Cinnamon Swirl

I love cinnamon.  I use it in my oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese and even to season my sweet potatoes.  Cinnamon supposedly increases your metabolism, but at the rate I consume it, that means I should be burning fat like nobody’s business.  Hmm, not so much.  Regardless, it tastes delicious and is especially delightful in the form of cinnamon rolls.  When I started thinking of cinnamon rolls, I imagined a perfect morning where I’d wake up to a fresh-out-of-the-oven giant gooey cinnamon roll accompanied by a rich cup of coffee.  Then I freaked out at the thought of yeast started thinking of cookies.

Although I used strong coffee throughout the recipe, the flavor didn’t quite come through.  I’ll have to play with it again, but luckily, despite the lack of coffee flavor, this cookie is delicious.  This Cinnamon Roll Cookie is a rich and chewy sugar cookie wrapped around a light but gooey cinnamon swirl filling.  For now, I’ll just have to dunk the cookies in coffee as I eat them.

The recipe is pretty easy, but you need to give yourself time to chill the dough.  Plan for about ~3 hours from start to finish.

Start by sifting flour, salt and baking powder;  set aside

Beat butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy

Beat in egg, coffee and vanilla

Stir in dry ingredients until well-combined

Place dough on large piece of seran wrap

Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick;  wrap tightly with additional seran wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour

Once dough is chilled, uncover and brush top of dough with coffee

Combine sugar, cinnamon and melted butter

Spread mixture evenly over dough

Allow dough to come to room temperature so that it is soft enough to bend without braking

Carefully roll dough tightly from one long end to the other

When dough is rolled like a long cinnamon bun, wrap tightly with seran and chill again in refrigerator for 1 hour

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

Once dough is chilled again, unwrap and slice into cookies about 1/4 inch thick

Bake on baking sheets lined with parchment paper until the center of cookies is no longer wet, about 15 minutes; cool cookies on cooling rack

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Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, separated
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons, separated strong brewed coffee
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cooking Directions

1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside
2. Beat 1 stick butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy
3. Beat in egg, 1 tablespoon of coffee, and vanilla
4. Stir in dry ingredients until well-combined
5. Place dough on large piece of seran wrap and roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick
6. Wrap tightly with additional seran wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour
7. Once dough is chilled, uncover and brush top of dough with remaining coffee
8. Melt remaining butter (2 tablespoons)
9. Combine sugar, cinnamon and butter
10. Spread mixture evenly over dough
11. Allow dough to come to room temperature so that it is soft enough to bend without braking
12. Carefully roll dough tightly from one long end to the other
13. When dough is rolled like a long cinnamon bun, wrap tightly with seran and chill again in refrigerator for 1 hour
14. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
15. Once dough is chilled again, unwrap and slice into cookies about 1/4 inch thick
16. Bake on baking sheets lined with parchment paper until the center of cookies is no longer wet, about 15 minutes

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What do you do with cinnamon?