Welcome to Mr. Farmer’s Daughter’s 12 Days of Cookies!
Many years ago my parents began a 12 Days of Christmas tradition with my sister and me. It began on the 13th of December and ran through Christmas day. It was so great to spread out the love (and gifts) for that period of time. So, I’m passing the tradition on to you in the form of cookie recipes! I’m going to keep the posts short because it’s Christmas time and I can’t be writing book-long posts for 12 days in a row. I just don’t have it in me to put that many words on paper. Suffice it to say, some of the recipes are favorites of ours, some I’ve adapted to be more allergen friendly and some are just recipes that I’ve wanted to play around with. All of them will be delicious though. Merry Christmas!!!
Day 1!
This recipe for chocolate pinwheels is one that I’ve been making for many years and it’s always one of the first to disappear. The deep, rich chocolate flavor has a hint of orange to it, so little that my son still loves them. Hehe. There’s also cream cheese involved so of course, that makes it melt-in-your-mouth good.
I’ve made this version with sprouted spelt flour. If you’ve never worked with spelt, give it a try. It’s got a little more nutty flavor that wheat and remember, it’s NOT gluten-free but many gluten-sensitive people can tolerate at least a little bit of it – like me. Since this dough has to be rolled out in a large rectangle and rolled up into a log, I thought it best to use a flour with at least a little holding power. I was right. These were indistinguishable from their wheat-filled cousins that I used to make.
- For the dough:
- 1 c. butter, softened
- 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1 Tbls. Fresh orange peel, grated
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 c. whole grain spelt flour, preferably sprouted
- For the filling:
- 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, preferably soy-free
- 3 oz. cream cheese
- ½ c. 10x sugar
- ¼ c. orange juice
- For the dough:
- Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together.
- Add egg, orange peel and vanilla, mix well.
- Combine flour and salt and add to creamed mixture, mixing well.
- Cover and chill for an hour to firm up.
- (If you chill overnight, make sure to remove the dough from the refrigerator for about an hour before trying to roll it. It should be firm but not hard as a rock.)
- For the filling:
- Combine all filling ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- To assemble:
- Divide dough in half.
- Roll each half into a 10” x 12” rectangle.
- Spread with filling and roll up into a log from the short side.
- Chill overnight.
- While still cold, slice into ¼” rounds and place on a parchment covered baking pan.
- You may put them close as they do not expand at all.
- Bake at 375˚ for about 10 minutes or until just beginning to brown.
- Cool completely.