Almost home made cranberry pecan pinwheel cookies.

I make cookies quite a bit and I usually make them from scratch but I have a few friends that "don't do" home made so this recipe is for them.  I'm calling them ALMOST HOME MADE COOKIES.


Purchase a roll of sugar cookie dough
Fresh cranberries (1 cup)
Finely chopped pecans (1 cup or 8 oz.)
brown sugar (1/4 cup)
flour (3/4 cup)

Make the filling first:  Use a chopper or blender or knife to chop the cranberries up pretty fine.  If you purchased the tiny pecan pieces you won't have to chop those.  But if you didn't...chop them up fine also.  Mix 1 cup chopped cranberries + 1 cup chapped pecans + 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar.  Set it aside.

Now the cookie.  Work with half of the dough at a time.  Sprinkle some flour on your counter top and mash the 1/2 roll of dough down a bit.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour onto the dough and kneed it in.  For my non cooking friends, that means to fold the dough over the flour, mash flat and repeat this action several times. You need to do this because the purchased dough is not stiff enough for a roll out cookie and will puff up too fat.

Now use a rolling pin...or a tall can of vegetables...or even a jar to roll the dough out in a 1/4" flat triangle.  A small amount of flour rubbed on the rolling pin and over the dough will minimize the dough from sticking to it.  The triangle does not need to be perfect.  Stop fretting...it will be okay.  Look at my photo...it's not perfect.

Use a knife or rubber spatula to spread half of the filling onto the triangle of dough.  Gently work the edges on one side loose from the counter and roll the dough with the filling inside so it looks like a log.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to bake.  (It needs some cool down time so it will retain its round shape when you cut it)

Heat the oven to 375° F.  Repeat the process for the second half of the ingredients.  When the oven is ready, take out the first log, remove the plastic wrap and use a sharp knife to very gently slice 1/4" cookies. Place them on a cookie sheet about 2" apart and bake for 12 minutes. They will not be dark brown.  If you use a spatula to lift up one cookie, the bottom will be a little brown.  Remove them from the oven and gently move them to a cooling rack.  No cooling rack?  Paper towels or even a cool plate is okay.  Just get them off the hot cookie sheet to stop the baking process.

What do you think?  Aren't they pretty?  People will think you're a genius!