Cinnamon Roll Cookies
I love cinnamon rolls so was very excited to make this cookie. But as sometimes happens in recipes, it doesn’t always turn out like the picture! Using the amount of flour the recipe called for I was left with an extremely sticky dough that was almost impossible to roll into a log. So I scoured the internet and found an almost identical cream cheese pinwheel cookie that used 1/2 cup more flour and an egg yolk rather than an egg. The result was a much easier cookie dough to roll with the same beautiful cinnamon sugar taste and cream cheese tenderness.
Ingredients:
1 cup hard margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. hard margarine (or butter), melted
2 tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Method:
- Cream 1st amount of margarine and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Add cream cheese. Beat until well combined. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Add to margarine mixture in 2 additions, mixing well after each addition until no dry flour remains. *Place the dough in a zip lock bag and squash flat. Chill the dough in the freezer for 1 hour until firm or 3-4 hours in the fridge.
- Remove dough from fridge and roll dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper until you get a rough rectangle shape about a 1/4 inch thick. Discard top sheet of paper.
- Brush 2nd amount of margarine evenly on dough. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted margarine. Sprinkle cinnamon evenly over top. **Roll up tightly from long side, jelly roll-style, using the parchment paper to help you roll the dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour in the freezer or 3-4 hours in the fridge until firm .(The original recipe omitted this very important step.)
- Using a sharp knife, cut the dough log into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake in a 350 F. oven for 8-10 minutes or until the edges and bottom are a light golden brown.
- Let stand on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
**This step is a little finicky, but definitely worth it! You can see a demo of this technique by watching a similar recipe for “Caramel Swirl Cookies” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcGd4EFwXVs.
(adapted from Company’s Coming Most Loved Cookies by Jean Pare)