Soft Christmas cinnamon cookies: they crack as they bake, no rolling pin needed

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Cream the butter

   5 min

   Beat the softened butter with the sugar and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat briefly to combine.

2. Add the flour

   5 min

   Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt, then stir it into the butter mixture to form a soft, smooth dough.

3. Chill the dough

   30 min

   Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes so it can be shaped into balls.

4. Coat in cinnamon sugar

   10 min

   Mix 3 tbsp of sugar with the ground cinnamon in a bowl. Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls (about 3 cm), roll them in the cinnamon sugar, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet about 5 cm apart—they will spread as they bake.

5. Bake

   25 min

   Bake in an oven preheated to 180 °C (350 °F) for 11–12 minutes, until the edges are light golden and the tops are cracked. The centers should still be soft; they will finish cooking on the baking sheet. Bake one sheet at a time.

6. Let cool

   10 min

   Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container to keep them soft for about a week.

Tip: Take the cookies out of the oven while the centers still look soft. They will firm up on the baking sheet while staying soft inside; baking them longer would make them hard.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Mäkké vianočné škoricové sušienky: v rúre samy popraskajú, vaľkať ich netreba