The Twelve Treats of Christmas: Cinnamon Pinwheels

For the past few years, I've enjoyed making Chocolate Pinwheels at Christmas time, and I haven't played with the recipe much (shocking, I know!). This year, however, I wanted to try something different, so instead of Chocolate Pinwheels, I made Cinnamon Pinwheels. It was something of a gamble: I wasn't sure exactly how much cinnamon to add. I wanted enough to change the color of the dough significantly, but I didn't want so much as to be overpowering. I think I did it on the first try: I was pleased on both accounts. The final effect is essentially the cookie version of a cinnamon bun.

I use turbinado sugar in a lot of my baking, but if you don't have it, you may want to invest in it for this recipe. Because the crystals don't blend in quite as much as refined sugar, it adds an extra crunch and visual interest that goes perfectly with the cinnamon bun idea.

No-Longer-Chocolate Pinwheels
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup turbinado
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 TBSP of milk

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside. Cream butter; add in sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and stir well. Remove one half of dough from mixer and set aside. Add cinnamon to remaining half and mix until well blended. On waxed paper or a silicone mat, roll out each half of dough to a 12x10 rectangle. Brush the white dough with milk (you probably wont' need the entire tablespoon; that's OK). Place the cinnamon layer on top, and roll them up together like a jelly roll. Chill thoroughly, about 30 minutes or so. Slice thinly and bake 8-10 minutes at 375F.

Eight minutes was pretty much the most the cookies needed to bake in my oven. Your oven may be different, but a definite indication they're done is if the bottom is turning golden. The tops will still look soft and slightly under-cooked, which will result in a perfectly baked cookie: slightly soft and chewy, but not hard and crispy. On the other hand, if you like crispy cookies, bake them for another minute or so.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

For a rolled/shaped cookie, this is pretty QUICK, mostly because it doesn't need to refrigerate long, and you're only rolling out once. Okay, twice. And once it's rolled up, all you have to do is slice. Also, the baking time is minimal.

When it comes to EASY, it's probably middle-of-the-road. Sometimes the dough can be sticky, which makes it difficult to roll. And it's not exactly as easy as dropping cookie dough onto a sheet.

For Christmas cookies, it's pretty CHEAP because it only uses basic baking staples you probably already have in your cupboard. And the minimal amounts of the ingredients combine to make quite a few cookies, so it's a pretty frugal recipe over all. (Hint: great for gifts!)

And when compared to other Christmas cookies, they're actually not too bad on the HEALTHY scale either. Yes, there's sugar and white flour, so they're definitely still an indulgence, but they're not as bad as some. (There's a reason we only make these kind of indulgences once a year!)