The Twelve Treats of Christmas: Cinnamon Logs

So Spiced Nuts and Chocolate Bark are nothing new and not very exciting, but here's something you may never have heard of (at least I know I had never heard of it!): Cinnamon Logs. The recipe was featured in our local newspaper around Thanksgiving time under the name "Sweet Potato Candy", which comes from the shape that is traditionally used. However, the article mentioned that they are also often made in the shape of logs and called "Cinnamon Logs", and when I read that, I knew immediately it would be the perfect addition to my list of holiday goodies. Of course, it helped that the recipe seemed very simple, used minimal ingredients and required no baking. Bingo! My kind of recipe: (sort of) Quick, Easy, Cheap, and... well, I guess it ends there. Too much powdered sugar to be called "Healthy"!!!

Although they are easy, you really need a stand mixer to make these. The dough is very stiff, and it would be extremely difficult to make it either by hand or with a hand-held mixer.

Cinnamon Logs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon

Cream the butter together with vanilla in the mixer until smooth. On a lower speed, gradually add in the powdered sugar:


Once all the powdered sugar is added, it will look kind of crumbly, like this:


Turn the mixer speed up a notch, and soon it will look like this:


At this point, you should be able to form the dough into a nice big ball:


Pinch off small portions of the dough and roll them into ball shapes:


Shape each ball into a log shape, making sure the ends are blunt (if the ends are pointy, they're called sweet potato candy rather than cinnamon logs).


Let the candies sit at room temperature to harden for about an hour, Once they are hardened, roll each candy in the cinnamon.

Yes, that's a lot of cinnamon, folks! It creates a taste not unlike the red-hot candies I used to love as a kid. Then when the powdered sugar/butter mixture melts in your mouth it becomes a smooth, sweet flavor with just a remainder of the sharp spicy cinnamon in the background. In short, delicious! And unique: a perfect touch to finish off my "Sugar 'n' Spice" cookie collection.

As for QUICK, I think this more or less qualifies, except perhaps for the hour of hardening time. You can decide if that's quick enough for you or not.

Definitely EASY, at least if you have a stand mixer. In fact, this would be a perfect project to enlist the kids on: they'll love the shaping and rolling! Unlike other candies, there's no boiling over a double boiler, or trying to reach the exact temperature, which makes it easy in my book!

Pretty CHEAP: it uses only 1/2 cup of butter, and about half a bag of powdered sugar, so not too bad. I buy cinnamon at the warehouse store for practically nothing: a huge container lasts me probably about 6 months to a year. If you don't use cinnamon a lot, that's not worth it, though, so you can buy smaller quantities at Trader Joe's for a good price. I've also found some spices to be pretty cheap at Amish markets if you have access to those.

HEALTHY is not the first word that comes to mind when thinking of these treats! All that sugar is just not good for you. However, they're very small, so if you just eat one or two, you're fine! And cinnamon is another one of those yummy-tasting foods that is high in antioxidants, so enjoy it. Also be sure to use real butter (not margarine) for the maximum health possible (for such an unhealthy treat!).