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cinnamon has always been a favorite flavor of mine, and i always associate autumn with the spice. since the days are turning a bit brisker, it felt only right to whip out the cinnamon, not only for delicious cookie flavoring, but so my home would have the scent of cinnamon wafting through the air.

of course, along with autumn comes the start of holiday panic. 🙂  i’m sure you know it well. social media posts include memes eagerly reminding me ‘only 9 fridays until christmas’ and posts by overachieving friends who’ve already finished all their holiday shopping. seriously?? i’ll let you in on a little secret: i am definitely not one of those overachievers. to be honest, i haven’t even made the lists yet, let alone shopped or created the gifts. what i have been doing, however, is adding new cookies to my holiday repertoire. because, well, cookies. need i say more?

these spritz-like cookies are really a cinch to bake, and they look terrific! they’re also sturdy enough to include in a holiday tray, and i’ve found them to be a real crowd-pleaser!

though i use dark chocolate chips for the center of the burst, you can use milk or semi-sweet chocolate, whichever you prefer. i like the combo of dark chocolate and cinnamon, and i find the typical dark chocolate chips are a little larger/wider than milk or semi-sweet chips, so the dark chocolate ones fit beautifully in the center of these cookies! pretty to look at, and yummy, too! that’s a win-win in my book!

cinnamon bursts

ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup baker’s sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 vietnamese cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
dark chocolate chips – 1 per cookie, to place in the center of each burst
(these can be replaced by milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, if you prefer)

instructions:
1. heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. combine butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla in mixing bowl of stand mixer.
3. beat at medium speed until all items are well-combined and creamy.
4. turn off mixer, and add flour, cinnamon and salt.
5. beat on low speed until well-mixed.
6. using your flower or starburst cookie press design, fill your press with the dough. it should be super-easy to handle. press dough about 1″ apart onto ungreased cookie sheet (don’t use parchment either! you need the dough to be able to stick directly to the metal.)
7. press one chocolate chip into the center of the design
8. bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.
9. remove from oven and let cookies sheets cool for about 5 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack for remaining cooling.
10. enjoy!

<yield: about 50 cookies>