Cinnamon Roll Cookies

I saw these a few weeks ago on Picky Palate and have been waiting for an opportunity to try them.  Today's a perfect stay-at-home-and-bake kinda day with this Nor'Easter we're getting, so I made them for my family!  What a treat!  I bake all the time, but rarely do I bake something JUST for us.  :)

Since I made these just for the six of us, I cut the recipe in half.  Jenny's original recipe yields at least six dozen cookies.  Now I'm not saying we couldn't eat six dozen cookies, I'm just saying we *shouldn't* eat six dozen cookies!  ;)

That said, cutting the recipe in half *still* yielded 4 1/2 dozen!  My cookies are about two inches in diameter. You could easily make them larger by rolling the dough into a larger rectangle.  We'll get to that in a sec.

Begin by mixing up the dough and chilling it for a few hours in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap.  Then divide the dough into three pieces and roll each piece into a rectangle, 1/8 of an inch thick, on a lightly floured surface.   

Spread the dough with  softened butter.   I just used my fingers, but you could be civilized and use an offset spatula.

Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Again, since I'm clearly a hands-on baker, I just used my fingers to break up the brown sugar chunks, and sprinkled evenly over the dough.   I couldn't help but wonder what some chopped pecans would have been like in these.  Next time.

Roll up the dough into a long rectangle (forgot a photo of this step!) and cut into pieces.  Place them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet or baking stone.

Bake for about 10 minutes, and let sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Mix up a simple frosting of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk, and pipe in swirls on the cooled cookies.   Try hard not to eat half a dozen at this point.  Let the icing set before storing in an airtight container.  Place wax paper between layers of cookies.  (Jenny's recipe calls for a cream cheese icing.  While I think this would be very rich and wonderful, I opted for a simple glaze so that I don't have to store the cookies in the fridge.)

Here's the recipe with my adaptations!

Cinnamon Roll  Cookies

Cookie Dough

1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup butter, softened
1 whole egg

1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 Cup sour cream
3 Cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling

6 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature, divided

3/4 Cups packed light brown sugar, divided

3/4 Tablespoon ground cinnamon, divided

Icing

2 Cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 Tablespoons milk

In an electric or stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream until well combined. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.

Form dough into a flat rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill for at least two hours.

Once chilled, divide the dough into three pieces.  One at a time, roll into a 1/8 inch thick rectangle, about 12 inches by 5 inches.  Spread each rolled out rectangle dough with 2 Tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 Cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  Roll up from the long side.  Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2 inch to 3/4 pieces of dough and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet to cool completely on a wire rack.

In a bowl stir together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.  Spread or pipe in a swirl pattern on cooled cookies.  Allow icing to set before storing in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.

Enjoy!