Recipe

December 19, 2023

Christina Tosi’s Cinnamon Bun Cookies

Recipe: Christina Tosi

Ingredients

  • 16 tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
  • ¼ cup milk powder
  • 1½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 6 oz. cream cheese

Directions

Yield: Makes 24 Cookies

Make Dough

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray or line two half–sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  2. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl, add egg and vanilla, and mix for 2 more minutes.
  3. Add flour, milk powder, kosher salt, baking powder and baking soda, and paddle on low speed until combined, about 1 minute.
  4. Divide dough in half. Knead cinnamon into half of dough.

Make Rounds and Bake

  1. Add 1 tbsp of cinnamon dough and 1 tbsp of plain dough side by side in 2 oz. cookie scoop. Pinch and twist doughs together with your fingers to form a swirl. Flip cookie dough ball upside down. Using your thumbs, create a well big enough to hide 2 tsp of cream cheese inside, and wrap cookie dough edges around to seal entirely.
  2. Place dough round seam-side down on prepared pans. Use palm of your hand to flatten dough. Repeat, placing dough rounds 2″ to 3″ apart.
  3. Bake at 350°F until golden brown around edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
  4. Let cool on pan (they’re awesome warm) or store in airtight container in fridge for up to 1 week.
Photographer:

Angus Fergusson

Source:

Christina’s recipes are excerpted from All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book by Christina Tosi. Penguin Random House, 2022, $47.

Stylist:

Food styling by Ashley Denton