Cinnamon Roll Cookies

I’ve been a real cinnamon kick lately. Snickerdoodles, cinnamon muffins, and now cinnamon roll cookies. Maybe I should keep rolling with the cinnamon… cinnamon ice cream maybe? Hmmm.. sounds like a plan. I’m not a huge chocolate fan (blasphemy, I know), so I love making desserts that have other interesting flavors. I’ve been wanting to make cinnamon rolls but using yeast slightly terrifies me so I thought these cookies were the perfect substitute.  They really taste similar to the real thing and taste good with or without the icing. And, they give me an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast 😉

Ingredients:
for the dough:
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk (save the egg white for the filling)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

for the filling:
1 egg white
1 tbsp water
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

for the icing:
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2+ tbsp milk (i used whole milk and had to add a little more to thin out the icing)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Starting with the cookie dough, cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix. Blend in the flour and salt and mix until incorporated. Shape into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use. I would leave in there about 15 minutes max. Now onto the filling. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and water. In a separate small bowl, mix the ground cinnamon and sugar. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and place on parchment paper. Cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper. So we have one on top and one on bottom. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 9×12 inch square. Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Brush the egg wash onto the dough. Then, liberally sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough. Now, carefully roll the dough into a log. I used the parchment paper as a guide (as if you are rolling sushi) to make the log because the dough is a little sticky. After shaping into a nice log, wrap in parchment paper and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat oven at 350F while cookies are in the freezer. Cut into 1/2 inch circles. You should get about 24 circles. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-17 minutes at 350F. For the icing, mix together confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla, almond extract and cinnamon. Add more milk or confectioners’ sugar to get to your desired consistency. Drizzle icing over the cookies and voila!

Source: Recipe from Stephanie’s Kitchen