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Chewy Frosted Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodles with pockets of cinnamon swirl and a sweet cream cheese icing. These are yummmmy! Homemade snickerdoodle cookies, made with browned butter, chunks of cinnamon that melt into wonderful swirls, and a small pinch of flaky sea salt. Each cookie dough ball is rolled with cinnamon sugar for that classic snickerdoodle finish before baking to perfection, then topped with creamy icing. There’s nothing not to love about these sweet Christmas cookies.
Cookies! Tis’ the season! And man oh man, I have baked up a lot of cookies this week. I had quite a few failures until I landed on these. But these – oh these are extra special and worth all the testing time.
Oh, how I adore these cinnamon cookies. They’re Christmas time in a nice big, chewy, snickerdoodle(ish) cookie. They’re a new holiday favorite.
Here’s the story, I’ve been testing a lot of cookies! And I am finally close to completing my 2022 Christmas cookie box, which I’m excited to share soon. But all the cookies came with a lot of failed recipes.
Failed recipes are sad in the moment, but often times they lead me to some of my very favorite recipes. After I worked and worked on a new gingerbread recipe, I decided to completely switch gears and move on to cinnamon cookies.
I just needed to forget about gingerbread for the moment. Once I did, I dreamt these up. They’re my favorite chewy snickerdoodle cookies. Swirled with chunks of buttery cinnamon and notes of brown butter and vanilla. Then iced with creamy icing. I envisioned these like a cinnamon roll cookie, so the icing was needed.
Cream cheese icing, but not too sweet. Tis’ so delicious glazed over each cookie.
Here are details
Make the cinnamon swirl first. It’s just brown sugar mixed with butter and cinnamon. Exactly what you’d roll a cinnamon roll up with!
Now crumble the cinnamon into chunks and then freeze. It’s not fancy at all.
While the chunks freeze, make the cookies.
Start by browning half of your butter. It’s one stick of browned butter, and one stick of soft. This gives you the flavor of browned butter but leaves you with a cookie that has great texture too. Shocker, I know, I added browned butter (yes, I may have a browned butter fetish). But the browned butter really does add so much to cookies. It’s worth the extra step.
Then add brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together, then add all the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt.
By now the chunks should be frozen, mix them into the cookie dough and scoop out all your cookies. In classic snickerdoodle form, take each dough ball and roll through cinnamon sugar.
I do a light roll as I didn’t want the cookies to be overly sweet. Bake them up until they are barely set on the edge. Remove the pan and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. The cookies continue to bake on the warm sheet.
For the icing. I suppose it’s not needed, but it’s certainly delicious, and I think it balances all the cinnamon in the cookie.
Cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and sugar. It’s thick and creamy, just the way we want it!
These are soft and gooey in the center. The best kind of cookie. I’m not normally such a decadent cookie person, but as I always say, I like to really do it up for the holidays. They only come once a year, so let’s just have fun and enjoy every minute of the season.
It’s cheesy, but the holidays do only come once a year!
Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites:
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Easy Hot Chocolate Lace Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Chewy Frosted Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodles, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chewy Frosted Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodles
Servings: 20 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 192 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Swirl
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cookies
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Icing
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- 1. To make the cinnamon swirl. In a bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Line a small baking sheet with parchment. Crumble/tear the cinnamon mix over the baking sheet, creating small chunks, no more than 2 teaspoons in size. They should be small like chips. Freeze 10 minutes, until firm.2. To make the cookies. Add 1 stick butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Freeze 10-15 minutes, but no longer.3. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.4. In a bowl, beat together the remaining stick of butter, the cooled browned butter, and the brown sugar until combined. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. Add the vanilla, beating until creamy. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the frozen cinnamon chunks. 5. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon size balls and then roll through the cinnamon sugar. Place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. 6. Bake for 8 minutes, rotate the pan and bake another 1-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges but still doughy in the center. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit. 7. Meanwhile, make the icing. Melt the cream cheese in the microwave, stirring until smooth, 15-20 seconds. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, whisking to combine. Add milk, if needed, to thin. Spread or drizzle each cookie with icing. Eat warm or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The icing will harden/dry enough to stack.
Notes
Freezing: the cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Then just thaw and bake as directed.
Amazing cookies!! Follow the recipe to a tee. I thought the batter tasted too caramel-y but once cooked it was exactly how I’d hoped. Also follow the baking time exactly how recommended, they cool down to be perfectly soft and chewy. Will be making again!
Hey Rachel,
Happy Monday!❄️ I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xx
Made these cookies for Christmas and they were so yum! My kids LOVED them.
Hey Sarah,
Happy Monday!❄️ I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xx
I believe I followed this recipe to a T
But unfortunately they came out looking nothing like yours and they’re try and cakey :(.
What could I have possibly done wrong?
Hi Heather,
So sorry to hear this recipe did not turn out for you! Is it possible the dough was over-mixed? Did you try tapping the baking sheet on the counter to get a flatter cookie? Let me know how I can help! xT
My daughter In law made these and they are now my favorite cookie.
Love to hear this!!
Confused on how much butter to actually use…brown 1 stick of butter and use that plus and additional stick of butter in the cookie recipe right?
Hi Lindsey,
Yes, that is correct, so you are just browning the 1 stick of butter:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
Like some others have mentioned, mine turned out dry and never flattened while baking. Even after tapping they still came out pretty round. I have no clue what may have happened though, as I followed directions exactly :/
Hi Sara,
It is possible your dough was over-mixed? You could also gently press the dough down with your hand before baking for a flatter cookie. I hope this helps! xT
I just made these and to borrow Tieghan’s phrase – holy freaking YUM!!! Quite possibly the most delicious cookies I’ve ever had!!
Lol thanks so much Anna! So glad you enjoyed these cookies:) Merry Christmas! xx
I followed all the exact measurements. My cookies had butter oozing from the while in the oven. They don’t look like yours. Love all your Recipes. Thank you
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for giving these cookies a try! Sorry to hear about the butter. Next time, I would just use 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon chunks. I hope this helps! xx
You are right.
My husband found this recipe and told me I had to try it – it is GOLD! He said they are his favorite snickerdoodle cookies! They are so good. I will make this a Christmas staple! Thank you for sharing it! 🙂
Hey Janna,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
These are amazing! Probably the best cookie I’ve made 🙂 I made these and your pumpkin sugar cookies and both turned out delicious but a tiny bit dry, can you think of anything I may be doing wrong?
Hey Mary,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Any chance you are over-mixing the dough? Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
I love these cookies! However, as some others mentioned, they did not flatten like yours. I decided with second batch to use the bottom of a teacup to flatten before baking. That worked!
Hey Patti,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
A friend dazzled me with this cookie and I had to get the recipe. Making it now for our Christmas assortment and hoping they turn out even half as good – might be the best cookie I ever had!
Thank you for sharing!
Hey Kristen,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
SO GOOD! I made these for a family cookie competition held on Christmas Eve every year… I can’t wait to see what place I come in… I have to put these away as soon as they harden so there’s plenty left for tomorrow! Merry Christmas, thanks for the delicious recipe !
Hey Amy,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
THE BEST! These suckers are so good with or without using but the icing is to die for! Like I wanna put it on everything else annnnd they were still moist after 1 week !
Hey Mariana,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
Tieghan –
I made a whole batch (again) lol but we’re going on vacation can I refrigerate/freeze premade cookies… if so how long ?
Sure, I would freeze them for up to 3 months!!
I made these for a Christmas cookie swap, and they were a hit! The softest cookie I’ve ever made! I saw on Instagram that you made these in a pan and served them as squares. Do you have a temp/bake time recommendation for that?
Hi Cara,
I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! So sorry, I don’t yet have an exact recipe for that! Merry Christmas! 🎁🎄
If you like cinnamon rolls you will love this cookie! I just put the icing on the cookies and wow! oh, Wow! . They are great ! Grab yourself a cup of coffee and you have yourself a treat! I had no problem with my cookies spreading because I think it was that I chilled my dough before baking. My icing turned out perfectly, very easy to drizzle to on the cookie ( I did it with a whisk) . The cookie itself is very fragile so I don’t know how it would travel in a cookie box. I just have to put it on my annual cookie tray for Christmas so I will be okay. The hardest part about this cookie will be keeping these gems away from my husband so I have some left for Christmas – giggle! Thank you Tieghan !
Hey Sally,
Happy Friday!!☃️ I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT
See comment below 🙂
Thanks again Meredith:)