I was running late, working at the high-end department store (which is another story for another time) when I realize that I just wasn’t going to make it to both parties that I was scheduled back-to-back for that night. So, picking and choosing, I went with the one where cookies were involved. After all, I had already baked the cookies for the cookie swap and I couldn’t let my Snappy Cinnamon Spice Bun Cookies with Honey Buttermilk Glaze go to waste. Besides, when there is a choice, cookies always win.
Snappy Cinnamon Spice Bun Cookies with Honey Buttermilk Glaze
The day was rather exhausting. I had always sworn that I would never work retail again, but when an old friend called me up to ask if I could help out his company hand out cookie sample at the aforementioned department store, I figured why not? I could always use a little extra cash for the holiday season (who doesn’t?), it couldn’t be that hard to pass out cookies and it might be nice to get out of the apartment for a little bit, as opposed to sitting at my computer staring at my Twitter feed waiting for that one. hilarious. tweet. that I knew was just going to pop up…soon…real…soon… *sigh* #damnMyFOMO.
Besides, I love the holiday season!
This album was HUGE in Japan back in the 70's.
What I had selectively forgotten is that the holiday season for retail is a madhouse – especially during the weekends. People have that vague blank look in the eyes, glazed over like Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear, from shopping nonstop for hours on end, the holiday music repeats after an hour (thankfully this particular department store had a decent mix – I could listen to The Cocteau Twins’ Winter Wonderland over and over again) and my patience tends to wear thin after explaining to the forty-fifth person that the bathroom is down the hall and on the right.
But I’m not here to rant about the ridiculousness of working at high-end department store during the holidays that charges $48 for a tin of popcorn in caramel/cheese/butter flavors, as it was totally my choice to work there (and the customer’s choice to spend $48 on popcorn, when they could have made it at home for about $5). The department store, by the way, has treated me very nicely (as has the company I am working with – which I would totally work with again). No, I’m here to tell you about these cookies and the fabulous cookie swap that my friend Annelies hosted.
The Food Blogger Cookie Swap in Full Swing
This is the second year in a row that Annelies has hosted a holiday cookie swap and this one had some of my favorite people there, with some of my favorite cookies! For instance, Anita over at Desserts First showed up with alphabet Linzer cookies that spelled out “HAPPY HOLIDAYS”. Of course, each subsequent cookie taken, meant that the cookies had to be rearranged to spell something else. When we arrived, the current phrase was “PAY PAL HOS” and ended with “LAOS” when we left.
Vaguely obscene, but exceedingly tasty nonetheless.
There were rosemary lemon pepper shortbread cookies by Sabrina from The Tomato Tart who struggled with her kitchen scale before resorting to the old school cups and teaspoon method after realizing the scale was broken. Faith from Blog Appetit brought vegan Peppermint Candy Crisps, Charissa and Patrick from Zest Bakery arrived with some coconut Peanut Butter Chocolate Gluten Free Cookies and Susie from Nutty Fig brought some Drunken Almond Macaroons that had me feeling a bit tipsy with each bite.
So many treats, so little stomach room....
Stephanie from Desserts for Breakfast cheated a bit and brought bars instead of cookies but that’s OK because Anita had also brought a bunch of cupcakes as well and our host Annelies had made Buddhettes, candied Buddha’s Hand covered in chocolate. I wasn’t going to complain, especially with my mouth full of cupcakeness.
AJ takes the most flattering photos of me.
Of course, Annelies also made Peppermint Chocolate Rochers and they were all kinds of fantastic. And then there were my Snappy Cinnamon Spice Bun Cookies with Honey Buttermilk Glaze. Lately I’ve been making laminated and rolled cookies for the holidays and when I came across these cookies in the Cookies at Home with the Culinary Institute of America book I knew that I had to make them. Crispy, snappy, inspired by cinnamon bun, I had a blast making them, and a blast swapping them with others at the party. If they weren’t all gone, I’d totally have another one right now, to give me a little more energy to get through the rest of the week…and make it to all the parties that I’ve been double booked for.
AJ and I full of cookies and other holiday baked goods.
By Irvin Lin
Crispy and sweet with a number of spices to invoke the holidays, these snappy cinnamon rolled cookies have a buttermilk glaze to mimic a cream cheese frosting that cinnamon buns usually have. I like to add more spices to the mix, to give complexity to the cookie, but feel free to keep it classic and just use cinnamon by itself. Keep in mind that you have to refrigerate the dough for half an hour before slicing them to bake, so schedule that in. Or just make them the day before and keep them in the fridge overnight, making them a snap for fresh baked cookies the following day.
Adapted from Cookies at Home with the Culinary Institute of America.
Cookie dough
225 g (1 cup or 2 sticks) of unsalted butter, cold
75 g (1/3 cup) white granulated sugar
85 g (3/4 cup) confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon orange zest (about 1 medium navel orange)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
1 large egg
315 g (2 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
cinnamon spice filling
75 g (6 tablespoons or 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
70 g (2 tablespoons) honey
55 g (1/4 cup) dark brown sugar
20 g (2 tablespoons) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon (a generous pinch) ground all spice
honey buttermilk glaze
70 g (2 tablespoons) honey
60g to 90 g (1/2 to 3/4 cup) confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon buttermilk
1. Make the cookie dough by first cutting the butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Place the butter, sugars, salt, orange zest, baking powder, vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the bowl. Cream the ingredients together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three to four minutes.
2. Add the egg and beat again for 30 seconds, or until the egg is incorporated. Add the flour and beat on low speed until just incorporated about a minute.
3. Flour a flat clean surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Roll the dough out into a 12 x 12 inch square. The dough should be about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Make the cinnamon spice filling by placing all the ingredients in the same mixing bowl of the standing mixer (don’t bother to clean it from the previous dough). Beat the ingredients until they are well incorporated and smooth, about 2 minutes.
5. Smear the filling on top of the cookie dough, making sure to bring the dough all the way to all four edges. Starting at one end, roll the dough tightly into a log. Cover with plastic wrap or parchment paper tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.
6. While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Once the dough has chilled, slice the roll into 1/2 inch thick disks and place them 1 1/2 inches apart from each other on the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges of cookie are golden brown.
7. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cook completely.
8. Once the cookies have cooled completely, make the honey buttermilk glaze by combining honey, 60 g of confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and buttermilk in a small bowl and mixing until the sugar dissolves. If the glaze seems too thin, add the additional 30 g of confectioners’ sugar. Brush the glaze on each cookie and let them dry overnight.
Makes 48 cookies.
Allison says
We bakers forget that not everyone gets deliriously happy when cookies are involved, even if they are free. I once had to sell cookies at a Chargers home game tailgate for a fundraiser. I thought drunk people + cookies would be a no-brainer. I thought wrong. Drunk football fans can be scary, even if cookies are involved. Maybe I should have made some of Dorie’s World Peace cookies? 🙂
Deanna B says
Those look amazing. I bet the rosemary in the filling and the orange in the dough are fantastic together. Could you imagine how adorable a savory version would be for a cheese platter or a wine tasting? Oh the possibilities.
heather says
I am all about spiraly cookies. These are pretty much rocking my world.
That album cover is the cutest thing ever!
visda says
Hi Irvin, those cookies look fantastic. I love orange zest in cookies, it gives it a tinge of freshness and of course holiday flavor. If you have any time in between your busy schedule me and a couple of bloggers are meeting for lunch and cookie swap at A16 at 12.15 tomorrow. Let me know if you are interested. We would love to have you or any of your friends who like to join as well.
If I don’t see you I wish you Happy Holidays!
Sumayya Jamil says
what absolutely endearing looking cookies if thats at all possible! remind me all homely cinnamon buns – something so comforting about the pinwheel shape and the swirl of the cinnamon! cant wait to try these!
Brianne says
After baking oodles of Christmas cookies last weekend, I am all baked out. These look fantastic, though. I’m putting them on the list to bake in …oh, probably February, when I can deal with baking cookies again. What a great recipe!
Annie says
Those are beautiful, but I HOPE that you are going to share the recipe for those gorgeous raspberry chocolate striped cookies. I understand that you are responsible for those yummy looking confections.
annelies says
That seriously was one fun evening and after being in retail hell all day, I’m particularly impressed *and happy* you and AJ made it. You two always make parties more entertaining and fun. xo
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
What a fun gathering- wish we did stuff like that in San Diego. You SF people have all the fun! Your cookies look delicious 🙂
kay says
I – I just put these in the fridge for tomorrow. With my own changes, of course, but they look fab. Can’t wait to share them. Cheers to you and AJ
Wendy Read - Sunchowder says
Great post and photos, I’m so jealous 🙂 I didn’t realize you all knew Susie, I know her from the Foodize days and have never had the pleasure of meeting her. Lovely of Annelize to host the party too. Hope that you and AJ have a fabulous holiday!
Jonathan says
‘PAY PAL HOS’…I love cookie scrabble. 🙂
An annual cookie swap sounds like a great idea and your cookies sound wonderful. Thank you for sharing amidst the holiday chaos!
Adrian says
Wow some amazing cookies there! How long did you spend working?
I loled when I read PAY PAL HOS. I really did.
Cooking Rookie says
Love the idea of rolled cookies – I am certainly keeping this recipe, will only have to substitute something for cinnamon :-).
Jane F says
I made these and they went down a storm at work. Everyone loved them. I must admit they didn’t look quite as neat and tidy as yours – I didn’t manage to roll the dough tightly enough – but nobody seemed to complain(well, they hadn’t seen the photo of what they should look like)! I’ll definitely be making some more to take to the family over Christmas.
Thanks for another great recipe. x
kay says
The cookies were a huge hit at the office Xmas celebration. Yay! I found that the ones that baked on parchment held their shape much better than the ones I baked on Silpat, and it didn’t seem to make much difference whether I baked them under convection or just in the regular oven. I drizzled a confectioners glaze instead of spreading/brushing, and I liked the “cinnamon bun” look that gave it.
kay says
IRVIN!!! I took these to a very Midwestern (and I think you know what I mean, as our party was prolly less than 40 mi south of where you grew up) gathering, and the people absolutely went ape over them. These are a winner. I even had one lady ask for the recipe, and for someone in this neck of the woods to ask for your Xmas cookie recipe is pretty much unheard of. They are usually making some version of your cookie themselves, so this is pretty cool. Thinking about doing a variation with ground pecans in the “coil” – anyway. My family is Cantonese, so doh zhe sai, Irvin!
alexandra @ sweet betweens says
Irvin – Hi! I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while and am just now getting around to planning to make these soon. Am I overlooking something, or is the amount of buttermilk in the glaze missing in the recipe list? Hope I didn’t miss anything obvious! Alexandra
Irvin says
Yikes! I apologize for that! I had to go digging in my notebooks to see what my notes said for the amount of buttermilk. TOTALLY sorry that I missed that. Thank you for pointing it out!
I’ve added the amount of buttermilk (it’s only 2 teaspoons) but also altered the recipe instructions to show what to do with it. Let me know how they turn out when you make them!
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Beatrice says
Hello from Canada!
I wanted to thank you for these cookies 😀 This is the recipe that made me discover your blog and you’re always a great source of inspiration.
I’ve been making these for a few years and they’re always a hit at Christmas (along with your chocolate crackle cookies – people go nuts over these!)
I’m getting your book this Christmas and I’m super excited!
Take care 🙂