Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

justcallmetoni's Note:

I recently found this recipe on my computer and sadly did not keep the source of this delectable treat. Decided to add them to my trays this year. The cookies are quite large so you can always roll them out a bit more to increase your yield.

• Total Time: 47 mins
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 36

Yield: 3.0 dozen

Basic Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Chocolate

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peppermint

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup crushed candy canes or 1/2 cup peppermint candy
• red food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. The dough will be very stiff and crumbly at this point alost like a shortbread. Don't worry, you are adding liquid in the next steps.
3. Divide the dough in half and add chocolate and vanilla to 1 half and incorporate with hands. Add egg yolk, peppermint extract, and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with hands. (If you like you can add a drop or two of red food coloring to make the dough a pppermint pink.) Cover both with plastic and chill for approximately 5-10 minutes.
4. Roll out doughs separately to approximately 1/4-inch thickness. Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate and press together around the edges. Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath, roll dough into log. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 2 hours or more. (I let my logs cool for 6 hours and they were very easy to slice.).
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
6. Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place cookies 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Reviews

[Waylando]

This recipe is from Alton Brown and his show on food network, Good Eats. I really love these cookies, but i have to agree with previous reviewers - each time I make these, they turn out differently. From now on, I think I'm going to stick with tampering with regular sugar cookie dough.

[Malnew]

The cookies turned out really really beautiful, but they had no taste. At all.

[Baking Christi]

These were both delicious and beautiful! I did add the red food coloring and I am glad I did. My only problem... I didn't make enough. Thanks for sharing this recipe!