The Cinnamon Bun Book Store’s unofficial biscuit
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gilmore is about a bookshop in Dream Harbor, a fictional coastal town that has no right to be as emotionally significant to me as it is. The bookshop has cinnamon in the name. There is a bakery next door. The whole thing smells like warm spice and old pages and I am not dealing with the fact that it does not exist.
What I am doing instead is making cinnamon sugar cookies. Soft, chewy, rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking so they come out of the oven with crinkled tops and a slightly crisp edge and the kind of smell that makes your kitchen feel like somewhere specific and good.
These are related to the snickerdoodle family — same concept, same cinnamon-sugar coating — but made with brown sugar in the dough for a deeper, more caramel-forward flavour that pairs beautifully with a strong coffee. Or an iced cinnamon latte, which is also on the blog this week if you want the full Cinnamon Bun Book Store afternoon.
What you will need
Makes approximately 24 cookies.
For the dough:
- 280g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar (gives the characteristic slightly tangy chew; sub with 1/2 tsp baking powder if you cannot find it)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 150g soft dark brown sugar
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 60g caster sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional but excellent)
How to make them
Step 1: Make the dough
Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with both sugars until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture and fold until just combined. The dough will be soft but not sticky. If it is very soft, refrigerate for 20 minutes before rolling.
Step 2: Chill
Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. Chilled dough spreads less in the oven and gives you a thicker, chewier cookie. This step matters.
Step 3: Coat and bake
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Mix the cinnamon sugar coating ingredients together in a small bowl.
Roll the dough into balls about the size of a heaped tablespoon (roughly 35g each). Roll each ball thoroughly in the cinnamon sugar coating until completely covered.
Place on the prepared trays, leaving about 5cm between each cookie. They will spread.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges should be just set and the centres will look slightly underdone and puffed. That is correct. Remove from the oven and leave on the tray for 5 minutes — the cookies will sink slightly and crack as they cool, which is exactly what you want. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cosy Kitchen Notes
The egg yolk. One whole egg plus one extra yolk is the move for chewy cookies. The extra yolk adds richness and chew without making the cookie cakey. Do not skip it.
Brown sugar vs white. Brown sugar gives these cookies a deeper, more toffee-edged flavour that works really well with the cinnamon. You can use all caster sugar for a more classic snickerdoodle flavour, but I prefer the brown sugar version.
The chill is non-negotiable for chewiness. Warm dough spreads too fast in the oven and you end up with flat cookies. Chilled dough holds its shape long enough for the centres to set properly. 30 minutes minimum. Overnight is even better.
They look underdone when they come out. This is intentional. If the edges look just set and the centres still look slightly raw, pull them. The residual heat on the tray finishes the job. Overbaked cinnamon sugar cookies are crunchy all the way through, which is fine but not the goal.
Make ahead. The dough keeps in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can freeze the rolled and coated dough balls ready to bake — just add a minute or two to the bake time from frozen.
The snickerdoodle question. Yes, these are snickerdoodle-adjacent. The classic snickerdoodle uses cream of tartar for its characteristic tang and no chocolate, nuts or mix-ins. These are very similar but lean into the brown sugar and a slightly heavier cinnamon coating. If you are a snickerdoodle purist, welcome. If you have never made them before, this is a great starting point.
Storage. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They are best on day one and two. They also freeze beautifully — freeze in a single layer then transfer to a bag or container.
The Last Bite
Cinnamon sugar cookies are one of those things that feel like more of an occasion than they are. They smell incredible while they bake. They look good. They taste like the kind of biscuit a fictional bookshop would serve.
Which is the whole point.
If you are making these while reading The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, or while meaning to start it and instead eating cookies and calling that research, you are doing it correctly. There is no wrong way to engage with a book that has cinnamon in the title.
Make the cookies. Make the iced cinnamon latte (also on the blog this week). Open the book. Tell no one how many cookies you ate.
Pair with the iced cinnamon latte recipe also on the blog this week. The combination is fully Dream Harbor.
Read the full Cinnamon Bun Book Store review, with the confirmed spicy chapters guide.
