Holiday Sprinkle Swirl Cookies

My mom saw these "slice and bake" cookies on Pinterest and we decided to give them a shot last weekend. Be warned that they take a while to make (only because they need a bit of refrigeration along the way) but were totally worth it if you want a fun, festive, and tasty holiday sugar cookie.

We chose to make the dough from scratch but it would be very easy to use the Pilsbury sugar cookie dough as well. This would be a really fun recipe to make with kids because it is so colorful and there are some exciting steps involved along the way.

Ingredients
2 cups of flour (or cake flour if you prefer, we didn't have any)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt or less if you prefer
2/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks butter (cut in smallish chunks)
1 tsp vanilla
Food coloring of your choice 
Holiday sprinkles

1. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars on medium until well blended.

2. Add butter and vanilla extract gradually, and continue mixing. At this point, your dough will begin to form.

3. Divide dough into two parts. Return one portion to the mixer and add the food coloring.  Mix until the color is spread out evenly.

4. Roll out each portions of dough between two sheets a wax paper (this was a great tip!) until it is about 11 x 9 inches and is 1/4 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

5. When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both. Brush the uncolored dough lightly with water using a pastry brush. Then flip the colored dough onto the vanilla uncolored dough so they are stacked on top of each other and even. Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines.

6. Pour out sprinkles onto a dry cookie sheet and set aside. Be sure your dough is still cold, but flexible. Once it's ready, begin rolling the long side of dough into a swirl, jelly-roll style. It's okay if the outer layer of uncolored dough tears a bit, just pinch the tears and keep rolling. 

7. Gently roll the dough log onto the sprinkles until they are entirely covered. Wrap the colorfully decorated log in plastic wrap twice. Depending on when you want to bake the cookies, either place the wrapped dough into refrigerator for about 3-4 hours or you can put it the freezer and keep it there for up to 2 months. (If freezing, give yourself time for the dough to defrost in the fridge overnight before cutting.)

8. Cut dough into 1/4-1/8 inch slices and bake on parchment lined baking sheets at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a cookie rack to finish cooling. Yummy Christmas cookies to enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes and Our Italian Kitchen