PINWHEEL COOKIES, TWO WAYS

Pinwheel cookies are a lot of fun to make, but if you want them to look really nice, precision is key. Rolling both colors of dough to the same extension and similar thickness, although you can also make one dough slightly thicker for a different final look. The first one is quite appropriate for Halloween. I flavored it with black sesame and orange.

BLACK SESAME AND ORANGE PINWHEEL COOKIES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp orange emulsion (I used LorAnn)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp black sesame seed powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water
orange and black food gel dye

Cream the butter, powdered sugar and salt using a KitchenAind type mixer for a couple of minutes. Add the orange emulsion, mix until combined. Add the flour and salt, mix until almost fully combined. Divide the dough exactly in two and add to one half the orange dye, a few drops. To the second half, add the dissolved sesame paste and a few drops of black food gel. Form each dough as a rectangle and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Roll each dough into roughly 8 x 11 inches – that is about the size of a regular sheet of printer paper, so I like to place a sheet underneath the parchment paper to visualize the dimension to roll it. Stack both doughs with parchment paper separating them and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge, place the dark dough over a clean piece of parchment, add the orange dough on top of it. Make sure both doughs are properly aligned, and trim the edges if needed. Refrigerate, cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and roll the dough as a sausage, starting at the longest edge. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.

Heat the oven to 350F. Cut 1/4 inch slices of the dough, place over parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until set and slightly darker at the edges. Cool completely on a rack. Cookies keep well for a few days stored in a closed container at room temperature.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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CHOCOLATE-VANILLA PINWHEELS

Use the same exact dough, but flavor it with vanilla extract. For the darker dough, add 2 teaspoons cocoa powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water.

Comments: You can roll the dough over cocoa nibs before slicing the cookies, but I did not like that effect very much, so I did only half of it that way. These cookies have a delightful crumbly texture, and are not very sweet, as the black sesame and the cocoa powder cut the sugar intensity a bit. This basic formula can be used for countless flavors and color combinations, of course. I hope you give it a try!

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