, but I like how these look. They look more like a cinnamon roll to me.

Now all that’s left is to ice them.

The icing is just milk, instant espresso powder, vanilla, melted butter (unsalted), and confectioners’ sugar.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter and instant espresso powder. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and whisk until the ingredients just come together. Next, add the milk, one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. The icing should be thin enough to drizzle, but thicker than a glaze.

Now, with the cookies on a wire cooling rack set over parchment paper, just drizzle the icing over the them with your whisk. To get a nice, consistent drizzle, be sure to move the whisk quickly over the cookies, otherwise you’ll get large blobs of frosting on them randomly. Allow the cookies to set up for a few minutes before stacking or storing.

Don’t be stingy either! I use every last bit of frosting! You could even dip the tops of these into the icing and coat them entirely, if you want to. It would certainly be faster, and probably slightly less messy. Either way, I love these! The icing is just the right sweet, with a nice depth added from the espresso, which lends just a hint of coffee flavor.

These turned out really fun, and really, really tasty! They have all of the delicious flavors of fresh cinnamon rolls with a fraction of the work. Without chilling time, these take about 40 minutes to prepare, bake, and ice. Even with the chilling time, you can have these fresh out of the oven in less than two hours! Ilike to mix them up and shape them in advance. Then I just slice and bake them at my leisure, like you can do with store bought cookie dough.

Confession: I had these for breakfast. Twice. But really, they can’t be any worse than having real cinnamon rolls for breakfast, can they? I don’t think so, and I have a feeling you won’t either. Enjoy!

Cinnarookies
Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

FOR THE COOKIES
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

FOR THE FILLING
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
1/4, plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
FOR THE ICING
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-4 tablespoons milk

To make the cookies: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping the bowl as needed. Scrape the dough into a ball in the center of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes, or the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Once the dough is chilled, divide it into two equal halves. Place one half back in the bowl and put it back in the refrigerator for now. On a large piece of plastic wrap, pat the first half of the dough into a rectangle about nine inches by twelve inches, and about half an inch thick. Place half of butter on the dough and spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar evenly over the buttered dough and press the sugar into the dough. Finally, sprinkle half of the cinnamon evenly over the dough. Use the plastic wrap to tightly roll the dough into a log. Place the log in the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for at least an hour. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough and filling ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with Silpat mats or parchment paper.

After the dough has chilled again, slice each log into half inch slices (about 24 per log). Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and instant espresso powder. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and whisk until it just comes together. Next, add the milk, one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. It should be thin enough to drizzle, but thicker than a glaze.

With the cookies on a wire cooling rack set over parchment paper, drizzle the icing over the them with your whisk. Allow the cookies to set up for a few minutes before stacking or storing.

Recipe by Darla