Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: The Cookie Clause

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (141)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(141)

Cook Time:
13 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
about 3 dozen

Times:

Prep: 45 min
Inactive Prep: 2 hr 0 min
Cook: 13 min
Total:: 2 hr 58 min

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Ingredients

1 batch Sugar Cookies, recipe follows
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies

Directions

Divide the dough in half and add chocolate and vanilla to 1 half and incorporate with hands. Add egg yolk, peppermint extract, and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with hands. Cover both with plastic and chill for approximately 5 minutes. Roll out doughs separately to approximately 1/4-inch thickness. Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate and press together around the edges. Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath, roll dough into log. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place cookies 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Sugar Cookie:

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice, as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Yield: approximately 3 dozen, 2 1/2-inch cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 7 to 9 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
J Anywherei, IL 01-23-2010
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These will be a staple every year!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

These were great! Really love these cookies and plan to continue making them in the future!
recipe Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Brad Ogden, UT 01-17-2010
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Great cookies, but time consuming
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I was a little hesitant to make these but my wife is a huge peppermint fan and really wanted to taste them. Reading the... reviews made a huge difference; I avoided most of the pit falls others experienced. I wore disposable nitrile food service gloves to mix in the peppermint; I would recommend this. The biggest difficulty for me was lining up the peppermint dough on top of the chocolate dough. Also, I didn?t roll the dough thin enough so I didn?t get the multiple swirls as shown in the picture. Some adjustments I made: 1. I used half unsweetened chocolate and half semi-sweet (we like sweeter baked goods). 2. Added an egg yolk to the chocolate dough to prevent cracking ? it worked great. 3. I chilled the dough for 2.5 hours and cut it with a santoku knife ? this worked much better than the electric knife that was suggested. 4. Shortened the baking time to 10 minutes (could have gone 11). Due to the effort involved this recipe will be saved for special occasions but we will make them again.Read more
recipe Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Brandy Athens, GA 12-25-2009
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Challenging but WORTH it!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Made 2 batches, the first batch fell the choc dough was cracked therefore it looked terrible, but tasted great. Second batch... worked harder at avoiding cracks and rolling better-nicer cookies. Need to work on choc dough to make it crack less.Read more
recipe Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Jillian Orlando, FL 12-24-2009
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Awesome, Idk Why More People Didn't Like It?
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I admit, the chocolate did crumble so the rolled up cookies weren't 100% perfect, but it wasn't ridiculously bad. I also... added a little more chocolate than asked, because I'm a big chocolate person ;) But I'll definitely make these again, they look so fun and they taste great. Might add a little more sugar though, next time. Read more
recipe Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Jessica Vienna, VA 12-20-2009
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Tasty cookie that looks great
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I haven't made a new cookie recipe in a LONG time - which is why I think this one was challenging. I'm also not very skilled... with a rolling pin, and don't have a silicone mat - so, like I said, the recipe was a bit of a challenge. My chocolate (I melted semi-sweet morsels) didn't mix very well with the dough, and next time I will just mix both of the add-ins with my Kitchenaid to save the trouble. I would definitely recommend a silicone mat - without one, I rolled out the dough and then sort of folded it back on itself to make the transfer on top of the other dough. Luckily, it worked. I followed the recipe exactly - my cookies are strong on the peppermint flavor and not as strong with the chocolate, so I'll probably use a little less peppermint extract next time. But I think these cookies are delicious and they look beautiful. Thanks, AB!Read more
recipe Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Tom Hooksett, NH 12-19-2009
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Cookies were OK
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I do not bake. I cook. I decided to make some cookies for Christmas. This recipe took a long time, but that's OK. I don't... mind devoting time for quality. I think I did great preparing everything according to the recipe. The cookies, though, are very hard. Almost candy hard. The taste is OK. My daughter tells me they taste like the Andre mints you receive after a meal or at a hotel. I can cook anything in the world, but baking just isn't my thing. I set aside some dough for the next day in the fridge but it became a block of cement. You can kill a man with it. I tried the baking thing with this recipe, and another, but baking isn't for me. Don't let my comments dissuade you, however, as you might have better results. I can't rate this recipe low due to my inexperience. Read more