Cinnamon Pinwheels

By Pikachutherecipereader

This is a very impressive looking cookie and very tasty too. The dough needs to be chilled in order to roll properly. If it is too difficult to manage after you begin rolling, just put the dough on a cookie sheet and put in the fridge until chilled more. After stacking the dough, I just patted it into a rectangle with my hands instead of cutting off the edges (I hate wasting the extra. It does not need to be perfect. Make sure you chill again before cutting. After cutting the cookies, you can reshape them on the cookie sheet to get them more round and they will be perfect.

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sanding sugar (clear or red), plus more for coating

Details

Servings 36
Preparation time 240mins
Cooking time 250mins
Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Preparation

Step 1

Directions

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Remove half of the dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Add the cinnamon extract, cocoa powder and food coloring to the remaining dough and beat until incorporated; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate both pieces of dough until firm, about 1 hour.

Dust the dough with flour and roll out each piece on parchment paper into a 10-by-11-inch rectangle. Flip the red dough on top of the plain dough; remove the top piece of parchment and trim the edges. Sprinkle the ground cinnamon and sanding sugar on top. Starting from a short end, tightly roll up the dough, using the parchment to help; roll the log in sanding sugar. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Slice the log crosswise 1/4 inch thick; arrange the slices about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until slightly puffed and lightly golden on the bottom, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool.