Orange Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

Today is week three in our 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies countdown. Both April and I knew we had to make The Doubled Dipped Life’s Nutella Pinwheel Cookies the moment we saw them. How could we resist a cookie with a delicious Nutella swirl?

April made the cookies before I did and warned me that the dough was a little soft and needed to chill a little more before rolling. I was also a bit worried about spreading the Nutella, so I zapped it in the microwave for 20 second on defrost and it softened just enough so it spread easily.

I decided to add some orange zest and orange oil to the cookie dough to give it an unexpected flavor boost. I really love the orange addition! It tasted like a crunchy, sandy Terry’s orange chocolate that you get at Christmastime.

I doubled the recipe so that I would have cookies to eat and a dozen to freeze for my cookie platters. So far only one of the cookies in the freezer has been eaten! My husband, who doesn’t read my blog, said, “Well, you weren’t saving them for anything were you?” Now I’ve written do not eat on the freezer bags! My doubled version is below. If you’re a Nutella addict like me, you’ll love these cookies!

Orange Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp orange oil
• 1 tsp. fine orange zest
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Mix in the egg yolks, vanilla, and orange oil (or orange extract or orange emulsion), and orange zest until well blended.

Add flour and mix just until blended. Cover dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll dough into a 16-inch x 12-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Microwave Nutella for 30 second and stir to make it easier to spread.  Spread the Nutella on the dough, leaving a 1/4 inch space on all four sides. Start on the long end and roll up the dough. Refrigerate another 30 minutes before slicing.

Slice the roll into 1/2 inch thick slices. (I cut my with dental floss.) Lay the slices on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden at the edges.

Adapted from a recipe from The Purple Foodie

Visit Megan, April, Megan, Kim and Denise to see the fabulous cookies they’ve baked this week!