These cinnamon roll cookies are soft, filled with cinnamon flavor and topped with a cream cheese frosting. A fun twist on snickerdoodles.
This dessert combines two of my favorite sweet treats — cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies.
Frosted Cinnamon Roll Cookies
These cinnamon and sugar cookies are so good!
If you love my cookies with cream cheese or Lofthouse sugar cookies, these cinnamon roll cookies are a fun one too. They’re topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting and a little sprinkle of cinnamon.
Although these are one of our favorite Christmas cookies, this treat tastes festive year-round too.
Soft Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies Ingredients
It has all the pantry staples in one medium bowl! It is that delicious and easy to make!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Butter: Unsalted, softened butter left on the countertop will make these cookies extra creamy!
- Sugar: Adds sweetness to every bite.
- Eggs: This binds and holds the cookie dough together as it mixes in the bowl.
- Vanilla extract: Added in for flavor and more moisture to the cookie dough.
- All-purpose flour: The base of the cookies is in the flour. The flour will add texture as well as the thickness of the cookies.
- Baking powder: This helps the cookies rise and keeps them contained rather than spreading while being baked.
- Ground cinnamon: Swirl in cinnamon to give it that cinnamon roll taste!
- Sea salt: Pinch of salt that gives it texture as well as a sweet and salty plus savory flavor!
How to Make Cinnamon Roll Cookies
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, and mix well.
Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and mix until a firm dough forms. Chill in the refrigerator.
Roll the dough into one-inch balls and place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball slightly with your hand or with a drinking glass.
Preheat oven and bake cinnamon roll cookies until the bottom edges are just slightly golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool before frosting.
Ingredients for Homemade Frosting
These cookies have an easy-to-make cinnamon roll frosting on them that’s better than anything you can get from a mall
- Cream cheese: Soften the cream cheese by leaving it out at room temperature until it is easy to sink your finger through.
- Butter: This is best softened at room temperature similar to the cream cheese. Cut the butter into slices to help it mix better with the wet ingredients.
- Powdered sugar: Add a little at a time giving the frosting that rich thickness with a soft texture.
- Vanilla: Just a dash of flavor!
- Milk: Choose either milk or cream to make this frosting nice and creamy.
- Cinnamon: Since these are cinnamon sugar cookies we need to add sprinkle of cinnamon to the frosting for that extra boost of flavor!
5 star review
I’ve made this recipe and it was a huge hit with my friends and neighbors! They’re delicious both warm and chilled!”
-Kaylee
Baking Tips + Tricks
As you are making this cinnamon roll cookie recipe, keep these tips and tricks in mind to help you get the best results possible. This will help ensure you have soft and delicious cookies every time!
- Use softened cream cheese. There are two easy ways to do this: you can either leave out the cream cheese at room temperature for about 45 minutes or microwave it on high for about 15 seconds.
- The butter also needs to be softened. It’s important that the butter is soft, not melted. For this reason, I skip the microwave. Instead, you can cut your butter into small cubes so they soften in an hour or less. If you need to soften it quickly, you can put your butter in a double boiler and pour boiling water in the bowl underneath the bowl holding butter.
- Flatten the dough with a drinking glass. Once the dough is made, you’ll roll it into 1″ balls before placing them on the parchment paper. Then, grab a clean drinking glass and use the bottom to flatten each cookie to 1/2″ thickness.
- Cool before frosting. Make sure your cookies are completely cool before adding your frosting. It’s hard to wait, but otherwise, they might melt the icing rather than hold its fluffy form.
- Frosting. Instead of a thick frosting, you can drizzle on a cream cheese glaze if preferred. A cinnamon buttercream or sour cream frosting would also taste delicious on top. At the holidays, this eggnog frosting recipe is a must!
Recipe FAQs
Rolled cookies are cookies that are made by rolling the cookie dough flat. Using a lightly floured surface or parchment paper to roll the cookie dough to a certain thickness before placing it on a cookie sheet. You can even use cookie cutters to cut shapes, animals, or numbers and letters.
Rolled cookies are considered more crumbly and less chewy compared to drop cookies. Rolled cookies are thin and crisp whereas dropped cookies are chewy and softer. Drop cookies, like my Lotus Biscoff cookies, usually use a cookie scoop and drop them directly onto the cookie sheet or silicone baking mat.
Rolled cookie method can be rolled out by using a rolling pin or rolling into a cookie dough log and cutting the dough into slices. Molded cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is similar to clay. Roll the dough into balls or similar shapes. Peanut butter cookies are a great example of molded cookie method.
The secret to rolling out cookie dough is having the cookie dough slightly chilled from the refrigerator. Using parchment paper, put the cookie dough between the two pieces and shape a rectangle using your hands. Roll the dough using a rolling pin at the center and roll the dough away from your body.
Freezing Baked Cookies
Allow cookies to cool completely. Place on a baking sheet and then freeze for 30 minutes. Once the frosting has hardened you can stack in a covered container. Take out 1 hour before ready to serve.
Love warm spiced treats with icing? This eggnog cupcake will also be a new favorite!
More Delicious Desserts
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all the newest recipes!
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Video
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar , could also do half brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour , more if needed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- cinnamon sugar , for rolling (optional)
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 teaspoons milk or cream , as needed
- Ground cinnamon , for sprinkling
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, and mix well.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and mix until a firm dough forms. Add an extra Tablespoon or two of flour if the dough is too sticky, being careful not to over mix. Chill 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. You can roll balls in cinnamon sugar for more cinnamon flavor if desired. Flatten each ball slightly with your hand or with a drinking glass to be about 1/3- to 1/2-inch thick.
- Bake 7 to 8 minutes, or until the bottom is barely golden. Be careful to not over bake. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool before frosting.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Pipe onto cooled cookies (you can use a 1M tip or snip off the top of a zip-top bag) in a spiral shape. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar. Store in a covered container up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Christmas, Cookies, Desserts, Frosted Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Kid-Friendly, Reader Favorites
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Can I chill the dough overnight??
Yes you can. Just set out for about 10-20 minutes before rolling out to make it easier :)
These cookies are fantastic! Should they be refrigerated due the cream cheese frosting?
Yes, I would recommend keeping them in the fridge.
These turned out great. Soo delicious. Very please with this receipe. I would def recommend :).
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! :)
Where have these cookies been all my life?
I’m making this recipe right now and 3 cups feels like a lot of flour and is making the dough pretty dry and crumbly! Is this to be expected at this point?
Hi Makena! It’s definitely a firmer dough, but it shouldn’t be dry and crumbly. Everyone measures flour a little differently, so I would probably add 2.5 cups of flour and then add in more until you get a firm dough that can roll into balls.
Followed the recipe, tried then at my house, they started smoking! I switched the pans, smoke, I made a different batch, smoke, tried them at my in laws house in case it was out oven, smoke …? I’m not a cook and I’m not a good cook. What on earth is happening to me ! What am I doing wrong ?
Oh no! I’ve never heard of this happening before! Is it the oven that is smoking or the actual cookies?
Did you use butter or margarine?
I use butter.
We had a girls night with myself and my 10yo and 14yo girls. They were able to make these mostly themselves and they tasted simply amazing!!! Ours weren’t as pretty as yours but they were a small bite of heaven. Thanks for the share!
What a fun girls night! I’m so glad you and your girls enjoyed them!
Hi! I plan on making these cookies today and I’m wondering if you use salted or unsalted butter. Thanks!
I typically use salted butter in these!
Is it vanilla or vanilla extract?
I use pure vanilla extract!
They are terrific cookies!! I made them just as the recipe stated and they taste just like a cinnamon roll! My family loved them. Thank you :)
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for leaving a comment! :)
I made these to take to friends as a fun surprise and I kid you not, everyone texted me right away asking for that recipe because they are unbelievably delicious!! SOOOO good!
I’m so glad everyone loved them! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Brandi! :)
Hi want to say first I love cinnamon rolls so when I was looking for a cookie to make today I had everything on hand and didn’t have to go out with whats going on in the world today…now to the cookies WOW WONDERFUL is all I can say thanks for sharing it
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I love finding recipes to make with ingredients I already have on hand.
I only used 1 teaspoon not 1 tablespoon of vanilla and they turned out fine. I thought maybe it was a misprint. Also, if you make the balls 1 inch you get more than 24 cookies. I made mine 2 inches and got 24 cookies. I just added 2 minutes to the baking time and they were fine. They are very good cookies.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing your experience with them!
How do you suggest storing these and for how long? Thanks!
Hi Lauren! Since they have a cream cheese frosting, I would recommend storing in the fridge for a few days. :)
They were easy to make and turned out fabulous!!! Makes about 3 dozen and that is good because my husband loves them!
I’m so glad you loved them! Thank you for your comment and review Deborah!
Hello what type of sugar do you use please
Granulated sugar
Do you use AP flour or SR flour?
All purpose flour!
Do you think these could be made ahead and frozen?
I would probably wait to frost them until ready to serve, but you should be able to freeze the actual cookies just fine. :)
Perfect! everyone loves it!