Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Cookies
These cinnamon roll cheesecake cookies started as a fun twist on one of our families’ favorite desserts, and they’ve quickly become a fan favorite among family and friends. Each cookie features a soft, cinnamon swirled base with a rich, creamy cheesecake center, giving you the perfect balance of warm cinnamon and smooth, sweet cheesecake. Every bit is soft, gooey, and completely irresistible. Whether enjoyed fresh from the oven or chilled for later, these cookies are cozy, fun to bake, and sure to impress anyone lucky enough to try them.
The Chill Trick for Picture-Perfect Cookies
One little tip that quickly became a must during testing our cheesecake stuffed cookies is cooling the cheesecake filling before baking the cookies. At first, we skipped this step and ended up with cheesecake oozing all over the pan, delicious, yes, but definitely not the neat, picture-perfect cookies we were aiming for. Letting the filling chill first keeps it stable and makes it much easier to work with, so each cookie has that perfect creamy center without any messy mishaps. It’s a simple step, but it’s the real key to getting beautifully formed cinnamon roll cheesecake cookies every single time.
My brother has a serious soft spot for anything cinnamon; he doesn’t care what it is, as long as it’s got a warm, spiced flavor. Every year when I ask him what cake he wants for his birthday; the answer is always something like “anything cinnamon!” He is also the reason our family makes cinnamon rolls almost every Christmas morning. These cinnamon roll cheesecake cookies were inspired by him, combining that beloved cinnamon flavor with a creamy cheesecake center. They are a little tribute to his favorite spice, and it’s no wonder they have become a fan favorite for everyone else too!
Why I Measure in Grams (and You Might Want To, Too)
If you’ve ever made the same recipe twice and gotten two totally different results, the measuring method is often the reason.
Professional bakeries almost always measure by weight, not volume. Measuring cups leave room for inconsistency—especially with ingredients that pack differently depending on how you scoop or pour them. A scale removes all of that guesswork.
One of the biggest offenders is sugar. Different sugars (and even the same sugar measured by different people) can vary wildly in volume, but 100 grams is always 100 grams. Measuring by weight gives you repeatable, bakery-consistent results and cuts down on extra dishes at the same time.
A food scale is one of the best (and most affordable) investments you can make for your kitchen if you love baking and want your recipes to turn out exactly the same every time.
Ingredients To Prepare
Before baking, take a few minutes to gather the ingredients below and to ensure that they are soft, chewy, with the perfect cinnamon flavor!
Once you have all of the ingredients ready to go, you’re officially set up for cinnamon roll cheesecake cookie success. I always recommend measuring everything out ahead of time so the process is smoother, and you can focus on making the best cookies possible!
Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 block cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (convection). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the room-temperature cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Scoop 1-tablespoon portions onto a parchment-lined plate or tray and freeze until firm.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the whisk or paddle attachment, beat the room-temperature butter and granulated sugar until light and off-white in color, about 1–2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing until fully combined.
- Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the dough until no dry spots remain.
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and room-temperature butter to create the brown sugar swirl. Lightly chill the mixture so it’s easy to fold into the dough.
- Scoop ⅓ cup of cookie dough and gently fold in about 2 teaspoons of the brown sugar mixture. Flatten the dough in your palm, place a chilled cream cheese ball in the center, then fold the dough around the filling to seal. Roll each cookie dough ball in granulated sugar.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place the filled cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart.
- Bake for 12–13 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look slightly underbaked.
- For perfectly round cookies, use a round bowl, cup, or cookie cutter to gently swirl around the cookies immediately after removing them from the oven.
- Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring.
- Enjoy fresh, or store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 8 days.
These cookies are INCREDIBLE, thank you for using grams as well.
If I want to sub with almond flour, is it the same measurements?
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. But can you plz make these recipes printable without all the ads plz? It’s killing my ink budget. Thank you!!!
Just buy her cookbook.
Yes! It needs a “print recipe option” like every other recipe website.
I found that if I sort out the pages by what has the recipe on it, it saves me soo much paper and ink! I do 1-3 and 9-10 on this recipe with a black and white print.
My cookies went flat? Any suggestions?
Probably because of the butter, maybe let your cookie dough chill in the freezer overnight and bake it after it chilled in room temperature for a bit the next day or if you wanna make it the same day let it sit in the fridge for at least two hours
When it says “2 & 3/4 cups” , I want to make sure that is 2 cups AND 3/4th cup. Because my cookies came out humongous! Each cookie is basically 2 cookies in one. lol but they did become a bit flat :/. I will be making again but wanted to make sure I made them correctly. nonetheless it came out delicious!!!
Making this for the third time, really yummy, requires more effort than a regular degular chocolate chip cookie but all my friends and family love this! So worth it
I followed this recipe exactly, using a kitchen scale and measuring everything carefully. The cookies turned out super large and completely flat — they literally spread into one giant sheet. There was no mention in the recipe that this would happen.
I originally came from TikTok, and in the video the cookies looked completely different.
My recommendations:
• Make smaller cookie dough balls than suggested in the recipe
• Bake just a few at a time, spaced far apart on the tray
• And most importantly, chill the formed cookie dough balls in the fridge for an hour or freeze for 30 minutes before baking
That should help prevent excessive spreading.
Hey! Sorry this happened to you! Here are a few common mistakes that could have been the issue:
– possibly over mixing in the cinnamon swirl chunks (or not chilling them long enough)
– not chilling the filling long enough
– melted butter instead of room temp
– mixing in ingredients like sugar that the cookie dough is supposed to be rolled in
– not using grams can also cause measurement mistakes
Thanks for leaving your tips as well, they can definitely help the next person!
– Maya 😉
How long shld the cream cheese thing stay in the freezer?
Salted or unsalted butter?