In the Cookie Jar : Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

I made these cookies twice during the holidays. They were so good; I think I’m going to celebrate Christmas in July, just to have an excuse to make them again! They’re kind of a cookie version of Peppermint Patties.

Making pinwheel cookies isn’t really hard, but it is a little trickier than drop cookies. The first batch I made weren’t very round (but they still looked nice). When I made the second batch, I slid the dough roll into a long glass container I have for storing pasta, then put the whole thing in the fridge. They were much more round and spiral-y.

Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies*

First make regular sugar cookie dough – recipe follows:

3 c. flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 c. unsalted butter (softened)
1 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk

Sift dry ingredients, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and milk, beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Beat until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Now instead of rolling this out and cutting it into Christmas trees…

Split the dough into two roughly equal balls in two separate bowls. In Bowl A – add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate – squish with (clean) hands until all the dough is chocolate colored. In Bowl B – add 1tsp peppermint extract, 4 or 5 crushed candy canes (about ½ cup), and the yolk of 1 egg – again squish with (clean) hands until fully mixed.

Cover both dough balls and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Then, roll both dough balls out to ¼ inch thickness (roll on powdered sugar instead of flour). Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate dough and press around the edges. Roll dough into a log, wrap in wax paper and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat over to 375, cut dough into ½ inch slices and place cookies 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet (*using parchment is a good idea, the melted candy cane bits really adhere to the baking sheet). Bake for 6 minutes, pull out the pan, turn it around and bake 7 more minutes. Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes, move to wire rack to cool completely.

Yields: not nearly enough

*Alton Brown, Food Network.