The Swirly Kind

So I'd like to start off by saying that this post took way longer than I had planned to prepare because a) I forgot to do it yesterday and b) my baby decided that she absolutely did not want to sleep tonight.

Now, moving right along here.

This fun cookie is a favorite of both my husband and my father-in-law. And they are affectionately known as 'the swirly kind' by both of them.
These, my fine folks, are pinwheel cookies!
(I apologize for the lack of pictures at the moment. They are sitting in my fridge overnight waiting to be baked still.)

I originally found a recipe for pinwheel cookies on Pinterest (surprise, surprise!) but found that I really didn't like how they turned out. And I mean I really didn't like them.
The cookie dough was crumbly, was very difficult to roll out and the cookies turned out dry.
Not yummy at all.

But I really liked the concept. And I had to think about it for a bit because I very much wanted to make this type of cookie again. I just didn't want to use that same recipe.
So I took my favourite sugar cookie recipe and used that!
All I had to do was add cocoa to half of the dough to get the chocolate layer. Super simple.
Plus they turned out soooo much better!

You can use your own sugar cookie recipe or if you like, you can use the same one I use. (I'll put it down at the bottom.)
And of course I forgot to take pictures of any mixing. But oh well.
Let your dough rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Yes, this makes the dough tough to roll out at first but it really is a lot better in the long run I find.
Quite often what I will do is I will roll out the dough on a large piece of parchment paper. It saves my counters from being covered in flour or having any dough get stuck to them.

Coffee was a must tonight. And yes, that is a Captain America figure in the back there.

Alright so, tonight my goal was to solve a problem I have had with these cookies. And that problem was that they would always wind up with a flat edge. And quite honestly, I think that it makes them a little less pretty. Which is silly, I know.
But in any case, it was a problem.
So I found an old, heavy-duty cardboard tube to use in the hopes that it would rectify this issue. I cut a piece off the tube and then cut that piece in half lengthwise. It is extremely crooked because I was a little lazy and didn't bother to find myself a proper knife and wound up using one that was a little dull.

After I had everything all set I took about half of my plain dough and rolled it out on the parchment paper. Yes, it slides around on the counter a bit, but it also means that I can turn the entire thing around so I can roll it out as evenly as possible.

I did the same for the chocolate dough, doing my best to get it as close to the same size as possible.

Now comes the tricky part. You have to take that chocolate dough and lay it down on the plain. Sometimes it works to flip it onto the plain and sometimes you have to lay it down and peel the parchment paper from underneath it. I usually try to flip it.

Once I have them layered I like to roll over it again to press the layers together a bit. And then I'll take a knife and cut the edges so they're all nice and straight and you have something like this:

 

I apologize for the rather blurry picture. I didn't realize how bad it was until I added it in here. Oops! 

Now comes the fun part. Sort of.

You now have to roll the dough into a log lengthwise. It can be a bit tricky if it's still sitting on the parchment paper. The paper will slide making it more difficult. And you have to make sure you press it together as you go along so you don't have holes in your cookies later.

The lighting is terrible in this picture. And so is the angle.

This is what it looks like sitting in that cardboard tube though. I had to hold it otherwise it would just roll over. Silly thing.

Anywho. I wrapped it nice and tight in cling wrap and put it back in the fridge to stiffen up overnight.

If it's too soft it'll be difficult to cut into cookies. They'll wind up being all squished looking. Certainly don't want that!

In the morning I will cut and bake these cookies and add in the pictures afterwards.

When you cut the cookies you can use a knife or you can use a piece of thread. Sounds strange, I know, but it works very well. And it's how I prefer to cut these cookies. Simply slide the thread under the roll, pull up on each side, cross in the middle and pull tight until it slices through the cookie.

Once you've got your cookies all cut lay them on a prepared cookie sheet and bake!
They don't spread much so you can get quite a lot onto a tray.

More pictures will be added in the morning!

The cookie recipe can be found below.
Have a good night folks!



Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 5 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa

Directions:
1. In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
2. Stir in the flour, salt and baking powder.

3. Separate half into a second bowl. Add cocoa to remaining dough and stir in until fully incorporated. Cover and chill at least one hour (or overnight).
4. Roll out dough on parchment paper or a floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Layer chocolate over plain and roll into a log. Wrap in cling wrap and chill for at least one hour (or overnight).
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut log into 1/4 inch thick slices and arrange on a prepared cookie sheet.
6. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely before transferring from cookie sheet.