I can't believe this is my first post of 2015, and it's been over two months since my last recipe! I needed the break though - the run-up to Christmas, and the festive period itself, was hectic and finding time to keep this up to date would have been one commitment too many I think! I've still baked a lot - mostly as Christmas gifts and desserts for big family dinners - but was so preoccupied with other things that I forgot to take any photographs of a lot of it! Doh! These cookies though, are one of the few things that I do have a badly taken photo of, so I thought I'd start here. I made these for all our neighbours, and the lovely ladies that serve me in the bank when I go for work, as a little Christmas gift, they looked super cute in little cello-bags, decorated with ribbons and bells!
Ingredients:
For the ginger swirl:
60g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1/2 egg, beaten
125g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp water
For the chocolate swirl:
60g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1/2 egg, beaten
125g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp water
You’ll need to make each flavoured dough separately; for each, start by creaming together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and give it a good mix. Add the flour, baking powder and either the ground ginger OR the cocoa powder and mix well – start mixing with a spoon, and then use your hands to knead it around the bowl a bit. Add the tablespoon of water if the dough is a little crumbly and keep mixing/kneading until you have a smooth, soft dough.
With a rolling pin, roll one dough out onto a lightly floured sheet of baking paper in a rough rectangle, to about the thickness of a £1 coin. Do the same for the second dough, making the rectangles as similar in size as you can. Lay the second layer on top of the first layer, so that the two layers of dough are sandwiched between the two layers of baking paper. Lightly press the two dough layers together with your rolling pin, and then remove the top layer of baking paper. Starting at one long edge, roll the dough in on itself, then use the bottom layer of baking paper to continue tightly rolling the dough until you reach the other side. You should now have what looks like a cylinder of spiraled dough. Using your hands, gently roll the sausage on a lightly floured worktop to seal any air gaps in the spiral, and stretch the dough slightly: start in the middle of the cylinder, and while rolling move your hands towards the ends. This just evens out the dough.
Trim the ends, and slice the cylinder in half. You should have a fairly even pinwheel throughout the dough. Carefully wrap both halves in clings film and freeze for a minimum of two hours. You can keep this in the freezer for weeks and weeks, and slice and bake as and when you like.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 160c and take the dough out of the freezer. Slice it as thin as you can; about 3-4mm and place on a lightly dusted baking tray, well spaced out as they spread a little. Bake for 10-12 minutes until just firm to the touch. Leave to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.
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