Pinwheel Cookies

Easy short crust cookies formed into pinwheels with vanilla and cocoa flavors. A fun cookie to bake with the kids!

These cookies were actually a baking project with my sister's kids. I had promised them for a long time to bake some cookies together, but we never managed to find time. Finally I decided to make pinwheel cookies as they involved less ingredients and less mess. My little nephew on two is such a cutie pie, I think he has got something for cooking and baking. He would come over and ask all the time "what are you making" in his cute style of speaking. And each time he hears the electric mixer he will appear from nowhere and watch with such a excitement. And it must be really huge for him to let me help with the mixer because that can be clearly seen on his face!

So I had a lot of helping hands making these cookies. Six hands in a medium sized bowl, all trying to crumble the butter with the flour. The poor butter was mashed and became really soft by the heat of so many hands. And my oldest niece who was wanting to do it all by her self and her brother crying cause of that. So somehow we managed to make the dough, wrap it in plastic and pop it into the fridge. Then we rolled the dough, vanilla and chocolate flavors on top of each other, rolled it like a swiss roll and cut it into pieces. And the kids small hands transferred them to the baking tray and sprinkled over pearl sugar with great excitement.

Baking is such a nice activity to do with the kids as it involves time with them and let their creativity out. And the most important of all, they really enjoy it. And then the excitement for knowing that this is something they have made or been a part of. It is not really important how the final product turns out, rather it is about the quality time spent together.

These are some really pretty cookies with the spinwheel design in cream and brown colors and you can vary the flavors. Once you bake them, the design is enhanced even more. They are easy to make and keep well for a about two weeks stored in an air tight container.

Pinwheel Cookies

Recipe from Rutiga Bakboken

Makes about 20 cookies

...........................................................  INGREDIENTS  ...........................................................

120 g / 1 cup plain flour
45 g /1/5 cup sugar
1 egg yolk or 1/2 egg

100 g / 0.4 cup butter
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder

egg white, whisked for brushing
pearl sugar for garnishing

...........................................................  PREPARATION  ...........................................................

1 Sift in the flour in a medium sized bowl

2 Add in the sugar, the egg yolk or egg 

3 Cut the butter in small cubes and add them in

4 Quickly work together all the ingredients to a dough, divide in two parts and work in the vanilla sugar in one and the cocoa powder in the other

5 Wrap the doughs in plastic foil and let rest in the refrigerator for atleast 30 minutes

6 Roll out each of the dough to a 20 x 12 cm rectangel and lay the cocoa dough on the top of the vanilla dough, roll lightly to press them together
7 Roll together to a swiss roll, wrap in plastic and let cool in the refrigerator until firm
8 Cut into 1/2 cm thick slices and transfer to a baking tray with parchment paper, brush with some whisked egg white and sprinkle over peark sugar if you want

Bake in the middle of the oven at 170 - 190 C / 335 - 375 F for about 5-7 minutes

Let cool on the tray for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely

STORAGE: In an air tight container in a cool place for about 2 weeks or about 3 months in the freezer

Enjoy baking with the kids!