Cranberry-Orange Pinwheel Cookies
A soft pinwheel cookie with a burst of festive color from the cranberry and pecan filling.
You might remember these from last year. They’re a tradition in this house. An absolute must. When I asked The Mr recently what his top 5 favorite cookies were, these were on the list. Of course he couldn’t even give me a list of 5 but that’s not the point. I’ve been making them for Christmas easily the last 6 years or more.
I like making these for the aromas. The orange zest and cranberries give off wonderful fragrances. How something smells is just as important as how it looks and tastes, to me anyway. And these smell incredible. They also have a nice light taste. You can eat cookie after cookie without having a heavy feeling in your stomach like certain other desserts can cause.
These require more work than the average cookie but the end result is worth it. Be sure to check out my tips below for an easier time making these.
Cranberry-Orange Pinwheel Cookies
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 C fresh cranberries
- 1 C pecans
- 1/4 C light brown sugar
Cookie dough:
- 1 C unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp orange zest, or roughly 1 orange
- 3 C all purpose flour
Instructions
- In a food processor; add cranberries, pecans and brown sugar. Blend well until only small pieces remain. Set aside or cover and chill until needed.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add baking powder, salt, eggs and orange zest. Beat on low/medium for roughly 1 minute. Dough may be lumpy. Add flour by the spoonfuls, mixing on medium speed until ingredients have come together. Cover and chill for at least one hour.
- Divide dough in half. Place one half between two sheets of wax paper. Roll into a large rectangle roughly 1/4-inch thick. Remove top layer of wax paper. Evenly spread out half of the cranberry filling over dough to 1/2-inch from all sides.
- Begin rolling from one of the short ends. Dough may stick at first. Gently guide dough by pulling up on wax paper. Pinch to seal ends. Transfer rolled dough log to a clean sheet of waxed paper. Roll and tape shut. To prevent flat spots, place dough log in 2 large glasses or wrapped in cardboard paper towel insert.
- Chill at least 24 hours. After several hours, gently roll log to check for any flat spots.
- When ready to bake. Preheat oven to 375°F. Slice 1/4-inch thick slices. Space 1-2-inch apart on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are just turning golden. Let cookies rest on tray for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
- Store in a covered container for up to a week. Remaining dough may be frozen. Label well with any instructions such as type of dough, baking temp, time, etc.
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Going to Florida!
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Definitively going to make some delicious snacks for my boyfriend when i see him, my plan is to have as much time with him since i only see him twice a year :)
We usually travel out of state to visit my family, but we’re staying home this year and my husband is going to teach our youngest to ski!
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The 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story always happens at our house! Our in-laws are also coming in town for the week, so we’ll be doing lots of baking, shopping and eating.
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I am going to cook Christmas dinner for my family and we’ll all just spend some time just hanging out enjoying the holiday.
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This year we’ll be staying close to home and family. I’m looking forward to it! :)
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After my last comment, you may know we will be watching A Christmas Story:) And yes, lots of food (Italian Christmas:) Thanks for another super giveaway. xx
Wont be able to be with my immediate family this year (I had an accident and lost mobility in my right hand) but will be spending the holidays with my surrogate family – friends i’ve known since i was a baby!
I also liked you on FB – and! we’re christening a new kitchen on christmas day, hopefully with some breadmaking :)
Our holiday plans are different this year. Normally we’d go up to the in-laws for dinner and to open presents but they moved away this year. So now it will just be me, my husband, and grown son. Our grown daughter and 4 young grandkids have other family they celebrate with. We might end up spending a leisurely day at home opening presents and playing with our new tech gadgets, then bravely prepare a small meal for ourselves, for a change.
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Me again. Made the dough last night and baked the cookies this morning. They taste heavenly but don’t look as good as yours. My dough was pretty slack. I intend to try another batch today with some extra flour … they taste excellent!
I am sooo excited to see my baby girls face for her very first Christmas! and loooots of pics to be taken! ;)
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Living in Los Angeles, we NEVER see snow… unless we drive couple hours up top to the mountains. (& it rarely snows up there as well. maybe man-made?) But I recently heard that if you ride this cable car/tram up to the mountains in Palm Springs… you would find yourself in Winter Wonderland! So, I’m planning on taking my momma their this holiday.
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I plan to go to a nice dinner with my family~ Nothing too extravagant, really.
Headed up the mountains of NC to spend the holidays with the partner’s family. I’m probably the only one of the 10 of us NOT hoping for snow. I am thinking of baking these to take with us to share.
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I’m cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas, since we were out of town for Thanksgiving this year! The whole family is coming to town, and I was voted head chef. Wish me luck.. I’ll need it!
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My plans do not involve watching A Christmas Story, I plan on avoiding that one at all costs! Ha but they DO involve baking a lotttt!
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would this work with dried cranberries?
Louisa – You could certainly try it but I’m not sure that dried cranberries would give the results and thickness needed for the filling.
I’ll be spending time with family and baking up a storm!
Oooh, I made a similar recipe last year, but this one looks even better! Too bad I’m running out of time to bake before the holidays :)
PS – no need to enter me in the giveaway, I have a mini prep and love it!
Pinwheels are my nemesis! I must try again and maybe mine will come out as pretty as yours!