Honey Bun Cookies

Cookies

1. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and handheld electric mixer), add the butter, sugars, and cream together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Note - Cream is a verb, not a noun. There is no cream used in this recipe. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the eggs, vanilla, and beat to combine, about 2 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl; set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine all the remaining dry ingredients, and whisk to mix and combine.
4. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients in the wet, and beat until all the dry flour mixture has been integrated; don't overmix.
5. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat baking mats, and using a large cookie scoop, form evenly sized mounds of dough. Tip - These are big cookies in the typical style of Crumbl Cookies, about 3 tablespoons of dough each. You can make the cookies smaller but I prefer this larger size in truer keeping with the bakery version and yield 16 cookies.
6. Press the dough balls down until they are about 1/4-inch tall (or high).
7. Using the back of dinner knife or a chopstick (you can use a toothpick but you'll need to retrace the spiral swirl a few times to get it wide enough), make a spiral swirl starting in the center of each cookie, and working outward. Tip - See the process photos in the blog post for guidance.

Chilling

1. Place the baking sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes or in the refrigerators for 45-60 minutes to chill the dough. Chilling Tips - If you don't have space in your freezer or fridge to accommodate two large baking sheets, that's fine. Transfer the cookies to a dinner plate or whatever you have that will fit in your allocated space. It's okay if the cookie dough is touching side-by-side on the dinner plate while it's chilling. Don't skip chilling the dough or the cookies will spread as they bake.
2. While the cookies chill, preheat the oven to 350F.

Baking

1. Bake the cookies for about 13 to 15 minutes, or until just set and done. Tips - If you can, bake the cookies one baking sheet at a time, on the center oven rack, rotating the sheet once, midway through baking, for optimal results. Start checking early since all ovens and exact size of cookies will vary. Bake until the edges are just starting to turn lightly golden brown, but do not overbake. Cookies may look underdone when you pull them from the oven but will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet even after you pull it from the oven and then continue to firm up as they cool.
2. Allow cookies to cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheets, and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Tip - Do not glaze warm cookies or it will just slide right off and you'll have to start over.

Honey Butter Glaze

1. To a large mixing bowl, add all the glaze ingredients, and whisk to combine. Tip - It's very important to use well softened butter or this task is much more difficult than it needs to be. You can also beat the glaze together using a handheld electric mixer, although I don't find it's necessary.
2. Using a pastry brush, evenly brush glaze over the top of each cookie. Allow the glaze to set up fully before serving.