These vegan cinnamon twist cookies are the ultimate Christmas treat! They’re made with just 8 simple ingredients and baked into a soft and decadent pastry cookie. You won’t be able to resist enjoying more than one!
The Origin of Cinnamon Twist Cookies
Cinnamon twist cookies were a classic recipe in my (Chris) family growing up. My parents baked up a storm every holiday season, and these Cinnamon Twist Christmas Cookies were always in the mix.
The origins of these cookies lead back to Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine. You may know these cookies as “scuffles” or “cinnamon sugar rolls.” They’re made primarily from a simple pastry dough with a simple cinnamon sugar filling. Depending on the variation you come across, they may be made into thin cinnamon twists, like our version, or rolled into more of a crescent shape.
Either way, these cinnamon twist cookies are absolutely delicious and absolutely worth a try!
Growing up, my parents baked up a storm every holiday season, and these Cinnamon Twist Christmas Cookies were always in the mix. Made with a simple blend of butter, cream cheese, and flour, the dough was super simple to veganize. I definitely recommend using Kite Hill cream cheese or making your own! We have a recipe for our cream cheese linked in the recipe card below. The pastry dough is light and flaky with a delicate buttery flavor. Inside is a layer of cinnamon, sugar, and nuts. I know this is probably obvious, but the flavor combination is pretty damn epic!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Walnuts: In addition to being filled with cinnamon sugar, these cookies are filled with finely ground walnuts for an added crunch. If needed or desired, finely ground pecans or hazelnuts would be a good substitute.
Sugar: For this recipe, you’ll need brown sugar and cane sugar. Coconut sugar can work in place of brown sugar, but we would not recommend substituting the granulated sugars with liquid sugar. This will not work or stick to the pastry dough. To make sure your cookies are vegan, use organic sugars. Conventional sugars are often made using nonvegan processing methods.
Cinnamon: Equally as important to the sugar, cinnamon gives these twist cookies their classic, warm cinnamon flavor.
Vegan cream cheese: Cream cheese is added to the pastry dough for additional fat and softness. We like to use Kite Hill, but another brand of vegan cream cheese will likely work, too!
Vegan butter: We used Earth Balance butter sticks but have also had great success baking with Country Crock vegan butter sticks. Opt for your favorite vegan butter sticks (salted or unsalted).
All-purpose flour: We have only tested these cinnamon twist cookies using all-purpose flour and have not tested a gluten-free version. If you’d like to experiment with this, we’d recommend substituting the flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. From experience, a single gluten-free flour like almond flour would require extensive testing and measurement adjustments.
Almond milk: Any unsweetened plant-based milk will do. Use what you have!
Make the cinnamon sugar filling. Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl along with the cane sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream the vegan cream cheese and butter. In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer), beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add in the flour. Gradually add the all-purpose flour until it forms a smooth dough. If the dough is too soft, add a little more flour.
Chill for 15 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a reusable vegan wrap, or a clean tea towel, then place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill.
Roll the dough. Flour a clean work surface, then roll out the dough into a 15”x12” rectangle, about ½” inch thick. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the dough with the almond milk, then liberally sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar filling.
Cut into strips. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough lengthwise into 1-inch strips. Then cut the strips horizontally into 2 to 2 ½-inch strips in length.
Gently twist each strip. One at a time, gently twist the dough into a spiral shape. Lay each cinnamon twist cookie on a lined baking sheet. The cookies won’t expand so feel free to lay them close together.
Bake. Place the cookies into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through. When ready, the cinnamon twist cookies will be lightly golden!
Serving Suggestions
When you think of cookies, you typically think of dessert, but these vegan cinnamon twist cookies can also be served for breakfast or an afternoon treat with a cup of tea. Enjoy warm or room temperature, as desired. They’re a great cookie to pack for a friend in a cookie gift box or dunking in a glass of Almond Milk, too!
Storage Instructions
These cookies will store best in an airtight container for up to 4 days. We have not tested freezing these cookies, but we bet it would work well. Let us know if you give it a try!
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
These vegan cinnamon twist cookies are the ultimate Christmas treat! They’re made with just 8 simple ingredients and baked into a soft and decadent pastry cookie. You won’t be able to resist enjoying more than one!
Ingredients
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
1/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 oz. vegan cream cheese (we recommend Kite Hill or homemade)
4 oz. vegan butter (we use Earth Balance)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour + more for rolling
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
In a food processor, pulse the walnuts until they are finely ground. Transfer the walnuts to a large bowl along with the cane sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the vegan cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Gradually add the all-purpose flour until it forms a smooth dough. If the dough is too soft, add a little more flour. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Flour a clean work surface. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out into about a 15×12″ rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Using a brush, lightly coat the dough with the almond milk. Liberally sprinkle the moistened dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut dough into strips (about 2 to 2 1/2-inches long x 1-inch wide). It is easiest to first cut the dough into long 1-inch strips lengthwise and then to cut those horizontally into 2 to 2 1/2-inches long strips. Pick up one strip and gently twist the dough into a spiral shape. You can refer to a photo of the final cookie in the blog post to get a better idea of the final appearance. If any sugar falls out, you can roll the cookie dough in it.
Lay the twists onto lined the baking sheet. These cookies don’t expand much so you can load up the baking sheet without worry!
Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Watch carefully and rotate the tray halfway through baking.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
I was looking for something different to make for the holidays this year and stumbled on to these, they are fantastic! Kinda like pastry dough meets shortbread with a nutty, cinnamon crunch. The whole family loved them, I’ll definitely be making these again! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
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I was looking for something different to make for the holidays this year and stumbled on to these, they are fantastic! Kinda like pastry dough meets shortbread with a nutty, cinnamon crunch. The whole family loved them, I’ll definitely be making these again! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
★★★★★