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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. The best snickerdoodle recipe to share with family and friends. 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.
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Ingredients
- dark brown sugar
- salted butter
- cinnamon
- large eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- kosher salt
- granulated sugar
- cream cheese
- milk
- vanilla extract
- powdered sugar
What to have in the kitchen:
- Bowl
- Baking sheet
- parchment paper
- electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- skillet
- heatproof bowl
- small bowl
- whisk
- teaspoons/ tablespoons
- wire rack for cooling
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. The cinnamon-sugar coating is delicious. These are the best snickerdoodles and definitely 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. This might be my best snickerdoodle cookie recipe. 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. The best cinnamon sugar mixture! 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. I didn’t add chocolate chips in this recipe, but I’m sure that would be delicious as well!
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
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
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Such a yummy cookie!!!! Mixed up the dough, rolled them into the cinnamon sugar and froze them overnight, baked them the next day and they all disappeared because they were just so good.
Hey Annette,
Love it!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! So glad it was enjoyed:) Happy Monday!🎄
I made these and they are yummy but mine never flattened. They said puffy and round. What did o do wrong?
Hey Jenny,
Happy Monday!!☃️ I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad it was enjoyed! Did you try tapping your baking sheet on the counter for a flatter cookie? xT
So excited to make these, in the intro I see you talked about using flakey sea salt but then I don’t see it in the directions? Should I be putting that on after they come out of the oven before the icing?
Thanks!
Hey Jenna,
You can add a pinch of sea salt with the icing. I hope you love these cookies, please let me know if you give them a try! xT
These were delicious! Unfortunately they came out a little misshaped, it seems like the cinnamon sugar melted and spilled out the sides of the cookies. Any tips??
Hey Brittney,
Thanks for giving these cookies a try! Next time, try making the cinnamon pieces a little smaller and see if that helps at all! xT
Mine did this too!
Best cookies I’ve ever made- husband and friends agreed!
Hey Alyssa,
Happy Monday!!☃️ I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad it was enjoyed! xT
Made these today as part of our holiday baking extravaganza and I think we all have a new favorite! My husband’s favorite cookies are snickerdoodles and he said this recipe is the best I’ve ever made! Thanks for another amazing recipe that I’ll be making over and over again!!!
Hey Lindsey,
Happy Monday!!☃️ I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad it was enjoyed! xT
So delicious! Soft, classic sugar cookie taken to the next level with brown butter and cinnamon swirls. Amazing. Know will be a family favorite.
Hey Tamara,
Happy Monday!!☃️ I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad it was enjoyed! xT
I cannot wait to make these!!! Did you tweak it any to make these into bars?
Hey Keri,
Thanks so much!! Nope, I’ve never made these as bars, just as cookies! Let me know if you have any other questions! xx
I saw on social you did these as bars? Did you have to change recipe at all and how did you bake them ?
Hi Lori,
So sorry, are you sure that was me? I’ve never made these are bars before. Let me know if you give the recipe a try! xx
Yes! It was you. You posted something about snickerdoodle bars on IG yesterday. But there was no link to the recipe. Was hoping to find it on the website.
Sorry, I don’t have the recipe just yet, coming soon!
If it’s anything like these cookies, I can’t wait!! These are definitely in my top 5 now.
Thanks so much Jessica!!
Yes, one of your instagram stories showed snickerdoodle cookies baked as bars and they looked amazing! Was that a different snickerdoodle recipe then?
Coming soon!!
Looking forward to it. Thank you!
Delicious. Just made them. Can these be frozen? Trying to get cookies done way ahead of the holiday!
Hey there,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, I love to hear that it was tasty! Yes, you can freeze these! Have a great weekend:)
where do you buy your star Anise? I have a hard time finding it
Hey Debbie,
Try ordering from Amazon! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Could the cream cheese be left out of the icing? Thanks!
Hi Kim,
Sure, that would be okay for you to do! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
This just may be the BEST tasting snickerdoodle ever (voted on by entire fam)! They also look fabulous on a plate. Thanks for this one!
Hey Kim,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, I love to hear that it was tasty! Have a great weekend:)
Ok stop it! These are SO good!! Will definitely make them again!! They aren’t a “just whip up a batch of cookies” recipe. They do take time, but well worth it!!! Need some helpful hints on how best to drizzle the frosting. Did I say these are SO good?!!
Lol thanks so much Pamela!! I love to hear that you enjoyed these cookies, thanks so much for making them:) xx
Hi Tieghan!
I made these today for a work potluck, and let’s just say, they were the most popular item on the table. So fun and easy to make, and the icing was out of this world! Will definitely make again!
Hey Frida,
Happy Friday! ☃️ So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, I appreciate you making it! xT