Spiral sugar cookies
12.26.2011 
These colorful cookies from Sprinkle Bakes caught my eye last week as I perused for something festive to bring to Christmas Eve dinner. Aren't they pretty? The green swirl was fun for Christmas, but any color would be just as fun. Bright yellow for a spring-time cookie? Orange for a Halloween cookie? A swirl of colors for a birthday cookie?
Not only are these pretty, but they are also deliciously tasty. They were by far my favorite of all the cookies I brought to our Christmas Eve gathering. And you can imagine how much the kids enjoyed them! I heard someone say, "Ooo, look! A Grinch cookie!" The green swirls do strangely remind me of the Grinch's long, swirling fingers.
In a food processor, combine:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Process until combined.
Add 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cold and cubed) and process until the mixture has a cornmeal consistency.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and process until the mixture just forms a ball. It will still be somewhat crumbly at first.
Divide the dough in half and return one half to the food processor.
Add to the food processor:
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tube gel food coloring (any color)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Process until just incorporated.
Roll out each half of the dough between sheets of wax paper into an 8x11-inch(ish) rectangle, with a 1/4-inch thickness. I used a piece of paper as a guide. Leaving the wax paper on the dough halves, stack on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
Pour 1 cup of multi-colored sprinkles in a shallow rectangular dish.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and peel off the top pieces of wax paper from each half of dough. Flip the colored dough half over onto the white dough half so that dough is touching dough. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and trim the long edges with a sharp knife so that the sides are straight and parallel with one another.
When the dough becomes just pliable, roll it into a log beginning with a long edge. Gently curl the edge with your fingertips and do your best to avoid creating air pockets. Carefully lift the log into the decor-filled dish.
Gently roll it around until the outside is completely cooated with color.
Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, at least 4 hours.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Slice the cookie log into 1/4-inch-thick discs and bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the cookies are no longer shiny.
Enjoy these! And thank you, Sprinkle Bakes, for such a fun and delicious recipe!
Reader Comments (34)
Ashley, oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about this! I'm not sure where you went wrong, but I'd say try them again. I have made these a handful of times and every time they have turned out perfectly. Let me know how it goes!
Megan
I followed the recipe for these and was absolutely ecstatic with how they turned out. So beautiful and so delicious. I was amazed that mine came out looking like the picture. I will make these again!
These cookies look awesome! I am going to make them for Valentine's Day!
Would regular food coloring work as well, or must it be gel?
Hi Morgan! Regular food coloring will work just fine. I just happen to like the more solid coloring so I can avoid any excess runny-ness.
Megan
I made these the day I saw them and they came out perfectly! I made mine pink for summer to go with pink lemonade for a fun party! I hope everybody has the same awesome experience I did! One thing was that the white dough kept cracking when I would roll it up, but fortunately it didn't make any difference(:
hi. I have a question. :) when you wrote 2 1/2 sticks of butter , you are talking about the sticks that are equal as 1/2 cup??
Just made these for a Christmas party. They turned out perfect and they are DELICIOUS! I hope I don't eat them all before tonight!
Thanks!
I'm an English baker and translated the 'stick of butter' weight to be 283g (about 10oz) the dough was ridiculously sticky...have I wrong amount of butter? They are in fridge setting ready for rolling together at mo but I had to add more dry ingredients to even get them rollable. Dread to think how they will turn out!! :)