Ash Baber

Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls

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I saw a video of someone making cookie dough cinnamon rolls…I immediately needed to also make cookie dough cinnamon rolls. So here we are.

You got fluffy cinnamon rolls that have been stuffed with soft baked cookie dough and then topped with cream cheese frosting.

I loved these so much. They were soft, fluffy and gooey. I think they’re my new favourite kind of cinnamon rolls.

A close up of the cookie dough cinnamon rolls, in a baking dish.

Breakdown of the process

This recipe has a lot of parts to…it does take a while to make but it’s so worth it.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what we are going to be doing:

  • Make the dough.
  • Leave this to rise.
  • Make the cookie dough.
  • Make the cinnamon filling.
  • Roll the dough out, then add the cinnamon filling and the cookie dough.
  • Roll this tightly into a log and cut this up.
  • Add your cinnamon rolls into a large tin or dish, then leave them to rise again.
  • Bake them.
  • Make the cream cheese frosting.
  • Add this on top of the baked cinnamon rolls.
  • Now you can dig in.
One cookie dough cinnamon roll being held up.

The dough

We are going to start by making the dough for the cinnamon rolls.

I like to use a Japanese milk bread dough when making cinnamon rolls. I think it gives you the softest rolls, so that’s what we are going to make today.

The main difference between milk bread dough and other kinds of doughs is the addition of something called tangzhong.

This is just a mixture of flour and milk that has been cooked together until a paste forms. This is left to cool and then added into the dough.

It makes your bread so much more softer and fluffier, I’m not sure what the scientific reasoning is behind this. But trust me it makes a huge difference.

Anyway, like it I mentioned it’s just plain flour and milk. Then for the rest of the ingredients for the dough, here’s what you will need:

  • Plain flour – also known as all purpose flour.
  • Granulated sugar – caster sugar can also be used.
  • Salt
  • Instant yeast – I prefer to use instant yeast so I don’t have to activate it, I can add it straight into the bowl with the other ingredients. But if you are using active yeast, you will have to activate it first. So mix it with the warm milk and a tablespoon of the sugar. Leave this aside for 10 minutes or until it looks foamy, then it is ready to be used. 
  • Eggs
  • Whole milk – you want this to be warm, NOT HOT, just warm.
  • The tangzhong – sometimes I make this, then forget to add it into the dough. Please don’t do this.
  • Unsalted butter
Once the dough has been made, you want to leave it in a warm place to rise for about 1-2 hours. Until it has doubled in size.
The dough in a bowl, before being left to rise.
The dough in a bowl after it had been left to rise.

The cookie dough

Whiles the cinnamon roll dough is rising, we can make the cookie dough.

I made a regular cookie dough for this, but just a slightly softer one.

These are the ingredients you will need for it:

  • Unsalted butter – we are using unsalted butter and adding the salt separately. This way we can control the amount of salt in the cookie dough.
  • Sugar – a mix of both soft brown sugar and granulated sugar.
  • Vanilla extract
  • Eggs
  • Plain flour 
  • Salt – to help enhance the flavours.
  • Baking powder and baking soda
  • Chocolate – any chocolate works here, use your favourite kind. I used a mix of dark and milk chocolate. However, if you are using all milk chocolate or even white, this is going to add a lot of extra sweetness which we don’t really need. But still, use whatever you want.
The ingredients needed to make the cookie dough.

The cinnamon filling

We can also get the cinnamon filling ready whiles the dough is rising.

To make it, you only need 3 ingredients:

  • Sugar –  brown sugar is going to give you the best flavour in my opinion. So I used soft light brown sugar.
  • Unsalted butter
  • Ground cinnamon – in the recipe card below you will see that I said to use 3 tablespoons of ground cinnamon. You could adjust this amount if you wanted to, depending on how strong of a cinnamon flavour you want.
The cinnamon rolls in a baking dish, after they had been formed.

Forming the cinnamon rolls

At this point, the dough should have risen and both the fillings have been made, we can start putting them together.

Start by rolling the dough out on a floured surface. You want to roll it into a large rectangle. The exact size of it isn’t too important, you just want it to be around 1/2 an inch thick. 

Once it has been rolled out, spread the cinnamon filling on top, then add dollops of the cookie dough and flatten this down.

Now you want to roll the dough up.

There are 2 ways to do this. You can either start by rolling from the shorter side of the rectangle. This will give you bigger cinnamon rolls, but you will have less.

Or you can start rolling from the longer side. This will give you smaller cinnamon rolls, but you will have more.

It’s completely up to you, I prefer rolling it from the shorter side though.

But once it has been rolled up, cut your cinnamon rolls. Then add these into a large baking tin or tray.

You might have to use 2 if you don’t have a large enough one, I had to use 2.

1 of the cinnamon rolls after it had been formed.

Baking them

After they have been formed, you need to leave them to rise one more time in a warm place, for about an hour.

Essentially, we just want them to look puffier and have almost doubled in size.

But once they have, we can bake them.

You want to bake them in a 180c pre-heated oven. The baking time can vary depending on your oven and the size of your cinnamon rolls. Mine baked for around 30 minutes, but this can vary.

You know they are done when the are golden brown all over.

The cookie dough cinnamon rolls after they had been baked.

The cream cheese frosting

This is the last thing left to make, we are almost done.

We are making a cream cheese frosting to add on top of the cinnamon rolls.

You can top yours with whatever you want, but I think cinnamon rolls taste best when they have cream cheese frosting on top of them.

You only need 5 ingredients to make this:

  • Unsalted butter – you want this to be softened. It will be very hard to make the frosting with cold butter.
  • Icing sugar – also known as powdered sugar.
  • Vanilla extract
  • Cream cheese – make sure to use full fat cream cheese. The frosting will end up too runny if you use a low fat one.
  • Whole milk – just to thin out the frosting a bit. Usually I wouldn’t add this, but for cinnamon rolls a slightly less firm frosting is better.  

Once your rolls have baked, add some frosting on top of them, whiles they are still warm so the frosting can melt into them. 

I also grated some chocolate on top of them…very unnecessary you don’t need to do this. 

Leave these aside for about 15 minutes so the fillings in the rolls can set up slightly. But then after you can finally enjoy them.  

The cream cheese frosting inside of a bowl.

Here are a few other recipes I’ve posted recently. You should try these too:

Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls
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Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls

5.0 from 33 votes

Ingredients

  • For the tangzhong:

  • 40 g plain flour

  • 200 ml whole milk

  • For the dough:

  • 680 g plain flour

  • 60 g granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 16 g instant yeast

  • 2 large eggs

  • 240 ml whole milk, warm

  • The tangzhong

  • 50 g unsalted butter, softened

  • For the cookie dough:

  • 200 g unsalted butter

  • 120 g soft light brown sugar

  • 120 g granulated sugar

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 2 large eggs

  • 350 g plain flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 150 g chocolate, chopped (any chocolate works, I used a mix of dark and milk)

  • For the cinnamon filling:

  • 400 g soft light brown sugar

  • 200 g unsalted butter, melted

  • 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

  • For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 150 g unsalted butter, softened

  • 150 g icing sugar

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 300 g full fat cream cheese

  • Some whole milk

Directions

  • Making the tangzhong:
  • Add the flour and milk into a pot and mix these together.
  • Place this pot over medium heat and keep heating this mixture, whiles stirring, until the mixture becomes thick. This doesn't take long so don't walk away.
  • Leave this in your fridge to cool down for 5 minutes.
  • Making the dough:
  • Add all the ingredients for the dough into a bowl, EXCEPT the butter. Make sure to remember to add in the tangzhong you just made.
  • Mix all this together until a dough forms, then add in the softened butter and knead for 10 minutes. This will be a sticky dough, this is okay it's expected. If it is too sticky to handle though, you can add a little more flour.
  • Add this into a large lightly greased bowl, then cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
  • Making the cookie dough:
  • Whiles the dough is rising, make the cookie dough.
  • Start by browning the butter, so in a pot or pan add the butter. Place this onto medium heat and heat, whiles constantly stirring, until the butter turns a golden brown colour.
  • Pour this into a large bowl, then leave aside to cool down for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, add both sugars and vanilla into this. Whisk these together.
  • Add the eggs, whisk these in too.
  • In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix these together.
  • Add this into the other bowl and mix everything together. Then add the chopped chocolate and mix this in.
  • Leave this aside until ready to use.
  • Making the cinnamon filling:
  • In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the cinnamon filling.
  • Leave this aside too.
  • Forming the cinnamon rolls:
  • Once the dough has doubled in size, we can start forming the cinnamon rolls.
  • On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a large rectangle. The exact size isn't too important, you just want it to be around 1/2 an inch thick.
  • Spread the cinnamon filling over the dough. If it has become too thick to spread, heat it in your microwave for a couple of seconds first.
  • Add dollops of the cookie dough all over the rolled dough, then flatten all this down slightly.
  • Roll this up tightly. I prefer rolling the dough up from the short side, this gives you bigger thicker cinnamon rolls, but you will have less. If you want smaller ones, but more, you can roll the dough up from the long side.
  • Using a sharp knife or some floss, cut the log into even rolls.
  • Add these into a large tin or dish, rectangle or circle, whatever you want to bake them in. You might have to use 2 tins.
  • Cover and leave these aside in a warm place again. For about 1 hour, or just until they look puffier and have almost doubled in size.
  • Baking the cinnamon rolls:
  • Around 15 minutes before you are ready to bake them, pre-heat your oven to 180c.
  • Once the cinnamon rolls are ready to bake, bake them for around 30 minutes. Or until they are golden brown all over, they may need slightly longer depending on the size of your rolls.
  • Making the frosting:
  • Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting.
  • In a large bowl, add the softened butter, icing sugar and vanilla. Mix these together, then beat for 5 minutes.
  • Add the cream cheese into this and beat.
  • This is going to be a thick frosting, we want to thin it out a little. So add 2 tablespoons of milk and mix this in. If you want a thinner frosting, keep adding more milk until you reach the consistency you want.
  • Once your cinnamon rolls have baked, spread the frosting on top of them whiles they are still warm. At this point I also added some grated chocolate on top, this is optional.
  • Leave these aside for about 15 minutes, to give a chance for the cinnamon filling and cookie dough to set up. But then you can enjoy!

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1 Comment

  1. Annie
    February 19, 2026 / 1:42 am

    I made this recipe and people are asking me to ship it internationally. My roommates hate that I caused them to gain weight but this will be my go to cinnamon roll AND cookie recipe!!! I made cookies with the left over dough and they were amazing. Don’t tell my doctor I’ve been making these because it’s just a matter of time that I will be making them again. Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!