31 DAYS OF COOKIES: DAY 21: Colorful Swirl Cookies

Colorful Swirl Cookies

Recipe and Pictures from: Our Italian Kitchen

In 4 days it will be Christmas Day!! Have you chosen your Christmas Day cookie yet? Let us help you out. I was working hard trying to find that PERFECT Christmas cookie and I think I found it!

If there is any holiday I truly love, it is Christmas. I love the weather, wrapping, baking, and all the decorations. There is a joy that can be felt in the air. Baking for the holidays has always been a favorite Christmas activity. In past years, things have been so chaotic, I don't know where I found time to bake and enjoy it. I have decided I will make it a family tradition. I will block out time every Christmas Day to do some baking with my family, everything else will have to wait! My family has some holiday traditions such as Christmas Eve Oyster Stew and Christmas Morning Brunch! But I attempt to try something new each holiday just for fun. And this year I will be making these swirly sugar cookies. Look for a blog about the making of these cookies shortly after Christmas!

 

Ingredients2 cups flour, plus possibly a few more tbsp
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cut in chunks)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp of food coloring of your choice(and/or 1/2 tsp of any desired extra extracts)
1 1/2 cup holiday sprinkles

Directions1. In a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars with paddle on medium until well blended.

2. Add butter in, gradually, and continue mixing. Add in vanilla extract. At this point, your dough will form a ball on your paddle.

3. Remove all your dough and divide into two equal parts. Return one portion back in to the mixer and add the food coloring and any extra extracts. I used Wilton gel food coloring in leaf green and vanilla extract for this batch. You could coordinate your colors and flavors, for example green food coloring matched with a mint extract or yellow with a lemon extract, etc. Also, if you are using liquid food coloring, you will need to add a few tbsp of flour to keep the dough from becoming too wet. Mix until the color is spread out evenly.

4. Roll out each portions of your dough, between two sheets a wax paper until is reaches about 11 x 9 inches and is 1/4 inch thick. Slide both unto a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

5. When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both. Brush the uncolored vanilla dough lightly with water using a pastry brush. Then flip the colored dough onto the vanilla uncolored dough so they are stacked atop each other and even. Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a small pairing knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines.

6. Pour out sprinkles onto a large platter and set aside. Be sure your dough is still cold, but flexible. Once it's ready, begin rolling the long side of dough into a swirl, jelly-roll style. Now, don't get nervous if the outer layer of uncolored dough tears a bit. It's no problem, just pinch and pat those tears and voila, then just keep rolling.