Raspberry Pinwheels

One should really read recipes before deciding when to make them. The other day, I had all day to bake & cook. On my menu, I had the cranberry muffins, these raspberry pinwheels & a dutch oven dinner. For whatever reason, I decided to make the muffins first, then I made dinner, then I did the pinwheels.

Um yeah, the pinwheels take about 3 hours. So at 9pm on Tuesday night, I was walking around the kitchen going-what the hell! Why didn't I make these earlier???

They are delicious cookies. I wanted them to put with my cranberry muffins to bring into the office the following day so I was determined to make them. However, 10:30 came rolling around & only half of them were cooked. So I still have dough for another half in the freezer.


Raspberry Pinwheels
Real Simple
Ingredients
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 8-ounce bar cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons turbinado or some other coarse sugar
Preparation

With an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar until fluffy. Mix in the vanilla. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead it 2 to 3 times, just to bring it together. Form the dough into two 1-inch-thick squares. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a lightly floured piece of parchment, roll one of the dough squares into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Spread half the jam over the dough. Cut the dough crosswise into thirds, making three 9-by-4-inch rectangles. Starting from the long side of each rectangle, roll into logs. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Heat oven to 350° F. Slice the logs into 1-inch pieces and space 1 1/2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush with the egg and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

To Wrap: A 32-ounce glass canning jar will neatly hold 2 dozen pinwheels. You can play up the cookies' two-tone theme with a striped ribbon tied around the jar's mouth and a colorful adhesive bow.

To Freeze: Instead of refrigerating the logs, freeze them for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, cutting and baking the dough from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.

I saw this recipe in a Real Simple magazine, they caught my eye b/c they had them in a mason jar tied with ribbon. Very cute idea!

And here was a my pretty display I brought to work. Don't mind the yellow, this was at 7am when the sun was rising...