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Reinventing the Pinwheel

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You’ve heard the saying “necessity is the mother of invention”? It explains how I concocted a quick method of making pinwheel cookies.

I wanted to bake something for a college-bound friend, but as my work schedule got heavier, my plan to make cookies from scratch flew out the window. Clearly I needed a shortcut.

That’s when I came up with the idea of customizing refrigerated cookie dough. A quick stop at the grocery store solved the problem.

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I blended one package of the dough with melted chocolate, then patted it into a 8x12-inch rectangle on a sheet of wax paper (Step 1).

After covering the dough with a second sheet of wax paper, I rolled it into a 10x14-inch rectangle (Step 2).

These patting and rolling procedures were repeated with the other package of plain dough, then the top sheet of wax paper was removed from both rolled doughs (Step 3).

The trickiest part was inverting the chocolate dough over the top of the plain dough (Step 4). Once it was in place, I peeled the wax paper off the chocolate layer, then, with the help of the sheet of wax paper still beneath the plain dough, I rolled the layers up jellyroll fashion (Step 5).

After chilling until firm, the dough was easily cut into 1/4-inch slices with a sharp knife (Step 6) and baked until the plain dough was slightly browned (Step 7). The roll can be kept several days in the refrigerator, the cookies sliced and baked as needed.

Who would guess these pinwheel cookies were made in minutes? And they get good grades for flavor too.

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PINWHEEL COOKIES

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

2 (20-ounce) packages refrigerated sugar cookie dough

In saucepan melt chocolate. In bowl blend chocolate into 1 package cookie dough.

Pat dough into 8x12-inch rectangle on sheet of wax paper. Cover with second sheet of wax paper. Use rolling pin to roll into 10x14-inch rectangle.

Repeat patting and rolling procedures with remaining package plain dough. Remove top sheet of wax paper from both rolled doughs.

Place chocolate dough over top of plain dough, then remove top wax paper. With help of wax paper beneath plain dough, roll layers together jellyroll fashion.

Shape into 12-inch-long round log. Wrap in wax paper and chill until firm, at least 4 hours.

With sharp knife, cut dough into 1/4-inch slices. Place on ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees 10 to 12 minutes, until plain dough is slightly browned. Makes 4 dozen (3 1/2- to 4-inch) cookies.

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Each cookie contains about:

114 calories; 71 mg sodium; 4 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

For cookies about 2 1/4 inches in diameter, use 1 package refrigerated cookie dough and 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate. Divide dough in half and blend melted chocolate into 1 portion. Continue as directed above, rolling dough thinner, but to same dimensions.

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