Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Last week was kinda tough for me - I made the decision to let go of someone in my life. Letting go is difficult at the best of times - especially for me as I'm a natural hoarder. I hang on to books, clothes, letters, CDs; pretty much everything - but it's even harder to let go of someone that I've fought to keep in my life in the past and if life was perfect, someone I'd never have to let go of. Anyway, c'est la vie... and enough about me. Let's talk about my baking as I intend to bake my way through my funk! Hang on, that's about me too ... ah well, we'll talk about it anyway.

I made these cookies for church. I go to this great Church called 'Equippers' and for the first time ever, I can say I actually really enjoy church! I can't wait to go on a Sunday and I feel like I've missed out if I miss one Sunday. It is a church where everyone pitches into the life of the church and for a long while, I wasn't contributing anything till recently when I started baking. We have a break between worship and the sermon for tea and coffee and whenever I can (I'm aiming for every week), I make something to eat with our teas and coffees. So far I've made Rocky Road and brownies and I'm constantly on the lookout for suitable recipes as it has to be stuff that is already portioned or easy to portion and also easy to transport. So there will be a LOT of cookies and bars in my church's future!

I love cinnamon and bookmarked these cookies as soon as I saw them. Now, I have to admit that I wasn't expecting great things from these cookies as y'know, they don't contain chocolate, or peanut butter, or Oreos (all the staples of a great ... anything) in them ... but they are AMAZING! They're soft and each mouthful is choc-full of cinnamon roll taste. And the slightly coffee flavoured icing is a stroke of genius! Thanks to Sing for your Supper for the recipe!

If I had a big enough freezer, I'd have a roll of this dough always in it, ready to cut and bake wonderful cookies!

Ingredients

For the cookies

226g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup golden caster sugar

2 eggs

2 tsps vanilla

2 tsps cinnamon

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tsp salt

For the filling

57g unsalted butter, very soft

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the icing

2 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 - 4 tablespoons milk

To make cookies

1 - In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt

2 - In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. 

Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time, and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl

3 - Add half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping the bowl as needed

4 - Scrape the dough into a ball in the centre of the bowl, cover with cling film and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes, or in the fridge for at least an hour.

5 - Once the dough is chilled, divide it into two equal halves. Place one half back in the bowl and put it back in the fridge. On a large piece of cling film, pat the first half of the dough into a rectangle about nine inches by 12 inches and about half an inch thick

6 - Place half of the butter on the dough and spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar evenly over the buttered dough and press the sugar into the dough using the back of a tablespoon. Finally, sprinkle half of the cinnamon evenly over the dough.

7 - Use the plastic wrap to tightly roll the dough into a log.Place the log in the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

8 - Repeat with the remaining half of the dough and filling ingredients.

9 - Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F/ Gas Mark 4. Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper

10 - After the dough has chilled again, slice each log into one inch slices (about 20 per log). Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. 

Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before icing

To make the icing
 11 -  In a medium bowl, combine the butter and instant espresso powder. 
 12 - Add the icing sugar and vanilla and whisk until it just comes together. 
 13 - Next, add the milk, one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. It should be thin enough to drizzle, but thicker than a glaze.
 14 - With the cookies on a wire cooling rack set over parchment paper, drizzle the icing over the them with your whisk. Allow the cookies to set up for a few minutes before stacking or storing.