Holiday Pinwheel Cookies are Braces Friendly

 Christmas is rushing toward us and you might be tempted by the caramels, peanut brittle, and other treats.  Avoid these temptations if you can, because it is not worth breaking your brackets.  Instead check out these delicious pinwheel cookies. These braces friendly cookies not only look great, they taste great too.

 Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup  butter

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

Red food coloring and Green food coloring

 Directions:

Mix  the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Beat the butter until smooth then add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. This can take up to two minutes. One at a time add the eggs. Beat between each addition. Add the vanilla.

Add the flour and beat just until combined. Separate dough into three equal pieces. Shape one piece of the dough into a 4- by 4-inch square, wrap in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. (This will be the white portion of the cookies.)

Return one of the remaining pieces of dough to the stand mixer bowl, and with the mixer on “low,” add  red food coloring. You can add as much as a little as you like. Remove the red dough, shape it into a 4- by 4-inch square, wrap and refrigerate. .  Clean out the bowl to remove any red food coloring residue. Then add green food coloring to the remaining third. also shape this piece into a 4 X 4 square.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

When dough has cooled sufficiently cut each square in half to form two rectangles. Wrap half of each color of dough in plastic wrap and return it to the fridge. Place the red dough in between two pieces of wax paper and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Roll out the white dough between two separate pieces of wax paper until it is a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Roll out the green dough between two separate pieces of wax paper until it is a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick.

Peel the top layer of wax paper off of the red dough and then peel the wax paper off one side of the white dough and use the other side to transfer the white dough on top of the red dough. Peel off the wax paper from one side of the green dough and use the other side to transfer it atop the white dough. Very lightly roll the three layers together.

Starting at the shorter end of the rectangle, roll the dough as tightly as possible into a log. Repeat the rolling and stacking process with the remaining dough in the fridge. Wrap the logs in wax paper and then plastic wrap and refrigerate  for 1 hour.

Remove the dough logs and roll them on the counter several times so they don’t develop a flat side. Alternately, stand the rolls up in glasses in the fridge. Refrigerate the dough for 4 more hours.

Back in 350 degrees on parchment paper.

Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes until pale golden. They should be cooled on a rack.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies