Holiday cookie recipe: Peppermint pinwheels

Shauna Cruz of Vallejo, Calif., was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these peppermint pinwheels:

“Four years ago, my roommates and I started the ‘Annual Christmas Cookie Sweatshop’ party for our friends and family, and I make over 1,000 cookies for them to eat and decorate [Hence the ‘sweatshop’]. Every year, there is high demand for the peppermint pinwheels!”

These festive cookies are one of the favorite holiday cookie recipes we’ve collected in our updated “Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies” e-book. The cookbook now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources, including world-famous pastry chefs, favorite bakeries and home cooks. And check out the favorite holiday recipes we’ve collected in our “Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook.” The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s.

Each book is $4.99. They are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

Peppermint pinwheels

Total time: 50 minutes, plus chilling time

Servings: About 4 dozen cookiess

Note: Submitted by Shauna Cruz of Vallejo, Calif., originally published in Taste of Home magazine.

3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/4 teaspoon red liquid food coloring

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, or stir in the flour mixture by hand until evenly combined to form a dough.

3. Divide the dough in half, and add the food coloring and peppermint extract to one of the halves.

4. On a large work surface, roll each portion of dough between wax paper into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Remove the wax paper and place the red rectangle over the plain one, then roll up the dough lengthwise jelly-roll style. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or until firm.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the roll and cut it into slices 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake until set, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool 2 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Each of 4 dozen cookies: 58 calories; 1 gram protein; 7 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 3 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 12 mg cholesterol; 3 grams sugar; 30 mg sodium.