Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls
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These small batch cookie dough cinnamon rolls start with my trusted cinnamon roll recipe and get a sweet upgrade with edible cookie dough in the filling and on top of the velvety smooth cream cheese frosting. The ultimate mashup of two beloved treats!
CINNAMON ROLLS MEET COOKIE DOUGH FOR A MUST-TRY MASHUP
If there’s one thing I know well, it’s how to make soft, fluffy yeast breads, and how to make edible cookie dough that’s safe to eat and irresistible. These cookie dough cinnamon rolls are a culmination of my expertise in both, bringing together everything we love about warm, gooey cinnamon rolls and rich, buttery cookie dough. While they might sound complicated, the only real extra step beyond a classic cinnamon roll recipe is making edible cookie dough.
And the best part? You can make that dough up to 3 days in advance to break up the prep and make your baking day a breeze.
As always, I take a scientific approach to developing my recipes to make sure you get consistent, bakery-worthy results every time. For this recipe, that means perfectly proofed dough, balanced sweetness, and heat-treated flour to ensure the cookie dough is completely safe to eat.
A lot of people worry about the raw egg in cookie dough, but it’s actually raw flour that poses the greater risk of illness. By heat-treating it, we eliminate that concern so you can enjoy these cookie-dough-stuffed rolls (with extra balls of dough on top as garnish!) without a second thought.
Whether you’re making them for a special breakfast, a holiday brunch, or just because cookies for breakfast sounds like the best idea ever, this recipe can be doubled and prepped ahead to fit your schedule and undoubtedly impress anyone who takes a bite.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Don’t panic when you look at the recipe card. The ingredient list looks long, but it’s really only 12 ingredients shared between the cookie dough, the rolls + filling, and the frosting and then 3 additional one-time-use ingredients that bring the cookie dough and frosting to fruition. We’re sharing a lot of ingredients over components!
You will need:
• all-purpose flour
• cornstarch
• salt
• unsalted butter
• light or dark brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• milk
• vanilla extract
• mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• warm water
• dry active yeast
• egg
• ground cinnamon
• block cream cheese
• powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE COOKIE DOUGH CINNAMON ROLLS
Ok, let’s take a deep breath. There are a lot of steps involved in making these rolls, but I promise that I’ve broken it down into chunks of steps that are easy to follow. You can even save time by making the cookie dough portion of the recipe up to 3 days in advance (highly recommend).
STEP #1: HEAT-TREAT THE FLOUR
Before you do anything, you’ll start this recipe by heat-treating the flour which you can do in the oven or in the microwave. I typically use the microwave since it’s quicker.
In the oven: preheat the oven to 300ºF (149ºC). Place flour on a baking sheet or in a baking pan and bake at 300ºF (149ºC), checking the internal temperature at 2 minute intervals, and looking for a uniform 165ºF (74ºC).
In the microwave: heat the flour in a microwave safe container on HIGH in 30 second increments, then stir before checking the internal temperature and looking for a uniform 165ºF (74ºC).
SUCCESS TIP
I always heat-treat more flour than I need, since it will chunk up due to moisture. You’ll be instructed in the recipe to sift the heat-treated flour which will remove these chunks. That’s when I measure my 1 and ⅛ cup (135g) to ensure I have enough safe flour for the recipe.
STEP #2: combine the heat-treated flour with the salt and set it aside.
STEP #3: cream the butter and sugars, then add the milk and the vanilla.
STEP #4: slowly add the dry ingredients, blend, then add the chocolate chips. Pop the dough in the refrigerator while you make the dough, or up to 3 days if you want to do this step well ahead of time.
STEP #2: MAKE THE CINNAMON ROLL DOUGH
Make the dough: you’ll start by activating/blooming the yeast with warm water and granulated sugar, then add the rest of the wet ingredients (warm milk, vanilla, and an egg). To this, you’ll also add half of the flour/salt mixture and the softened butter before the remaining portion of flour/salt. Just like biscuits and pie dough, adding the butter to the flour in pieces will help create chunks of fat that melt in the oven and leave behind pockets of air (flakes!).
Allow dough to rest: traditional roll dough does not need two rises, but it does need to rest a bit before it will lend itself to shaping. This rest period allows the gluten to relax so stretching and rolling it into a rectangle is a smooth and easy process.
Roll into a rectangle: roll the dough into a 9″ x 12″ rectangle.
STEP #3: ADD THE BUTTER & CINNAMON-SUGAR FILLING
Prepare and add the filling: brush the rectangle with melted dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the whole thing, leaving a border. This filling is the same one you’ll find in my traditional cinnamon rolls and there is no shortage of it! Use everything you’ve made.
STEP #4: ADD THE COOKIE DOUGH FILLING & GARNISH
Create cookie dough chunks: remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and break it into two chunks– one that is about ⅔ of the dough and one that is the remaining ⅓ of the dough (set this chunk aside for now).
Make the filling: working with the larger chunk of dough, break off small chunks and use your hands to flatten chunks into discs about ¼” thick. Place flattened chunks of dough right on top of the cinnamon-sugar filling. Keep flattening pieces until you have covered all of the filling. It’s ok if there are some spots peeking out.
Make cookie dough garnish: roll the remaining cookie dough into small balls to use as garnish. Mine were about 1 to 2 teaspoons in size (I made different sizes to mix it up). Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.
There will appear to be a lot of filling and you may think it won’t fit into the rolls. It will! Roll the log up tightly, gather up anything that falls out, and sprinkle it on top of the rolls before rising.
STEP #5: ALLOW THE ROLLS TO RISE
Roll, slice, and allow rolls to rise: once you’ve filled your dough, roll it into a log starting with one of the long sides. Slice this into 6 evenly sized rolls, then place in a dish, cover with a towel, and allow to rise.
STEP #6: BAKE THE ROLLS
Bake the rolls: watch for the rolls to start lightly browning on top.
Allow to cool briefly: give the baked rolls about 10-15 minutes to cool. While they’re cooling, you can prepare the cream cheese frosting.
STEP #7: MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Make cream cheese frosting: this is really simple and only takes a few minutes to bring together. You can make this at any time, but I find that waiting for the rolls to cool is borderline criminal, so it’s best to busy myself with another task.
AN I MAKE THESE ROLLS AHEAD OF TIME?
My favorite part about yeast bread is that YES, you can almost always do things ahead of time, whether it be so that you have warm cinnamon rolls for the morning (hello, Christmas morning or any holiday that involves entertaining for breakfast!) but don’t have to get up early, or you just want to have some cinnamon rolls in the freezer ready to go if the craving strikes.
MAKE AHEAD: REFRIGERATOR METHOD
Think of the refrigerator as a “pause” button for your yeast bread. After the rolls are shaped and in the pan, you can cover them tightly and chill them for up to 18 hours and turn them into overnight cinnamon rolls just like that. This is a great option if you’re making homemade cinnamon rolls for a holiday– you can spend a bit of time bringing the dough together, then have warm rolls the next morning with very little hands on time.
You’ll just need to allow the rolls rise for about 1 hour before baking them. You can also make the cream cheese frosting and store it at room temperature up to 18 hours in advance.
MAKE AHEAD: FREEZER METHOD
If you want to completely bake these small batch cinnamon rolls and then freeze them, you can keep them in the freezer covered tightly for up to 3 months. Just thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and warm before enjoying.
If you want to freeze unbaked rolls, you’ll need to parbake the rolls for 10 minutes at 350°F (177ºC). Allow to cool completely, cover tightly, then freeze. Remove the rolls from the freezer and allow them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Finish baking them the next day for the remaining 18-22 minutes before frosting and enjoying.
CAN I DOUBLE THIS RECIPE?
Yes! In fact, this small batch recipe is literally just the halved version of my traditional cinnamon rolls. You’ll need to double all of the ingredients, then roll the dough into a 12″ x 18″ rectangle, roll up the dough from the long side, and cut the log into 12 pieces. The bake time will be very similar.
Once these rolls are in your hands and headed to your mouth, you will definitely have a hard time putting one down. And since I’m all about tasting and testing and providing the results for you, these rolls are just as good fresh as they are warmed up.
In fact, what I love about the cooled-then-warmed-up version is that the cookie dough becomes a little more solidified so it has more of a firm texture which just creates a different mouthfeel than a freshly baked roll.
On the left, a fresh roll. On the right, one that has been cooled and re-warmed. You be the judge of which one you prefer… For science, of course.
MORE CINNAMON ROLL RECIPES
Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
COOKIE DOUGH FILLING
- 1 and ⅛ cup (135g) heat-treated flour1
- 1 teaspoon (3g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) firmly packed brown sugar light or dark
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 2 and ½ Tablespoons (38mL) milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (112g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
ROLL DOUGH
- ¼ cup (60mL) warm water
- 1 and ⅛ teaspoons (3.5g) dry active yeast or half of one packet
- ¼ cup (60mL) warm milk
- 2 and ½ Tablespoons (32g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 and ¼ to 2 and ½ cups (270-300g) all purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 3 Tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature and cut into 4-6 pieces
CINNAMON SUGAR FILLING
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 and ½ Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter melted
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 2 ounces (57g) cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cups (90g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
HEAT-TREAT THE FLOUR
- Before you begin: since the recipe calls for 1 and ⅛ cup of heat-treated flour, I recommend treating more flour than you need to account for losing some to clumping due to moisture. I usually heat-treat an additional 2 Tablespoons per cup needed.
- In the oven: preheat the oven to 300ºF (149ºC). Place flour on a baking sheet or in a baking pan and bake at 300ºF (149ºC), checking the internal temperature2 at 2 minute intervals, and looking for a uniform 165ºF (74ºC).
- In the microwave: heat the flour in a microwave safe container on HIGH in 30 second increments, then stir before checking the internal temperature2 and looking for a uniform 165ºF (74ºC).
- Allow heat-treated flour to cool, then sift into a small bowl to remove any large chunks. Discard chunks and return any excess heat-treated flour to your flour container (remember, you only need 1 and ⅛ cup/135g).
COOKIE DOUGH FILLING
- In a small bowl, sift together the heat-treated flour, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and continue to beat until smooth.
- Add the milk and the vanilla and beat again on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined, then add the mini chocolate chips and mix again until evenly dispersed.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough while you make the yeasted roll dough. If you will be chilling the cookie dough longer than 1 hour1, cover or wrap it tightly.
ROLL DOUGH
- Spray a baking dish2 with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Place warm water in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. Whisk with a fork, wooden spoon, or spatula and allow to rest and activate for 10 minutes.¼ cup (60mL) warm water, 1 and ⅛ teaspoons (3.5g) dry active yeast
- Once the yeast mixture is active and bubbly, add the milk, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and egg. Whisk to combine.¼ cup (60mL) warm milk, 2 and ½ Tablespoons (32g) granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 large egg
- Gradually stir in the flour mixture. If using a stand mixer, use your dough hook. If mixing by hand, continue to use a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of flour, allow dough to come together, then add the softened butter and continue to blend. When butter is mostly incorporated, add the remaining flour and blend until dough has mostly come together. It may still be shaggy, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl fairly easily.2 and ¼ to 2 and ½ cups (270-300g) all purpose flour, 3 Tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter
- Turn out dough on a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, adding flour about 1 Tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky, until smooth and elastic. Your dough should resemble the surface texture of PlayDoh when it is done. You can continue to use your dough hook, if you prefer. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the cinnamon-sugar filling.
CINNAMON SUGAR FILLING
- In a medium size bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Whisk or stir until well-blended. Set aside.¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, 1 and ½ Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 9" x 12" in size. Dough will be very elastic, so be patient and keep rolling. There is no need to rush this step.
- When you have your rectangle, brush the melted butter evenly over the dough, leaving about ½" border around the edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the melted butter.2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and break off about ⅔ of the dough. Set the remaining ⅓ of the dough aside.
- Working with the larger portion of dough, break off small chunks of the dough and use your hands to flatten chunks into discs about ¼" thick. Place flattened chunks of dough right on top of the cinnamon-sugar filling. Keep flattening pieces until you have covered all of the filling. It's ok if there are some spots peeking out (use the pictures in the post as a visual).
- Roll the remaining cookie dough into small balls to use as garnish. Mine were about 1 to 2 teaspoons in size (I made different sizes to mix it up). Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.
ASSEMBLE AND BAKE THE DOUGH
- Starting with one of the long sides, roll the dough up into a tight 12" log. Use your fingers or palms on either end of the log to gently squeeze the log to "contain" the uneven ends. Using a sharp serrated knife and taking care to keep the seam side down, cut the log into 6 even slices. Don't worry if filling spills out.
- Place the slices cut side down in the prepared pan, gather any filling that fell out, sprinkle over the rolls, then press down gently to flatten slightly. Cover loosely with foil or a kitchen towel. Allow rolls to rise for 1 and ½ hours.
- When cinnamon roll dough has risen, preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Bake the rolls for 30-32 minutes or until rolls just start to brown on top. You can cover the rolls with foil to prevent browning, if desired. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes while you prepare the cream cheese frosting and the cookie dough balls.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth.2 ounces (57g) cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla extract and the salt and continue mixing until smooth.¾ cups (90g) powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch of salt
- Spread cream cheese frosting onto slightly cooled rolls, place rolled dough ball pieces randomly over the rolls, and serve immediately. Leftover rolls stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 8-10 seconds before serving. See notes section below for other storage and preparation suggestions.
Notes
- Chill the cookie dough: I like to make the cookie dough well ahead of time so that I can just pick up with making the roll dough. You can make and chill the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance.
- Baking dish: I like to use either an 8″ square baking pan or an 8″ or 9″ round cake pan or pie plate. If using a square dish, arrange them in 2 rows of 3. If using a round pan, place one in the center and the other 5 evenly spaced around it.
- Make ahead: this dough can be made the ahead of time through step 1 of the “assemble and bake dough” instructions. Cover rolls with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator overnight or up to 18 hours. In the morning (or when you are ready to bake the rolls), remove them from the refrigerator and allow to rise in a warm environment, about 1 hour. Continue with step 2 in the “assemble and bake dough” instructions.
- To freeze baked rolls: baked rolls freeze well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm before enjoying.
- Two options to freeze unbaked rolls: parbake the rolls for 10 minutes at 350°F (177ºC). Allow to cool completely, cover tightly, then freeze. Remove the rolls from the freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Finish baking for the remaining 18-22 minutes before frosting and serving OR freeze them after slicing and pull them out the night before you want to bake them and allow them to thaw and rise covered at room temperature and bake when ready.
- Working with yeast: for a comprehensive look at working with yeast in a recipe, see my post about how to bake with yeast.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.