Cinnamon Heart Snickerdoodle Cookies
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Are you ready for the most perfect Valentine’s treat?
Well, it’s perfect if you like cinnamon hearts, I guess. But you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t, right!? So, fellow cinnamon heart lovers, I hope you love this recipe. It’s got crushed up cinnamon heart candies mixed into a soft & chewy vanilla cookie, then it’s rolled in cinnamon sugar before it’s baked for extra cinnamony goodness. For extra extra cinnamon heart vibes, try using a Vietnamese cinnamon - it’s got the same spiciness that you get from cinnamon heart candies.
What do I need to make them?
Here’s your grocery list:
-Salted Butter
-Sugar
-Eggs
-All Purpose Flour
-Baking Powder
-Baking Soda
-Cream of Tartar
-Salt
-Cinnamon Heart Candies
-Ground Cinnamon
You will also need a kitchen scale or measuring cups & spoons (but I highly recommend the scale!) , a stand or handheld mixer (or a bowl and a wooden spoon and some arm strength!), a small bowl, a spatula, a whisk, a baking sheet, parchment paper, and a #24 cookie scoop if you want to make perfect uniform cookies.
Here’s how to make them:
You can find the full recipe below but I’ll go over the steps in a little extra detail here.
First, gather all of your tools & ingredients, and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
First, you’re going to pulverize your cinnamon hearts. (Remember to save a few whole ones for the tops of your cookies!) I like to do this in a food processor, but if you don’t have one, you can put them in a heavy duty ziploc bag (like a freezer bag) and smack them with a rolling pin. If you use a food processor, just pulse them until you have smaller chunks. You don’t want to process them so much that they look like sand. Also, don’t breathe in when you open your food processor lid - there will be a puff of super cinnamony air and it will make you cough if you breathe it in. Trust me.
Next, you’re going to add your softened butter & sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat those on medium speed until they are fully combined. You don’t want to beat too long or you’ll end up with cakey cookies. Alternatively, if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a handheld mixer or a just a bowl and a wooden spoon.
While your butters and sugars are mixing, crack your eggs into a separate small bowl and add your vanilla extract to the same bowl.
With the mixer running on medium speed, add 1 egg. Wait until it looks fully incorporated, then add the next. Stop your mixer, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula (you can find my favourite sprinkle spatula here!), then mix again for a few seconds.
Whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartat, and salt in a small bowl.
Add flour mixture to mixer bowl and mix on low speed until JUST incorporated. You’ll probably still see a few bits of unmixed flour. That’s ok.
Take your bowl off the mixer, add your crushed cinnamon hearts and use your spatula to scrape around the edges and bottom of your bowl to mix in your toffee and make sure there are no rogue unmixed bits of butter or sugar or flour. Everything should be completely uniform. Alternatively, you can use clean hands to do this step (I’m also a big fan of this method - this way you can feel very easily whether or not your dough is completely mixed)
Now, take a pie plate or a shallow bowl and put some sugar and cinnamon in it and whisk that together until the cinnamon is uniformly distributed. Using a #24 cookie scoop (Like this one), scoop your cookies into the pie plate a few at a time, roll each completely in the cinnamon sugar, then place on your parchment covered baking tray. You should be able to fit about 12 on a standard baking tray. Leave a few inches between each cookie. Alternatively, you can use your hands to form the dough into balls about 2” in diameter.
Place a few whole cinnamon hearts on top of each cookie and press them in lightly. If you want bigger, thinner cookies you can give your cookies a light squish before you put them in the oven. If you want your cookies to be thicker, don’t squish them at all. Bake at 350 C for 8-9 minutes, just until there are no wet spots on top of the cookies.
The cinnamon hearts might burst out the sides of your cookies a bit, especially if you have some bigger pieces. If you care about the aesthetics of your cookies, just use a spoon to push in the irregular parts and make each cookie perfectly circular as soon as they come out of the oven before they cool.
Let cookies cool completely and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Cinnamon Heart Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- 440 g (3 1/3 cups) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 225 g (1 Cup) Salted Butter (Softened/Room Temperature)
- 360 g (1 3/4 cups) Granulated Sugar (plus more for rolling)
- 2 Eggs (Room Temperature)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 100 g (about 1/2 cup) Cinnamon Heart Pieces*
- 100g (1/2 cup) Granulated Sugar (for rolling)
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Whole Cinnamon Hearts
Instructions
- *To pulverize your cinnamon hearts: (Remember to save a few whole ones for the tops of your cookies!) Use a food processor and pulse until you have smaller chunks. Do not process them so much that they look like sand. See photo in post. If you don't have a food processor, you can put them in a heavy duty ziploc bag (like a freezer bag) and smack them with a rolling pin.
- Put butter and sugar in mixer bowl and beat on medium speed with paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy
- While your butter and sugar is mixing, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartat, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Crack your eggs into a pitcher or bowl and add vanilla. With mixer running on medium speed, add your eggs one at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next.
- Stop your mixer, scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl, then mix again for a few seconds.
- Add your flour mixture to mixer bowl and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
- Remove bowl from mixer and add your cinnamon heart pieces. Mix in by hand or with a spatula.
- Put the sugar for rolling and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl or pie plate and whisk together. Scoop cookies with a #24 scoop into the pie plate with the cinnamon sugar. Roll each fully in the cinnamon sugar and place on a baking tray. Top each cookie with a few whole cinnamon hearts and push them into the dough lightly. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes just until there are no wet spots on the tops of the cookies, but the tops are still a little shiny.
- Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer in an airtight container for several months.
Notes
It's always best to use a kitchen scale when baking for accuracy, and that's why I list weights first in my recipes, but I also have provided volume measurements for those who don't own a kitchen scale.
