Cinnamon Bun Cookies

Brown Butter Cookies//Cinnamon Sugar Chunks//White Chocolate Chunks

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There’s something about the smell of butter browning and cinnamon melting into sugar that just stops time for a moment — warm, nostalgic, and utterly irresistible. These Cinnamon Bun Cookies take everything you love about a classic cinnamon roll and elevate it into something extraordinary: a chewy, deeply flavourful cookie that’s honestly one of the best I’ve ever made.

I started with what would normally be a simple sugar cookie base, but swapped in salted browned butter to really bring all the flavors to life and play beautifully with the sweetness. I skipped the sugar roll entirely and instead made little cinnamon brown sugar chunks — melted butter whisked with brown sugar, a generous dose of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt — spread, frozen, and chopped into chunks before being folded into the dough. Add creamy white chocolate chunks, and you get pockets of caramelized cinnamon sweetness that melt into the rich, nutty cookie for an utterly indulgent bite.

I actually have another version coming soon that uses this same base — but topped with a swirl of cream cheese buttercream and a sprinkle of cinnamon, taking it into a Crumble-inspired, over-the-top treat. But I wanted these cookies to have their own spotlight first. This version takes a little less time, but they’re still a decadent, melt-in-your-mouth indulgence on their own — soft, chewy, rich, and dangerously good. Honestly, they might just be my favourite cookies I’ve ever made.

Recipe:

Makes 18 large cookies

Notes

• I haven't called for salt in this recipe, as we're using salted butter. Now, if you are frosting these cookies, add 1/4 tsp of pink salt to the flour mixture - I like to make my cookies a bit "too salty" if I'm topping them with a buttercream, to cut through the sugar a little. But on their own, no added salt is needed.

• Keep an eye out for a new post coming soon, which uses these cookies as a base, and transforms them into a Crumble-esque indulgence with the addition of a cream cheese buttercream swirled on top!

• If you want to go the extra mile, you can whip up a cream cheese "filling", and then spread it on a lined cutting board just like the cinnamon sugar chunk recipe below and freeze it. Then, cut it into chunks. This would replace the white chocolate chunks. Next time I make these cookies, I'll go that route, and report back here with specific instructions.

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Cinnamon Sugar Chunks

Ingredients

• 90 g butter, room temperature

• 225 g brown sugar

• 4 1/2 tbsp cinnamon (not packed)

• 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)

Instructions

1. Place butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan, set over medium-low heat. Stir often until the butter is melted and mixed in.

2. Turn off the heat, and mix in the cinnamon and salt.

3. Pour this onto a small baking tray or cutting board lined with parchment paper, and place it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

4. Once solid, cut it into chunks. Put it back in the freezer until you're ready to use them.

Cinnamon Bun Cookies

Ingredients

• 300 g salted butter, any temperature

• 375 g all-purpose flour

• 3/4 tsp baking soda

• 350 g sugar

• 1 egg, room temperature

• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 175 g white chocolate

• The Cinnamon Sugar Chunks (recipe above)

Instructions

1. Place butter in a medium sized saucepan. Brown the butter over medium heat. [If you don’t know how to do this: cook, stirring occasionally for about 7 minutes, until the butter is a caramel colour and smells nutty.] Once done, immediately remove it from the heat, and pour it into a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate, until the butter resembles a room-temperature state (is no longer a liquid, but is not hard).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that 2 oven racks are positioned in the middle. Line 2-4 baking trays with parchment paper, just depending on your preferences outlined below (step 13).

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.

4. Once the butter has returned to a room-temperature state, remove it from the fridge. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 3 minutes.

5. Add sugar, and beat for 3 more minutes on high.

6. Add the egg, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.

7. Add in the flour mixture. Beat on low until just combined.

8. Chop the white chocolate into chunks, and add it to the cookie dough. Add in the cinnamon sugar chunks. Beat on low until just combined.

9. Scoop then roll cookie dough into 18 balls, 85 g each. Your last cookie will be closer to 75 g.

10. Place the cookies on baking trays. Keep it to 4 cookies per tray, to avoid them melting into each other.

11. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops look just set. This will yield a slightly crunchy exterior, and chewy + gooey centre.

12. Remove from oven. If you want to be a perfectionist (hi, this includes me!), grab a bowl that has a slightly larger circumference than that of the cookies. Place it on top of each cookie, upside down, and gently make swirling/circular motions on the tray. The cookie will hit the sides of the bowl, and this will bring in the edges, creating a perfect circle of a cookie! Boom.

13. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 3-4 minutes, then transfer them to cooling racks using a spatula. (You can either wait these 3-4 minutes and re-use the same trays for the next round of dough, or just line extra trays.)

14. Enjoy!

Store the cookies at room-temperature, whether in a tupperware, or covered by plastic wrap.

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