Chocolate and Vanilla Pinwheel Cookie
These cookies take very little time in terms of hands-on work, although they do need a bit of chilling time in between steps. You can make a large batch of dough, shape and roll it and then pop it in the freezer for up to 2 months, simply slicing a few cookies off and baking them each time you feel like a freshly baked treat – great for unexpected visitors! If you want to freeze the unbaked dough, wrap twice in cling film and once in tinfoil to prevent freezer burn.
Ingredients
– what you’ll need
1 tsp instant coffee
3 tbsp of cocoa powder
2 tbsp boiling water
285g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
375g plain flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
85g of dark chocolate (50-60%), melted and slightly cooled
Method
– what you’ll need to do
1. Dissolve the instant coffee and cocoa powder in the boiling water and set aside to cool. Melt the chocolate carefully and set aside to cool slightly. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. Sieve the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda together to mix, then add to your dough, mixing until well combined.
3. Remove 460g of this dough (this will be your vanilla layer), shape into a rectangle and wrap in cling film.
4. To the remaining dough, add your cooled coffee and cocoa mix, and slightly cooled melted chocolate and mix until combined. Shape this chocolate dough into a rectangle also and wrap in cling film. Pop both doughs in the fridge for a minimum of an hour to chill so that they can be rolled more easily.
5. When your doughs have chilled, roll each one out separately by placing it between two sheets of parchment paper and rolling until the dough is flat and even, about half a centimetre deep. Trim both into a rough rectangle. The parchment paper is essential here as it stops the dough from sticking and tearing and will make it easier to lift later.
Note: Your chocolate dough will be bigger than the vanilla. Try to keep the shape of both doughs as roughly rectangular as possible as you roll to avoid wasting a lot of dough while trimming.
6. Place your vanilla layer on top of the slightly larger chocolate layer, with one sheet of baking parchment beneath the doughs. Use this parchment to help you to begin rolling both the longest side of both doughs into a swiss roll shape.
7. When your dough is completely rolled upon itself, wrap the log in its parchment paper and cover with cling film. Gently roll the wrapped log on the counter a few times, not pressing hard enough to change its shape – you’re just making sure it is circular and well fused.
8. Chill your log for a minimum of one hour so that you can cut it easily without ruining the swirl pattern inside.
9. Preheat oven to 180C / 160 C fan / Gas Mark 4 and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
10. Unwrap and use a sharp and finely serrated knife to slice the log into 4-5mm thick rounds. Place each on your prepared baking tray, keeping roughly an inch between each to allow for slight spreading.
11. Bake for approximately 12 minutes, until the vanilla section is beginning to look golden brown. Cool your pinwheels briefly on the tray to firm up enough to allow you to transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
