When you can’t decide if you want cookies or cinnamon rolls, you should choose both and prepare cookie dough rolls. This recipe for cookie dough rolls gives you the best-tasting, pillowy soft rolls.

This recipe is made with our brown butter chocolate chip cookies and a base using our rolls recipe. We published this recipe two years ago, and we have improved both the cookie dough and the dough recipe to something even better.

If you love this cookie dough rolls recipe, you will love our brownie rolls that will be up tomorrow! We will need to prepare two different things for this rolls recipe, first a pillowy soft dough and then, instead of cinnamon roll sugar filling, we are preparing a cookie dough filling. It’s all topped with a delicious and sweet vanilla bean icing.

Ingredients you will need!

The ingredients we are using for the dough are the same as those used in our Nutella rolls, and the cookie dough filling is the same recipe we are using in our deep-dish Nutella cookie pie.

• Sugars: We are using a mixture of brown sugar and granulated sugar.
• Active dry yeast: We will activate it with warm milk and sugar. This is what makes the dough grow really big.
• Milk: Use warm milk. It needs to be at about 110F-115F (43C-46C). A temperature above 120F (49 °C) will kill the yeast, and a temperature under 100F (38 °C) will not activate it.
• Eggs: use them at room temperature.
• All–purpose flour: adds structure to the dough and cookie dough.
• Butter: unsalted, and keep it at room temperature. For the dough, we need it to be soft, and for the cookie dough, it needs to be browned.
• Salt: balances the sweetness and makes it more flavorful and tasty. It is very important to use salt in many of our desserts, like our sea salt cookies, chocolate rolls, or even our brown butter cookies.
• Baking powder: it will only be used in the cookie dough layer.
• Chocolate chips: what’s a cookie dough without chocolate chips? We are using our favorite chocolate callets from Callebaut.

Granulated sugar

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Brown sugar

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Milk

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Eggs

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Baking powder

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salt

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Dark chocolate Belgian

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Make sure the yeast you are using is fresh, as it can affect the way the dough grows when it’s proofing. Old yeast won’t get active, and you will have hard and dense rolls.

How to brown butter

Brown butter is more important than people think. It’s so important that we dedicated a whole post to it. Brown butter is basically butter that has been cooked until it is aromatic, brown (like it says on the name).

Brown butter adds depth, nuttiness, and caramelized flavors to everything you prepare.

Start by using room temperature butter. When we use cold butter, it splashes literally everywhere, and that’s not something you want, especially because butter is not easy to remove from your clothes.

Use a light colored pan; you need to be able to see the color. Stir constantly to avoid burning on the bottom.

1. Melt the butter over medium-low heat.
2. It will start to bubble. Pay close attention to it!
3. It will bubble more aggressively. The color will change to a deep amber/golden brown; the butter is ready.

Cool down the butter before using; this is something you need to do to most recipes unless it’s asked to do otherwise, as we did in our double chocolate cookie recipe.

How to activate active dry yeast

Active dry yeast is one of the best yeasts you can use at home, in my opinion, as it’s so easy to use and you can find it everywhere. It must be stored properly so it doesn’t lose efficiency.

I always store it in the fridge, but for longer storage, you can keep it in the freezer.

To activate the yeast, you need a warm liquid (milk), yeast (active dry yeast), and a sweetener that will feed the yeast (sugar).

The milk temperature needs to be at about 110F-115F (43C-46C). A temperature above 120F (49 °C) will kill the yeast, and a temperature under 100F (38 °C) will not activate it.

Prepare the yeast mixture and let it rest for 10-15 minutes; it should have a frothy layer on top of the milk mixture.

Best tips to make cookie dough rolls at home

1. Don’t skip kneading and proofing. It is ESSENTIAL for a perfect result. Skipping either would end up in bad results, like dense and tough rolls that are as hard as a rock.
2. Recommend you prepare the cookie dough right before you need it so it doesn’t harden too much, which makes it easier to spread into the dough without squishing it.
3. Brown the butter! What’s a cookie without brown butter? It’s essential. It will add a deep caramelized flavor and enhance the flavor, making it so much better.
4.  Something we skipped for this one because our blender stopped working properly. If you make powdered sugar at home, you need to blend it until powdery. Ours was a bit grainy, and you can notice it a little on the icing even after sifting.  

Tools you need to make rolls

Most tools used here are also used in recipes like our red velvet Nutella rolls, Nutella chocolate chip brioche, Nutella brioche loaf, or even our salted caramel rolls.

• Stand mixer: You will need it for the dough and to prepare the frosting.
• Mixing bowls: essential for our cookie dough.
• Light–colored pan: to brown the butter!!
• Dough proofer: It’s optional, but it’s amazing to use when you love preparing dough recipes.
• Offset spatula: to spread the cookie dough.
• Spatula: fold the flour and scrape the bowl.
• Whisk: to mix the cookie dough ingredients.
• Baking pan lined with parchment paper: needed to bake the rolls, the parchment paper is super important for easily removing the rolls from the pan and cleaning.

Attachments you will need in this recipe for the stand mixer: dough hook (to knead the dough) and paddle (to prepare the frosting).

If you wanted to prepare the cookie dough in the stand mixer, too, you should use the paddle attachment as well.

Cookie dough

Our old recipe used to be slightly different. We toasted the flour we didn’t add egg, and we made it a little bit following our edible cookie dough recipe. For this newer recipe, we decided to omit a few steps and make it a little bit and make it like our original cookie recipe, with egg and baking powder.

There’s nothing to worry about as the cookie dough layer and the roll will both get cooked thoroughly.

This cookie dough recipe is delicious on its own and even better when you add it on top of your rolled dough.

Don’t forget to add the salt and vanilla. Both are very important and often forgotten.

How to cut cookie dough rolls?

There are so many popular ways of cutting your rolls. Today, we will show you the one we love the most, and we have been doing for the past year. I think you have better control over the final shape of the rolls.

From what I know, there are three different ways of cutting rolls like cinnamon rolls, chocolate Nutella rolls, or Oreo rolls.  

1. Our favorite way. Roll out the dough, spread the cookie dough, and then cut the dough into 6 strips. Roll each one individually. This will give you better control over the shape.
2. Use a knife! It’s a very traditional way; we used this in our strawberry rolls in the past, but I don’t love it as it’s very messy and changes the shape of the rolls so much. Roll out the dough, spread the cookie dough, and then roll it tightly into a log. Using a knife, cut your rolls.
3. Same as above, but using kitchen twine or dental floss. It became very popular in the past years; we tried it and loved it. Used in recipes like our Biscoff rolls in the past. Now we would change it to this method as it’s just way easier to do.

How to serve cookie dough rolls?

Cookie dough rolls are best served warm!

To top the rolls, we are preparing a homemade icing with butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste. That is the best topping you can add to a cookie dough roll.

Love cookies with milk? You will love a glass of milk to enjoy this recipe.

Storing tips!

After you bake the rolls, if you have any leftovers, I highly recommend that you freeze them. Freezing your brioche doughs (like our Nutella bombs), donuts (maple glazed, Nutella, Biscoff), and rolls (s’mores, Ferrero Rocher) is the best way to store them so they stay fresh, and the next time you want to enjoy them, they will be soft and fluffy instead of dense and dry.

They stay fresh in the freezer for 3 months.

To freeze: prepare a tray with parchment paper, separate the rolls, and place them on top of the tray. Freeze for 4 hours, then you can transfer them into a freezer container or bag.

Can you freeze cookie dough rolls?

Yes, you can!

Shape your rolls like you would to bake them, place them in the pan, and then instead of proofing and baking, cover them with aluminum foil and freeze.

Next time you need to bake your rolls, thaw them in the fridge overnight, and then if they are not puffy, you need to bring them to room temperature for 30-45 minutes until they grow. Bake in the preheated oven as mentioned in the recipe card below.

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