Sunday 28 December 2008

Cranberry and Apricot Swirl Cookies ~ Pinwheel Cookies




Christmas fruit cakes have been posted on many blogs, so I thought of doing something different and yet complement the Christmas flavour. My swirl cookies or pinwheel cookies are inspired by the classic swiss rolls. They are filled with the fruity combination of cranberries and apricots, infused with the flavours and aromas of Christmas spices (cinnamon and cardamom).


Ingredients:
11/2 Cup Maida / All Purpose Flour / Self Raising Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
1/2 Cup of Butter (Cubed)
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 Cup of Cranberries
1/2 Cup of Apricots
1/2 Cup of Raisins
1 Tablespoon of Orange Zest
1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Cardamom Powder
1/3 Teaspoon of Nutmeg Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Butter
1 Teaspoon of Honey

Method:
1. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and keep aside.
2. Take cubed butter and sugar in a bowl, and with the help of an electric beater or hand blender whisk them together for almost 3 minutes or till the butter becomes very fluffy and double in size.
3. Now add the egg in the butter mixture and whisk it again for 5 minutes. The mixture will become very fluffy and will increase in the volume. Use hand blender for whisking it makes life easy.
4. In a food processor pour the butter , egg mixture and flour, blend it till the flour turns in to a soft dough. You can knead the dough with your hands, but I prefer blending cookie dough in a food processor as it is less messy and you don't have to handle soggy dough in your hands. The dough will be soft and fluffy.



5. Wrap the cookie dough in a cling film and put in your deep freezer for 40 minutes to make the dough tough.



6. Meanwhile prepare a fruity filling. Soak raisins in a bowl of warm water for 20 minutes. In a bowl, add Cranberries, Apricots, Soaked and drained Raisins, Orange Zest, Cinnamon Powder, Cardamom powder and Nutmeg Powder. Blend them together and form a Coarse paste.
7. Add honey and butter in this fruity filling and mix properly and keep it aside.



8. Remove the tough cookie dough from the freezer and place the dough in between two wax papers or oiled cling film and roll it in a long rectangular shape.



9. Remove the top wax paper / cling film and spread the fruity filling on the rolled cookie sheet evenly.



10. With the help of the wax paper below roll it up the cookie dough. Once the dough is entirely rolled up, again cover it with a cling film and freeze it inside the freezer for 40 Minutes.






11. Preheat the oven on 180 degree Celcius.
12. Remove the roll from the freezer, unwrap it and cut the roll in to slices. These slices gives the swirl effects.
13. Place these cookies of the ungreased cookie sheets or baking paper and bake on 180 degree celcius for 8 - 10 minutes or till edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned.
14. Once baked, remove them from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.
15. You can have this delicious cookies warm as well as cold and they can be stored in the air tight containers for a week. I have stored them in a cute Christmas Box.



This is my entry for my very own Christmas Feast Event




This entry also goes for Santa's Holiday Challenge and Baking for Beginners event










35 comments:

Yasmeen 29 December 2008 at 22:45  

mmm..scrumptious,I wish you could parcel that box to my place:)

Adlak's tiny world 30 December 2008 at 02:33  

Hm.... tempting one... I too feel the same on seeing yr cookies as yasmeen...

Jaishree Iyer 30 December 2008 at 04:57  

wow! drooling purva. step by step tutorials & the box awesome!Purva will we get cranberries in mumbai? where?
Wishing u & ur family very happy & prosperous New Year!

anudivya 30 December 2008 at 05:02  

That looks festive and lovely! Nice stepwise instructions.
Happy New Year!

Cham 30 December 2008 at 05:22  

I love the box filled with cookies... Happy New Year to you Purva!

Uma 30 December 2008 at 05:27  

delicious cookies Purva! so mouth-watering! A very happy new year to you and your family too!

CurryLeaf 30 December 2008 at 06:46  

Very Festive and Lovely. Love the step-by step pics.Love the box.

I will be posting a noodles dish tomorrow,and hope that also fits the event.Do let me know.Since it is a main course I wanted your confirmation.Thanks

Navita (Gupta) Hakim 30 December 2008 at 07:25  

thanks for appreciating the malpua so much..wish could share them with you :)

love the pinwheels

Unknown 30 December 2008 at 08:09  

Beautiful cookies purva..they looks so pretty..they must have tasted great too...

Priya Suresh 30 December 2008 at 11:16  

Wow purva send me the box filled with cookies...lovely n simply fabulous..adding cranberry n apricot might have turned the cookies more festive..na!!!

Purva Desai 30 December 2008 at 12:27  

Jaishree! With regards to ur query about availability of Cranberry in Mumbai. There are plenty of Bakery shops in Bandra and Andheri you should get there....and 100% in Hypercity as they have a UK supermarket Waitrose dept in their mall. If you cannot find them don't worry add substitutes like tuti fruity or dry cherries....

Anonymous,  30 December 2008 at 13:08  

Wow its really looking yummy! Thanks for the detailing. Even I like the Box.

vidhas 30 December 2008 at 14:54  

Looks fantablous. Very nice step by step explanation. Nice clicks, can u send some as new year gift.

Usha 30 December 2008 at 15:16  

Looks lovely and delicious. Happy New Year Purva !

Gita Jaishankar 30 December 2008 at 15:33  

They look absolutely delicious....Perfect holiday treat Purva. Wish You a Very Happy New Year Dear :)

Vikis Kitchen 30 December 2008 at 18:15  

Your swirl cookies look so delicious. what a perfect texture and shape , I am drooling over the snaps:)
Happy New Year to you and your family dear.

Gopi Shah 30 December 2008 at 19:39  

Hey Purva, ur cookies look so yummy!! Thanks for step by step pictures and details. I always wanted to try swill roll type recipe... and ur recipe is perfect.

Mahimaa's kitchen 31 December 2008 at 01:07  

cookies look mouthwatering... looks like it is well worth the effort :)

Yasmeen 31 December 2008 at 03:19  

Have a wonderful and healthy new year:)

Jaishree Iyer 31 December 2008 at 06:00  

Thank you Purva for your Information. And Thats gr8 you inform about substitute also.. I will try & let u know dear:)

lubnakarim06 31 December 2008 at 12:07  

Wow awesome, yummy and tempting pinwheels.

Anisheetu 1 January 2009 at 10:41  

mmm.. wow yaar i wish u would be my neighbour....:) great efforts...

Unknown 1 January 2009 at 13:56  

Happy New Year to you and your family

Sukanya Yogesh 2 January 2009 at 00:56  

Yummy cookies.....Wish you and your family A Happy & Prosperous New year.

Suganya 2 January 2009 at 15:30  

Wonderful cookies. So creative. Turned out perfect for u.....

Happy New Year!!!!.....

Archy 2 January 2009 at 17:51  

Wow, these pinwheels looks so cute an yum !! Happy New year !!

Vijitha 3 January 2009 at 03:14  

Lovely cookies! gr8 baking again purva!
Hope u had a blast for the new yr!

Indian Khana 3 January 2009 at 11:17  

Happy New year ...cookies looking so delicious..wonderful way to celebrate xmas ...aur kya haal hai..

Anonymous,  3 January 2009 at 18:26  

I am a regular visitor of your blog, and I have tried many dishes featured on your blog. But I never got a chance to comment on those dishes, which is unfair on my part. I simply loved the swirl cookies, they are packed with lovely fruits and spices. Thank you for your step by step picture instructions.

Anonymous,  5 January 2009 at 19:56  

Those are a beautiful creation Purva. & the fruits that went in are sooo good, all my fav. I have to try this out.

Indranee Batabyal 6 January 2009 at 15:31  

Hi Purva, wish you a fabulous 2009! I have changed my blog title. Nice cookies...looks so yummy!

Deepthi Shankar 7 January 2009 at 19:43  

thats a good one. looks very complicated for me. delicious Purva

Rajee 5 March 2009 at 04:43  

Love the pinwheels and scrumptious cookies.

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