Cherry Almond Pinwheels Recipes

CHERRY PINWHEEL COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour., Divide dough in half. Add cherry extract to 1 half and tint red. Knead almonds into remaining half. Wrap each half; refrigerate at least 3 hours or until firm enough to roll., On a baking sheet, roll each portion between 2 sheets of waxed paper into a 15x8-in. rectangle. Refrigerate 30 minutes., Remove waxed paper. Place almond rectangle on top of cherry rectangle. Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Roll in coarse sugar; wrap securely. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm., Preheat oven to 375°. Unwrap and cut dough crosswise into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

PISTACHIO PINWHEELS

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Beat 6 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in 1 egg and the vanilla (don?t worry if the mixture looks separated). Reduce the mixer speed to low; mix in the flour mixture until combined. Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap; shape into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Pulse the pistachios and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Mix in the remaining egg, 2 tablespoons butter, the almond extract, pinch of salt and food coloring. Process, scraping the bowl occasionally, until a thick paste forms. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Roll out the dough into a 10-by-11-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Spread the pistachio filling over the dough almost all the way to the edges. Starting with a short side, roll up the dough into a tight spiral. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate, reshaping the log after 1 hour, until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the log into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange the rounds 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared pans.
• Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are firm and light golden around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the pans, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY PINWHEELS

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt until well blended. Place half of dough in another medium bowl.
• Beat almond extract, cherries and food color into half of dough. Divide cherry dough in half. Wrap each half of cherry dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until firm.
• Beat vanilla, milk and cocoa into remaining plain dough. Divide chocolate dough in half. Wrap each half of chocolate dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until firm.
• Place one part of chocolate dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper; roll into 10x7-inch rectangle. Repeat with one part of cherry dough. Refrigerate both about 30 minutes or until firm. Peel top sheets of waxed paper from both doughs. Turn cherry dough upside down onto chocolate dough; roll up doughs together, starting at long side, into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours. Repeat with remaining parts of dough.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Cut rolls of dough into 1/4-inch slices with sharp knife. On ungreased cookie sheet, place slices 1 inch apart.
• Bake 8 to 11 minutes or surface appears dull. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

CHERRY CRANBERRY PINWHEELS

Steps:

• For filling, combine the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat for 8 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and cranberries are softened. Remove from the heat; cool slightly. Transfer to a blender; cover and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; cover and refrigerate until chilled., For dough, in a large bowl, beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes or until crumbly. Beat in the egg whites, oil, milk, vanilla and orange zest. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda; gradually add to sugar mixture and mix well. , Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll 1 portion of dough into a 14x9-in. rectangle. Spread with half of the filling. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Wrap each roll in waxed paper; refrigerate for at least 4 hours., Unwrap dough; cut into 1/2-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned (do not overbake). Remove to wire racks to cool.

CHERRY ALMOND PINWHEELS

Steps:

• Beat butter 30 seconds.
• beat in sugar, baking powder and 1/4 t. salt.
• beat in vanilla, egg and flour.
• divide in half. tint half red. knead in almonds in other half. cover and chill portions separetly for one hour.
• divide each portion in half.
• on lightly floured counter roll a red portion 12x8. on a wax paper roll a 12x8 almond portion. Flip almond portion onto red portion.
• roll up starting at long end.
• repeat with remaining portions.
• chill for 1-2 hours or until firm.
• preheat oven to 375.
• cut chilled dough into 1/4 inch slices.
• place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.
• place cherry piece in center of cookie.
• bake 8-10 minutes.
• transfer to wire rack.

PISTACHIO PINWHEELS

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until they're very finely ground but not yet forming a paste, about 25 second-long pulses. Transfer the ground pistachios to a small bowl and set aside.
• To the same food processor (no need to wash after grinding the pistachios), add the butter and confectioners' sugar, and process until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the yolks and almond extract, and process until the mixture is smooth and light. Add the flour and salt, and pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, until you have a stiff, uniform dough.
• Transfer two-thirds of the dough (about 10 ounces/240 grams) to a medium bowl and add the almond flour to the bowl. Use a flexible spatula to work the almond flour into the dough until you have a uniform mixture.
• Scrape the almond dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Pat it down with your hands into a thinner layer, then place a piece of parchment paper on top. Roll out the dough between the sheets of parchment into a slab measuring about 12-by-8 inches and ¼-inch thick. (Uncover the dough and use a small offset spatula to shape the dough into a rectangle if necessary.) Slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and refrigerate the slab until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the ground pistachios to the food processor with the remaining dough and pulse until the mixture is thoroughly blended and the dough has taken on a green color, about 7 pulses. Set aside at room temperature while the almond dough chills.
• Remove the almond dough from the refrigerator and plop tablespoon-size pieces of the pistachio dough across the surface of the slab. Use the offset spatula to spread the pistachio dough across the length of the slab in an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the longer sides. Starting at one of the longer sides and using the parchment paper to help you, roll the dough into a tight spiraled log. Wrap the log in parchment paper and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill until the dough is very firm, at least 1 hour.
• When ready to bake, arrange two oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 350 degrees. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Sprinkle the demerara sugar across a cutting board. Remove the log from the refrigerator, unwrap, and roll across the board in the sugar, pressing down very firmly as you roll so the sugar adheres. Continue to roll and press until the entire log is coated. Using a sharp knife, shave a thin crosswise slice off of each end so you have straight sides with the full spiral exposed. Cut the log in half crosswise, then cut each half in half again to make quarters, and cut each quarter in half again for eighths. (This ensures even, equal slices.) As you cut, roll the pieces on the cutting board to prevent the pinwheels from gaining a flat side and losing their round shape. Cut each piece into 4 equal slices to make 32 cookies.
• Divide the cookies between the two prepared baking sheets and space them evenly. Bake the cookies on the upper and lower racks until they are golden around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes, switching racks and rotating the sheets front to back halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheets.