Cranberry-Orange Pinwheel Cookies

A soft pinwheel cookie with a burst of festive color from the cranberry and pecan filling.

You might remember these from last year. They’re a tradition in this house. An absolute must. When I asked The Mr recently what his top 5 favorite cookies were, these were on the list. Of course he couldn’t even give me a list of 5 but that’s not the point. I’ve been making them for Christmas easily the last 6 years or more.

I like making these for the aromas. The orange zest and cranberries give off wonderful fragrances. How something smells is just as important as how it looks and tastes, to me anyway. And these smell incredible. They also have a nice light taste. You can eat cookie after cookie without having a heavy feeling in your stomach like certain other desserts can cause

Cranberry-Orange Pinwheel Cookies

Yield: 
Roughly 4 dozen cookies

Cook Time: 
8-10 minutes

Total Time: 
24+ hours

Ingredients:

• 1C fresh cranberries
• 1C pecans
• 1/4C light brown sugar
• 1C unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2C granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 3C all purpose flour

Directions:

1. In a food processor; add cranberries, pecans and brown sugar. Blend well until only small pieces remain. Set aside or cover and chill until needed.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add baking powder, salt, eggs and orange zest. Beat only low/medium for roughly 1 minute. Contents may be lumpy. Add flour by the spoonfuls, mixing on medium speed until ingredients have been mixed well. Cover and chill for at least one hour.
3. Divide dough in half. Place one half between two sheets of wax paper. Roll into a large rectangle roughly 1/4" thick. Remove top layer of wax paper. Evenly spread out half of the cranberry filling over dough to 1/2" from all sides.
4. Begin rolling from one of the short ends. Dough may stick at first. Gently guide dough by pulling up on wax paper. Pinch to seal ends. Transfer rolled dough log to a clean sheet of waxed paper. Roll and tape shut. Place between two large drinking glasses. This will help prevent flat bottom logs.
5. Chill at least 24 hours. After several hours, gently roll log to check for any flat spots.
6. When ready to bake. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice 1/4" thick slices. Space 1-2" apart on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper or a silpat. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are just turning golden. Let cookies rest on tray for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
7. Store in a covered container for up to a week. Remaining dough may be frozen. Label well with any instructions such as type of dough, baking temp, time, etc.