Cinnamon Twists

My mom-in-law loves cooking as much as I do & one of my Christmas presents this year was a new cookbook that she liked for me. I went page-by-page through it & stopped short at these cookies. They had me at cinnamon... There really is nothing like the scent of cinnamon wafting through the house in the winter... Well, now, after making them, the scent of the cream cheese-butter dough is so good too! These take some time & are more intricate than your normal refrigerator cookie but they are worth it. Don't get too hung up on making the twists perfect; I didn't ;) And they tasted delish!

Happy new year all!
<3 Lishie


Cinnamon Twists
adapted from Good Housekeeping 
"A Very Merry Christmas" Cookbook

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 c butter, room temperature
• 2&1/2 c AP Flour
• 3/4 c walnuts
• 1 c sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg, beaten

In a large bowl,  beat cream cheese & butter together at low speed until blended (scraping down the sides). Increase speed to high & beat about another 2 minutes, until light & creamy. With mixer at low, gradually add in the flour.


Place dough onto a lightly floured sheet of plastic wrap, hand-shaped into a 9"x9" square. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.


In a food processor, chop walnuts with 1/4 c of the sugar until finely ground. In a small bowl, combine the walnut mixture with the with the cinnamon & remaining 3/4 c sugar until all are well blended; set aside.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured, cold, pastry board (or granite/quartz countertop), roll out the chilled dough using a rolling pin into a 11"x10&1/2" rectangle. With a pastry brush, brush some beaten egg over the top of the dough, then sprinkle half of the walnut/cinnamon mixture. Gently press walnut mixture into the dough. Flip over the dough, brush other side with egg & sprinkle, then press remaining walnut/cinnamon mixture into the dough. 


Cut dough length-wise into three, 3&1/2" wide bars, then cross-wise into 1/2" wide strips. to make Sixty-Six, 3&1/2"x1/2" strips. Twist each strip twice, then place, 1" apart onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. 


Bake twists 15-17 minutes until lightly browned. With a wide spatula, carefully loosen twists from the cookie sheet & then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with any remaining strips.