Cake Mix Cookies: Easy Cinnamon Roll Cookies Recipe
This cinnamon rolls cookie recipe has been on my bucket list for years…seriously! YEARS! Being able to marry my love of cinnamon rolls with my passion for cookies sounded magical. The truth is…these Cinnamon Roll Cookies are perfection. Making them with a cake mix keeps the whole process simple but the flavor is still spectacular. Although the filling and glaze are really what take this over the top cookie and makes them out of this world. You have to keep scrolling and see how they come together! This recipe is a MUST MAKE!
One of the things about being a food blogger that people might not always think about are the failed attempts at a recipe.
Sometimes you can get a recipe right on the first try but other times it can take a handful of times before you feel confident enough to share it with the world.
Sometimes on about attempt 2-3 I am over it and just move on to the next recipe but I was determined when it came to these Cinnamon Roll Cookies.
I didn’t care how many times they weren’t quite right…I was going to end up with what I had planned. The good news is now you can make these Easy Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls Cookies for yourself.
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Tips & tricks to achieve the most delicious cookies of your life!
How to make your Cinnamon Roll Cookies Recipe with a Cake Mix
Combine cake mix, softened butter, egg and water in a medium bowl. Using a hand held mixer, mix the ingredients until everything is evenly incorporated.
The dough is definitely a little different texture than normal in the sense that it can hold together but isn’t really sticky either.
Take the dough and refrigerate it for 20 minutes.
After the dough is chilled, roll it out. I used a silicone mat to roll my cookie out on but you can always use a lightly floured counter or parchment too.
To get a good amount of cookies you want the dimensions to be roughly 9×14 rectangle when it is all rolled out.
The next step is the glorious filling. You will always find me making a paste and then spreading it onto the dough rather than layering the ingredients. Even when I am making One Rise Cinnamon Rolls.
Melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon come together for the perfect combination.
I like to use an off set spatula {but a knife or back of a spoon works too} to spread the filling onto the rolled out dough. Make sure that you spread it out to the edges but not quite to the very edge.
Our goal is to keep as much of the filling inside the cookies as we possibly can while they are baking.
Rolling and Cutting Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Once the filling is in place, roll the dough tightly. You can see that I roll the dough using the longer edge of the dough.
Then using a sharp or serrated knife, go ahead and cut the roll into 12 even slices.
The easiest way for me to do this is to cut the roll in half. Then I cut each half in half. Finally I cut each of those halves into thirds.
Keeping with the effort to seal the cinnamon sugar mixture into the cookie, we want to take the dough on both open ends of the slices and seal them.
I like to push the middle section of the cookie roll in slightly and then take the outer roll and press them in onto each other and seal. Do this on both sides.
Then roll the sealed cookie into a ball and place them onto a silicone mat {or parchment} lined baking sheet. Return the cookies to the refrigerator and chill for an additional 20 minutes.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. You can tell they are done when the edges of the cookies are set and the middle is slightly under baked. However, we are going for a more baked cookie than we would sometimes {for example: Texas Sheet Cake Cookie}.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet.
A Trick to Getting Your Cookies the Same Size After Baking
Once in a while, even when we have made our best efforts to keep the cookies the same size and shape before baking our cookies will come out of the oven misshapen.
A great way to get them back into shape is to use a round cookie cutter {I love this set} that is slightly larger than the cookies. Put the cookie cutter over the warm cookies that just came out of the oven and shape.
This will get the cookies right back into a perfect circle shape. The key is to work while the cookies are still very warm.
You can see that the cookies opened up slightly while baking but the filling didn’t overflow out onto the cookie sheet.
Aren’t they gorgeous?!
The final step is to drizzle the cookies with glaze because any great cinnamon roll needs a little glaze.
Add all of the glaze ingredients to a bowl and whisk until smooth. You can adjust the consistency of the glaze by adding a little more milk {for runnier glaze} or powdered sugar {for thicker glaze}.
When you break them open you can see the layers of cinnamon roll goodness! The cookie is crispy around the edges but still slightly soft in the middle.
My family really loved these Cinnamon Roll Cake Mix Cookies, in fact I have them on my list of things to do today. I suggest you add them to yours as well. If you would rather stuff your cookies with cinnamon flavor, try these Mardi Gras Cookies.
Do you love cookies? Try these awesome recipes…
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cookie Cups
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Truffles
- Hostess Cupcake Cookies
- Black and White Half Moon Cookies
- Boston Cream Pie Cookie Bites
- Cannoli Cookie Cups
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Easy Cinnamon Roll Cookies Recipe with a Cake Mix
Ingredients
Cookie
- 1-15.25 oz. box white or yellow cake mix
- 1/4 cup butter {softened}
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp water
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 1/4 cup butter {melted}
- 1/2 cup brown sugar {packed}
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp butter {melted}
- 1-2 tbsp milk {or heavy cream}
Instructions
Cookies
- Combine cake mix, butter, egg and water with a hand held mixer until everything is nicely incorporated. Chill dough for 20 minutes.
- Once dough is chilled, roll dough out on a lightly covered surface into a 9x14 rectangle {or close to}. NOTE: I like to roll my dough out onto a silicone mat to help with clean up.
Filling
- Combine the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to create a paste. Spread it out onto the cookie dough rectangle to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Starting on the outside edge, begin rolling the dough tightly toward you into a long log. Once you have the log divide it into 10 or 12 even sections and cut along those lines.
- Take each one of the individual slices and pinch the edges together on both sides. This will help to keep the filling inside the cookie. Once you have done that roll the dough into a nice ball and place onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with a silicone mat {or parchment paper}. Return to refrigerator and chill for an additional 20 minutes. Once chilled, bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are baked and the middle is set but not hard. Remove from oven. If the cookies have lost their shape use a large round cookie cutter and bring the cookie back to a round shape while the cookie is super warm. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- While the cookies are cooling, combine the glaze ingredients. Whisk until smooth and thick enough to drizzle. You can adjust the thickness/thinness by adding more powdered sugar or milk.
- Once the cinnamon roll cookies are cooled, drizzle glaze over cookies and allow the glaze to set up before serving. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
