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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.
I made these cookies once and they were AMAZING! I’ve tried to replicate them twice and each time they are very puffed up, don’t flatten and they feel dense and too flour-ry. I’m a new baker- these are only the second cookies I’ve ever made from scratch. Has anyone had this issue before or sounds like they would know the reason? I’m bamboozled and I really loved the first batch.
Hey Ashley,
Happy Sunday!😃 Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, I am so glad it turned out well for you! Try tapping your baking sheet on the counter while the cookies are baking. xx
LOOOOVE these cookies!! I’ve made them twice so far and followed the recipe in everything except the frosting. To me, the frosting isn’t needed- these cookies are AMAZING! I love how I can make them with pantry ingredients- no trip to the grocery store needed. The browned butter gives them such depth of flavor. Thank you for another winner, Tieghan!
Hey Josi,
Perfect!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:) xx
I have been waiting to make these cookies and finally did so today. To my chagrin, I was disappointed with the way they turned out. I strictly followed the recipe and got the exact number of cookies listed in the recipe. They were too flat and practically spread into each other while baking despite there being 10 cookies per sheet. They tasted good but I was so disappointed in their appearance that I would not serve to company. Definitely requires more flour than called for in recipe. And maybe a higher cooking temperature.
Hey Kathleen,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. My guess is your dough was too warm, it might have helped to chill in the fridge for a bit! xx
Do you bake these in a convention oven or regular? Hoping that may help the “flatness”?
I bake on regular bake:)
The cookie is delicious. The homemade cinnamon chips- genius! My one critique is that the cookie is too thin. I cooled the browned butter in the freezer as suggested and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Maybe a bit more flour?
I’m willing to experiment! I also added a touch of cardamom & allspice to the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Hey Sheli,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! For a thicker cookie, try chilling your dough before baking next time! Have a great weekend:)
So yummy and easy to make! But I always have an issue of mine getting completely flat and thin. Any tips?
Hey Angela,
Happy Friday!! I appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was a hit! I would try chilling your dough, that would help with them getting to flat!⛄️ xT
I made these on a snow day this week and they are amazing!!! While they were baking my boyfriend kept trying to figure out the smell- it gave him nostalgic childhood vibes. All the neighbors loved them! Definitely recommend giving them a try!
Hey Ashley,
Happy Wednesday!!❄️ Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, I am so glad it was a hit! xx
Star of the show.
Thanks so much Jessica!!
Holy moly these guys mean business!!!! I made them today and wow they are incredible. Thank you for another one of your amazing recipes!
Hey Audrey,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xT
Tastes great but really puffed to the point where tapping them on the counter didn’t help. Anything I could do? Also the brown sugar bits melted out on some of the cookies not all, and it got hard. Anything I could have done to prevent that?
Hey there,
Snickerdoodles are pretty thick cookies, these really aren’t meant to be super flat. For the brown sugar bits, just use less next time in each cookie:) I hope this helps! xx
The best twist on cinnamon cookies in the history of ever.
Thank you! These came out perfect. I mixed the cinnamon sugar swirl in without freezing due to a dinner party and lack of time. Everything else as is. Epic recipe!
Thanks so much Kelly!! I love to hear that these cookies were enjoyed, thanks so much for making them! xT
Made these yesterday and they were a hit! A couple minor adjustments worked out for me. First, I refrigerated the cinnamon swirl mix before I cut into chips (then froze as directed). The final step of icing, I used a ziplock to allow me to do more “drizzling”. Yum!!
Hey Dawne,
Happy New Year!🎆🎈 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! xx
Made these for Christmas and everyone loved them!
Hey Kate,
Happy New Year!!🎆 I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for giving it a try and sharing your review! xT
Snickerdoodles are my husbands favorite cookie so when I saw this recipe, I ran to grab the ingredients I needed and made them! OMG. They are delicious!!! Super moist and full of flavor! I cannot wait to make another batch–these won’t last long!
Hey Lindsay,
Happy Friday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear this was enjoyed! xT
The recipe was a bit more moist than I’m use to working with for snickerdoodles. The flavor was really good.
After making the cinnamon chips I decided to make an extra batch to save time when making them in the future.
Everyone in the family loved them.
Hey there,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Thanks for your comment! xx
Tieghan you are a pro at making recipes easy to follow & it has been so fun learning to cook with your recipes. I love your fresh take, with simple ingredients that are easy to find and layers of flavor that make me feel more confident with cooking! This recipe is no different 😊
Awe thanks so much for your kind message Lenah!! I’m so glad you have been enjoying the recipes and appreciate you making them! xT
I was trying to follow the recipe but noticed that when I adjusted the amount of cookies to 40 that the written instruction were the same for a batch of 20. So the part where it says to only brown 1 stick and mix in the other at room temp. threw me off. Should I adjust it to 2 browned and 2 room temp? Thanks 🙂
Hi Alexa,
Yes, the ingredient amounts are the only thing that will get adjusted, anything in the written instructions you’re going to have to double. I hope you love this recipe! xx
Can you add dark chocolate to this recipe? If so how many grams? x
Hey Jessica,
I’ve never added chocolate to this recipe, but you could add a cup or so to see how that goes. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I finally made these tonight and OMG are they delicious! I was a little hesitant that they might be too sweet for the European guests we have, but there was not a single cookie left. I froze about 24 cookies for another day. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Hey Amy,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try! xT