Chocolate Pinwheels

Chocolate Pinwheels are decorative and not too sweet with a rich chocolaty flavor baked into them. Of course, the better the cocoa, the better the cookie. While Dutch cocoa will give a strong, distinct flavor, it sometimes comes out more black than brown. I like the regular unsweetened baking cocoa. It's chocolaty and I like the milder brown color to the cookies. Don't get the store brand, though. Get a name brand. It is Christmas after all.

Chocolate Pinwheels

Vanilla Cookie Dough:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt

Chocolate Cookie Dough:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt

Begin vanilla dough by creaming together butter and sugar with mixer. Separate yolks from whites. Mix vanilla and and egg yolks into batter. Reserve egg whites. Remove mixer. Add flour and salt all at once. Using rubber spatula, scrape sides of bowl and fold mixture until it forms a ball of dough. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Repeat procedure for chocolate dough: cream together butter and sugar with mixer. Separate yolks from whites. Mix vanilla and and egg yolks into batter. Reserve egg whites. Remove mixer. Add flour, cocoa, and salt all at once. Using rubber spatula, scrape sides of bowl and fold mixture until it forms a ball of dough. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Roll out a disc of vanilla dough between two large sheets of wax paper. Create a rectangle of even thickness, about 1/8 inch thick. Use the wax paper to create straight edges. If the dough cracks, it will patch easily. Store vanilla dough in refrigerator. Repeat process with a disc of chocolate dough. Roll it out to roughly the same dimensions as the vanilla dough.

When both doughs are chilled enough, brush the vanilla dough with reserved egg whites. Place chocolate dough on top of vanilla dough so that the egg whites help them stick together. Roll the doughs tightly into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Cut and discard the ends off the pinwheel log. Or, bake the ends for yourself as taste tests. Cut remaining log into 1/2 inch thick slices. If the dough is not cold enough, the cookies might not retain the spiral coloring. If the dough is too cold, it might be too hard to slice. Place slices on slightly greased cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Let cookies rest on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. If you need to use the same pan again to bake the next batch, allow the pan to cool to room temperature before putting cookies on it. Makes 2 dozen or so cookies for 1 disc each vanilla and chocolate dough.

The extra disc of vanilla dough can be used to make Sprinkle Stars, and the extra disc of chocolate dough can be used to make Chocolate Mousse Tartlets.
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