These dreamy Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies feature a soft vanilla sugar cookie base, layered with a buttery brown sugar and cinnamon topping, all topped off with a decadent swirl of the best cream cheese frosting!

If you love sugar cookies check out my Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Sugar Cookies, and Lemon Sugar Cookies too!

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

I first published this recipe as cut-out cinnamon sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting and extra cinnamon sprinkled on top. After some feedback of having dry cookies or not enough cinnamon I changed it using a different sugar cookie recipe with 2.5x more cinnamon.

While they were good, I knew they could still be better, so I re-vamped them completely into the cinnamon roll cookies you see now. And I couldn’t be happier!

Save This recipe

Enter your email below to get a link to this recipe emailed straight to you to save later! Plus be signed up for all new recipes.

Close-up top view of Cinnamon Roll Cookies on a wire cooling rack.

These are the BEST cinnamon roll sugar cookies because:

There’s NO chilling the cookie dough, and NO cutting it out. Just scoop, round, and press the dough balls.
The cinnamon flavor is all in a buttery brown sugar smear that goes on top of the dough, so it doesn’t take away any moisture from the cookie itself and is similar to the filling of real cinnamon rolls.
The cream cheese frosting stays the same, because it’s simply the BEST recipe. I just used half as much, so you can still see the cinnamon topping when you pipe a swirl on top.

These cinnamon cookies combine the best of both worlds—soft, buttery sugar cookies and the warm, spiced flavor of cinnamon rolls.

Copycat Crumbl Cinnamon Roll Cookies on a wire cooling rack.

Why You Should Make This Recipe

Easy to Make: Get all the flavors of cinnamon rolls without the hassle of yeast or rising dough.
Tried and True Recipes: I combined my favorite sugar cookie recipe and my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe with the buttery brown sugar and cinnamon filling from a cinnamon roll, so you know it’s going to be good!
Unique Twist on a Classic: This recipe is a fun and creative way to enjoy the flavors of cinnamon rolls in cookie form. (Crumbl even has a similar cinnamon swirl cookie on their menu.)

Whether you’re looking to impress your friends or satisfy a sweet craving, these cookies are a unique and delicious treat that everyone will love!

Ingredients You’ll Need

NOTE: Full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the printable recipe card at the end of the post.

Jump

Labeled ingredients to make Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies.

Unsalted Butter – For the cookies, cinnamon topping, and frosting. Use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt in the recipe.
Granulated Sugar – To sweeten the cookies.
Powdered Sugar – Sweetens and softens the cookies, because it contains cornstarch.
Oil – Keeps these sugar cookies moist! Use a neutral tasting oil like canola or vegetable oil.
Water – To help the cookie dough come together.
Egg – To bind and add structure to the cookies.
Vanilla Extract – To add flavor to the cookies and frosting.
All-Purpose Flour – Make sure to stir, spoon, and level when measuring with cups or use a scale to weigh it. It’s important to use the proper amount of flour for baking. The flour is used for the cookies and in the brown sugar and cinnamon topping to prevent it from melting off the cookies.
Baking Soda – To help the cookies rise and spread.
Cream of Tartar – Makes the texture of the cookies extra tender and soft.
Salt – To enhance the flavors in the cookies.
Brown Sugar – For the cinnamon roll-like topping.
Ground Cinnamon – For a warm, spiced flavor.
Cream Cheese – The block not the tub. Regular or Neufchatel works great for the frosting.

How to Make Cinnamon Roll Cookies

NOTE: Full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the printable recipe card at the end of the post.

Jump

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two half sheet pans with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Set aside.

Flour mixture in a bowl, stirred with a fork.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.

Steps to make sugar cookie dough in a stand mixer.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar until smooth.
Then add the oil, water, egg, and vanilla. Mix well, scraping the bowl as needed.
Add the dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients, and mix until everything comes together.

Sugar cookie dough scooped and rolled into balls on a tray, then flattened with the bottom of a cup.

Use a #30 cookie scoop (about 2 Tbsp of cookie dough) to scoop dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets about 2-3 inches apart (no more than 9 per tray). You should get 18 cookies on two trays. Roll dough balls with hands until smooth and round.
Put 2 Tbsp granulated sugar in a small bowl. Dip the bottom of a cup into the bowl of sugar, and press it into the center of each dough ball until about ½-inch thick, creating a well in the center of the dough. (You may find it helpful to rock the cup in a circular motion.) Set cookies aside.

Make the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping

Stir together the butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl with a spoon until combined well.

TIP: It helps to have fairly soft butter, and to cut the butter into smaller pieces first.

Spreading cinnamon topping over pressed sugar cookie dough.

Divide the cinnamon topping between the 18 cookies. (I used a heaping teaspoon; about 1 ½ tsp per cookie.)
Use your finger to spread the cinnamon topping towards the edge of the cookies, but still inside the well. (So the topping doesn’t melt over the edges.)

Before and after baking Cinnamon Sugar Cookies.

Bake the cinnamon roll sugar cookies at 350˚F for 9-10 minutes. Do not over-bake. The cookies will not brown at all on the edges, but will look matte instead of shiny. Allow cookies to cool on the tray completely.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

While cookies cool, prepare the frosting.

Beat the cream cheese and butter together in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until combined.

Piping frosting into a swirl on top of cinnamon roll sugar cookies.

Place the cream cheese frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton #12 round tip.
Pipe a thin layer of frosting into a swirl on top of each cookie starting from the middle and working your way towards the edges. Make sure to leave a little space in-between to show the layer of cinnamon underneath.

Did you Make This?

Please leave a review and rating about how you liked this recipe! Your feedback supports my small business and allows me to continue providing free recipes.

Rate This Recipe

Serving and Storing

Enjoy immediately after assembling, or cover and refrigerate for later. Do not leave cookies out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
STORAGE: Store cookies in an airtight container or on a plate covered tightly with plastic wrap. Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.
TO FREEZE: Place cookies onto a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze until frosting is frozen solid (about 1-2 hours). Once firm, transfer cookies to a freezer-safe container with parchment paper separating any layers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in fridge overnight before enjoying.

Recipe Notes

Roll cookie dough with hands. This warms it up before pressing it down and helps minimize the amount of cracks on the edges. It’s not the end of the world, but makes the cookies more uniform looking.
Use soft butter for the filling. Soft (not melted) butter, cut into smaller pieces, is best to mix the filling by hand. Using soft butter also ensures everything is incorporated evenly, without compromising the structure of the filling.
Spread cinnamon topping to edges. You want to cover most of the cookie with the topping so that there’s cinnamon in every bite, without it going overboard. The topping is partially stabilized with the addition of flour. Push it as close to the edges as you can, while still within the impression that you made with the cup, just to be safe.
Do NOT over-bake. These cookies are a little tricky to tell when they are done due to the topping. And no one likes a dry sugar cookie. You want the edges to look matte, not shiny. And since the edges don’t brown, you may want to check underneath the cookies. Gently lift a cookie up with a spatula to see if it still looks wet/underdone in the middle. Keep in mind they will continue baking a little bit on the pan as they cool down. Just slightly underdone is my preference.
Double the frosting – IF you plan to cover the whole cookie. It’s just enough to pipe onto the cookies as shown. If you are heavy handed with the frosting or use a thicker tip, you will need to make extra frosting.
Enjoy cold or at room temperature. These cookies are great cold or at room temperature. Just keep in mind that because of the cream cheese frosting, you should only leave these out at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

More Cinnamon Desserts

Stack of cinnamon bars on a plate with extra cinnamon-sugar on top and cinnamon sticks on the side.

10/5/2014 — Post was first published using this Cut-Out Sour Cream Sugar Cookies recipe cut in half with the addition of 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon. Fashioned after a cookie I tried at a blogger night from Smart Cookie Company (which has since closed).
12/4/2014 — After some feedback, I altered the recipe using this Sugar Cookie Recipe with the addition of 2 1/2 Tablespoons of cinnamon.
NOTE: Both previous versions above used my original cream cheese frosting recipe. I now use half of the frosting recipe for the current version of these Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies.
Recipe re-vamped and post updated September 2024.

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

32 Comments

Jessy Garcia says:

at

while reading comments i keep reading sour cream.. did i miss that ingredient maybe thats why its really dry?

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  The previous recipe I had posted used sour cream. I just barely re-made these 2 weeks ago to make them better, so I am shocked that your batter is dry. You have to be really careful when you measure flour for this recipe. If you scoop it with your measuring cup, it will be dry. If you stir it up with a spoon, then lightly spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife you will be just fine. If you are worried that you are heavy handed with the flour, do 2 3/4 cups of flour and then bake one cookie on a tray first to see if it will hold it’s shape (not spread too much.) You can try adding 2 Tbsp more softened butter to your crumbly batter to try and get your dough to come together.
  
  1. Jessy Garcia says:
    
    at
    
    hi
    so im def gonna try adding mote butter but worst case scenraio ill try again and mesaure flour accurately.
    thank again and ill keep ya updated
    
    1. Amber says:
      
      at
      
      I hope you get it to work out because we really like these cookies!
      
      1. Julee says:
        
        at
        
        How much Sour cream? The recipe above doesn’t show sour cream in cookie. I would love to make these this weekend.
      2. Amber says:
        
        at
        
        I re-made the recipe recently and took out the sour cream. The original recipe was this one, cut in half, with the addition of 1 Tbsp cinnamon, but some people complained that they were plain: https://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/2013/02/cut-out-sour-cream-sugar-cookies/
Jessy Garcia says:

at

Hi!:) so im in the leocess of mKing them but when i added my eet with my dry ingredients the result were weird … the dough is really dry and crumbles did i o something wrong ?:/

newbiecook says:

at

Can these be frozen overnight before baking?

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  Refrigerating them would probably be better. Enjoy!
  
Jess says:

at

Can greek yogurt replace the sour cream?

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  For sure! Use the same amount. 😉
  
Ben says:

at

Has anyone else actually made these? I tried following the recipe last night and was very disappointed that they tasted overwhelmingly like flour. I triple-checked that I used the right proportions of ingredients, can anyone think of anything I might have done wrong? They look incredible, but what I ended up with was incredibly bland. Let me know if you have any tips on what I can do better next time. (I did use low fat sour cream because it’s what I had in my refrigerator)

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  Ben! I’m so sorry you had a bad experience! You couldn’t taste the cinnamon at all? You can try your own favorite sugar cookie recipe with the addition of cinnamon, that’s what I did here, but I’m surprised to hear they tasted only of flour. The only thing I can think of is you may have used excess flour when rolling them out. The low fat sour cream shouldn’t have made a difference. Again, I’m sorry for the bad experience!
  
  1. Ben says:
    
    at
    
    Thanks for the response, Amber! Yeah, maybe it was too much flour when rolling them, but I’ll definitely be trying again. Thanks for the inspiration! It’s such a fun cookie
    
2. Suzi Nicole Brenneisen says:
  
  at
  
  Hi Ben!,
  
  I made these just tonight and was really disappointed to find that they were really doughy, even after leaving them in the oven for a few extra minutes. I haven’t put on the cream cheese icing yet, but I’m hoping that will compensate for the bland flavoring of the cookie itself.
  
  1. Amber says:
    
    at
    
    I will try and recreate this soon since two of you haven’t enjoyed them. The cookie itself isn’t a super sweet sugar cookie, but we thought it was good with the frosting.
    
Ashley | The Recipe Rebel says:

at

These look so good, Amber! I love cinnamon, and cream cheese icing! I would be totally mad if my husband stole all of the leftovers, too! lol

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  It was quite devastating, but I have way too much sugar all the time anyway, so he was probably doing me a favor 😉 Thanks for your compliments!
  
Teresa says:

at

These cookies look so cute, Amber. I’d love a bite right now!

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  Thanks Teresa! They were fun to make!
  
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert says:

at

I’m completely hooked and I haven’t even tasted them yet! Your photos look so good, I could reach right through the screen and grab one of those delicious cookies. And that cream cheese frosting!! Love!

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  Mission accomplished! Thanks for your compliments Jen!
  
triedandtasty says:

at

These look great! I LOVE cinnamon rolls – so I can just about guarantee I would love these cookies 🙂

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  I totally agree!
  
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says:

at

Oh my gosh, these are the cutest cookies ever! I love cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies so I would totally devour this whole batch! Love all the gorgeous photos too 🙂

1. Amber says:
  
  at
  
  Thanks Kelly! They are probably one of the “cutest” cookies I have on my blog 😉

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Save This recipe

Why You Should Make This Recipe

Ingredients You’ll Need

How to Make Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Make the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

Did you Make This?

Serving and Storing

Recipe Notes

More Cinnamon Desserts

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Topping

Cream Cheese Frosting

Equipment

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

Did you make this?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

32 Comments

More You'll Love

Trending Recipes

Sweet Treats + More

Recipes

Sweet Treats + More