Pretzel shaped Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

By srumbel

Instead of baking plain cookies, I decided to mix things up a bit and shape the dough into pretzels. I mean, we are in Germany after all! And to add another dimension of flavor, I added cinnamon to the batter and to the frosting! These Pretzel Shaped Cinnamon Sugar Cookies are soft, savory and sweet at the same time and so delicious!

To decorate the pretzels, I left a few without frosting and used white jimmies to act as the “salt” on the pretzel. Some I drizzled with chocolate while others I frosted and coated in rainbow jimmies and nonpareils. These really are so delicious and so cute… you need them in your life!
from javacupcake

Ingredients

• Cookies
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• Frosting
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Decorating Supplies
• Jimmies
• Nonpareils
• Melted chocolate
• gold sprinkles

Details

Preparation time 90mins
Cooking time 98mins

Preparation

Step 1

Cookies

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and shortening.
Add the sugar, eggs, and extract and mix on high until light and fluffy – about 4-5 minutes.
In another bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Make sure you are scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Weigh 2.5oz of dough. Roll the dough into a 12-13 inch rope.
Take each end and fold it up and over onto itself, twisting once. Make a small indentation into the dough where the ends will attach. (See video)
Bake for 7-9 minutes or until they begin to brown on the bottom slightly.
Allow the cookies to cool for about a minute or two before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate

Apply a thin layer of frosting to the cookie and sprinkle any sprinkles or jimmies over the top.
You can also use a small flat piping tip attached to a bag filled with frosting and pipe any decoration on the cookie you want.
I used white jimmies to look like salt on a few. I melted chocolate and drizzled that over a few others and garnished with gold sugar crystals. The possibilities are endless! Just be creative!

Serves: 1 dozen