Cinnamon Roll Cookies #recipe and #giveaway news Kim Davis

 

KIM DAVIS: Last week I had a new book release, Essentials of Homicide, the third book in the Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries. While not a true culinary cozy mystery, I brought in ample food elements with my protagonist, Carissa, having a boyfriend who owns a patisserie and I include a recipe with the book. As I was writing the story, instead of having a firm recipe in hand, I just threw in pastry and dessert items I thought sounded good to me off the top of my head. The recipe that did end up in the book is Lemony Lavender Scones, but since there are a plethora of scone recipes already on Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, I hunted through the manuscript for another recipe to create that had already been mentioned in the book. 

I landed on two, these Cinnamon Roll Cookies, and a mashup of Monster / Kitchen Sink cookies that, as Carissa says "It doesn't look all that pretty, but it's yummy." If you know me at all, food presentation matters so I dove in to create a recipe for Cinnamon Roll Cookies and I'm so glad I did! My taste testers went wild for them and immediately wanted the recipe. The buttery sugar cookie portion has a hint of cinnamon but the filling packs a blast of flavor as you bite into them. And with a name containing 'Cinnamon Roll' I think these are perfectly acceptable for breakfast, too!


Here's an excerpt from the book and the inspiration for my Cinnamon Roll Cookies:

Even though the museum didn’t open until ten, the entry gate to the grounds stood open, so Pixie and I strolled along the flagstone pathways. My pup was more interested in chasing the lizards, which darted from bush to bush, than in walking. Extending her leash to the full twenty feet, I found a stone bench and sat while I watched her give chase and try to pounce on the reptiles. The lizards were much too fast, and I knew she’d never catch one.

Steps sounded on the pathway, and I turned to find Detective Lamont heading our way. I reeled Pixie’s leash in, much to her dissatisfaction, and stood.

“Good morning, Ms. Carmichael.” Detective Lamont carried a to-go coffee cup from my boyfriend’s patisserie and a pastry bag. “Mind if I join you?”

“Be my guest.” I sat back down and, once the detective had settled in on the bench, I extended the leash and allowed Pixie the opportunity to explore. “How did you find me?”

“I’ve been following you all the way from the patisserie. You really should be more aware of your surroundings.” She offered the pastry bag to me. “Help yourself. Everything looked so delicious I couldn’t decide, and I ended up purchasing more than I needed.”

I plucked a cinnamon roll cookie from the bag. “Thanks.”

She extracted a lavender scone and took a dainty nibble. “Hmmmm. This is perfection.”

I took a bite of my cookie and agreed. “I’m assuming you didn’t follow me just to share pastries in the garden?”

“You’re right.” She wiped her mouth with a paper napkin. “I thought if you’re not in a rush, now might be a good time to take your statement. Will that work for you?”

 

Be sure to scroll down for the giveaway information

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Makes 35 to 40, depending on size

 
Ingredients
 
Cookies:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 
Filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

 
Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons water

 
Instructions
 
Cookies:
 
In a medium-sized bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.

 
Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes.

 
Beat in the egg and the vanilla until thoroughly incorporated.

 
Add the flour mixture and mix, on low speed, until incorporated into the wet ingredients. Don’t overmix.

 
Divide the dough into 2 pieces, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

 
Filling:
 
Stir all the ingredients together until a paste forms. Cover and set aside until needed.

 

 
Putting it together:
 
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Working with one piece at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately a 9 x 12-inch rectangle. Spread one half of the cinnamon-sugar filling over the rectangle.

 

 
Starting with the long end (12-inches) roll the dough into a log. If the dough tears or cracks, use your fingers to pinch it back together as needed. Securely wrap the log in plastic wrap. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

 

 Refrigerate the cookie logs for at least 2 hours or overnight.
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
 
Remove the cookie dough logs from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4 to 1/3-inch slices and place on the prepared baking sheets.

 

 
Bake for 11 to 14 minutes, until the edges just start to turn light golden. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
 
Icing:
 
Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and water until completely smooth. If the icing is too thick, add additional milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

 

Drizzle the icing over the tops of the completely cooled cookies. You can use a piping bag or a spoon. Allow the icing to set for 20 minutes before serving.

Store leftover cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Use parchment paper or wax paper between the layers of cookies to prevent them from sticking together.

Note:

You can make the unbaked cookies up to 3 months ahead of time and freeze. After spreading the filling, rolling into a log, and wrapping, refrigerate until firm. Remove from the refrigerator and slice before rewrapping in the log shape. Place in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag and freeze. Several hours before you're ready to bake, remove the log(s) from the freezer and allow to defrost in the refrigerator. Place the slices on parchment-lined baking sheets and preheat the oven. Bake as directed, although you may need to add an additional minute or two to the baking time. 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF of the recipe!💕

I'm excited to announce that Essentials of Homicide, the third book in the Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries, released last week on September 8th! 

What it's about:

Hollywood has descended on Oak Creek Valley to film a murder mystery. Carissa Carmichael, owner of the Aromatherapy Apothecary, has a front-row seat to the bad-boy leading man’s escapades as she works with the production to bring soothing essential elements to the stressed-out crew.

When the movie set becomes a true crime scene, Carissa’s best friend becomes the star suspect. Instead of enjoying the thrills of lights, camera, and action, she’s thrust into untangling the secrets of the glamorous actors who all seem to hide something. While working behind the scenes to sniff out clues and clear her best friend’s name, Carissa must apply pressure and find the killer before someone else is written out for good.

Includes a recipe, plus essential oil and reflexology tips.

Purchase links:

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

OTHER RETAILERS

AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of Essentials of Homicide, I'm offering a collection of lavender products along with the first book in the series, Essentials of Murder! 

Contest ends 9/17/26 and is limited to US residents. Click on link below and enter via KingSumo.

ENTER CONTEST

Books available at most online retailers

 

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Apple

 

Cupcake Catering Mysteries * Essentials of Murder* Essentials of Death

 

About the Author:

Kim Davis writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, and the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on blogs, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

Click here to sign up here for Kim’s newsletter: Newsletter

Connect with Kim: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Bluesky, Bookbub, Goodreads, TikTok, and website

 

Readers, what's your guilty pleasure breakfast treat?

Cleo Coyle's Eggnog Latte Cookies, 2 Ways

This blog post was named a "Foodbuzz Top 9" for Tuesday, December 15. Thank you, FoodBuzz!

~ Cleo Coyle

Eggnog is a holiday taste that my husband and I look forward to enjoying every year. While Marc drinks it straight from the fridge, I prefer mine in a comfortingly warm latte. So, I thought, why not put the flavor in a cookie?

Marc pulls no punches when it comes to telling me when a recipe is not working, but he completely flipped over these. The dough alone is redolent with that creamy-sweet, slightly spicy, eggnoggy fragrance (yes, I made up the word eggnoggy). As they bake, nutmeg and vanilla permeate the air with the quintessential aroma of your classic Bing Crosby-Danny Kaye Christmas. (BTW: If you’ve never seen the legendary holiday film that these gifted guys star in, it’s a real pleasure. Click the arrow in the window below to hear Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen sing "Snow," a 4-part harmony song from the movie White Christmas...)

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Video courtesy YouTube.com
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This recipe can be made two ways: (A) For an easy refrigerator cookie, simply roll it into a thick, soft log, chill, slice, and bake.

(B) For a more elaborate holiday cookie tray, make a rolled and shaped cookie by chilling the dough in thick discs, then rolling it out, and using your favorite cookie cutters. I’ve kept the composition of this cookie dough very buttery so that a liberal addition of flour when rolling will not toughen the cookie on you.










You can serve these cookies plain or with the polished finish of my Eggnog Glaze (recipe below), which adds yet another layer of eggnog flavor. Finally, a dusting of my Nutmeg Sugar mimics the barista’s finish to an eggnog latte with a sprinkling of that classic holiday spice.








Cleo Coyle’s Eggnog
Latte Cookies

I was actually planning to publish this recipe in Holiday Grind, but at 80 pages and counting for the book’s bonus Recipe section, I plum ran out of room—or more like sugarplum ran out of room. Hey, no groaning! It’s the holiday season! You can go back to groaning on January 2nd. ~ Cleo


(If you would like to learn more about the culinary mystery series that I write for Penguin's Berkley Prime Crime imprint, click this link Cleo's books. Learn more about Holiday Grind by clicking here or on cover.) 


To get this recipe in a takeaway format, just CLICK HERE! The recipe will appear in a PDF document, which you can print out, save on your computer, or forward to friends or family.


YIELDS: About 4 dozen cookies of 2-inches in diameter; smaller size cookies will yield more; larger will yield less.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
3/4 c. sugar
½ cup eggnog
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 c flour (plus extra for rolling)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
Eggnog Glaze (optional, see recipe below)
Nutmeg Sugar (optional, see recipe below)

(1) One bowl mixing method: First cream butter and sugar, and then measure in eggnog, egg, vanilla, nutmeg, sifted flour, and baking powder. Mix until a smooth dough forms, but do not over mix or you will create gluten in your dough which will make your cookies tough instead of tender.

(2) Chill it, baby: You have two options for this step:

OPTION (A) – Easy Refrigerator Cookies: For this version, simply roll the dough into a thick log. Chill it several hours, until somewhat firm (it will still be a bit soft because of the high butter content), then roll the log in granulated sugar and slice up.


Arrange cookie dough slices on a baking sheet that’s been lined, greased, or coated with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Using a spatula, flatten the cookie dough rounds into circles of about 2-inches in diameter. Because the dough is soft, the cookies will easily flatten into a nice, thin round.



To prevent sticking as you flatten, place a small square of parchment paper or wax paper between the cookie dough and your spatula. If you don’t plan on glazing these cookie slices, then sprinkle the tops with a bit of my Nutmeg Sugar, (recipe at end of post) and bake.

OPTION (B) – Rolled and Shaped Cookies (aka cookie-cutter cookies): For this second method of making my Eggnog Latte Cookies, form your freshly mixed dough into two thick discs. Wrap these separately in wax paper or plastic wrap, and allow to rest in the refrigerator for an hour or more. This helps flavors develop and hardens the butter in the dough, allowing you to roll it out without it sticking to everything. (Chilling overnight is fine, too.) Now move on to Step 3.

(3) Roll the dough: For shaped cookies, roll out the dough on a liberally floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch. I intentionally made this dough buttery and sticky so it will be able to take the extra flour that you use in the rolling process. If you skipped chilling the dough, however, you may have real trouble rolling it, even with flour, so chill it, baby! I would also advise you not to roll any thinner than 1/8 of an inch, otherwise your cookies may not hold their shapes. If you prefer a very thin cookie, then make the
refrigerator cookies (see Step 2).



(4) Cut the dough: Using a cookie cutter, cut the rolled out dough into any shape you like. Because these are eggnog “latte” inspired cookies, I like to use a cookie cutter in the shape of a cup. (FYI: I purchased mine at this fun site: www.CookieCutter.com ) Stars, teddy bears, snowmen, angels, or gingerbread men or woman shapes are nice ideas for this cookie, too.

(5) Bake: Preheat oven to 350° F. and bake on a cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes. Parchment paper and silicon sheets are a great help in preventing cookies from sticking. Allow to cool. For a polished finish, brush tops of cooled cookies with Eggnog Glaze and sprinkle on Nutmeg Sugar (both of my recipes are below).

CLEO'S EGGNOG GLAZE: In a saucepan warm ¼ cup eggnog and 2 tablespoon butter over low heat. Do not allow this mixture to boil! If it does, you may get a scorched taste in your glaze. When butter is just melted, stir in 3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar. I like to add in 1/2 teaspoon rum extract. If you really like rum, you may want to increaste this amount; if you dislike rum, simply leave out the extract. Keep stirring until the sugar is melted and a smooth glaze forms. If you did not sift the sugar, you may need to wisk the glaze to smooth out any clumping.


Once glaze is smooth and well blended, use a pastry brush to glaze the cookies. Remember that the glaze is hot! Watch your fingers and do not allow young children to glaze or they may get burned. Sprinkle immediately with Nutmeg Sugar before the glaze has a chance to harden.

CLEO'S NUTMEG SUGAR: Whisk together 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Sprinkle lightly over freshly glazed eggnog latte cookies and...

Eat with Joy!

HAPPY HANUKKAH!
The Festival of Lights has begun!

Till next time,

~ Cleo Coyle
author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries 


To find out more about the books in my Coffeehouse Mystery series or enter my weekly Free Coffee Drawing, click this link to my virtual home at http://www.coffeehousemystery.com/

ESPRESSO SHOT
National Bestseller!
Now in paperback.

Recipe text and photos are copyright (c) 2009 by Alice Alfonsi
who writes The Coffeehouse Mysteries as Cleo Coyle with her husband, Marc Cerasini

COMMENTS WELCOME!