Pinwheel Cookies and Christmas Cookie Platter

Life throws a curve ball sometimes....encountered one recently . Without going into much details , let's just say that it has not been a great year ..and when you are facing tough times or as I like to say have dark clouds hanging overhead..you try to cling to mundane ordinary things that make you happy and restore some normalcy ...baking is one such "thing".....it keeps me sane and focused when things get chaotic !

Enough of a rant ...on to cheery things like baking pinwheels and getting  the Christmas cookie platter ready ... December is a great month for baking colorful cookies , so comes as no surprise  that my first addition to the Christmas platter are these pinwheel cookies. You may  also call them as "spin cookies " or "swirl cookies"...the possibilities are endless !

Wanted to bake them in the traditional holiday colors but hey ..what can you do if you simply run out of red and don't want to run out to buy it in gloomy weather ? So, here we are ..with somewhat muted colors but imbibed with full holiday spirit , pinwheel cookies.

Luckily, had all the other ingredients on hand. Yes, the butter and eggs were at room temperature  and had not forgotten to pre heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Here are all the things that you need as well as the steps involved to bake these holiday delights -

Ingredients -

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 Method -

Sift all the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar .

• Now add the  eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract .

Now add the flour mixture and continue to mix to form a dough like consistency . Take care as to not over mix. 

Shape the dough into a ball , cover it with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Now , divide the dough into 2 equal parts,color one half green and the other orange . You may opt for any color of your choosing . To color, add a few drops of desired food coloring and knead the dough to achieve uniform color consistency. Cover it with cling wrap and keep refrigerated for at least 2 hours.

Unwrap the green dough and roll it  between sheets of wax paper till it is about 1/4th of inch in thickness . Do the same with the orange dough and now place it on top of the green one. Beginning from the edge, start rolling in a log shape . Cover and refrigerate over night .

Cut the log into thin  rounds , place on a baking sheet and keep it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 - 18 minutes. 

Cool on a wire rack and enjoy ! 

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