Peanut Butter Pinwheels
This recipe was inspired by my new email friend, Sophia. She’s a teenage cook who has been doing a lot of baking lately for her friends and family. Recently, Sophia’s mom mentioned an old recipe from childhood where chocolate was rolled up pinwheel style inside peanut butter cookie dough. Sophia asked if I had any recipes for this type of cookie, but I didn’t. I did find one that sounded good, though. Sophia tried it and gave the cookies a big thumbs up.
Like a big fat copycat, I had to try the cookies myself. Sophia was right! They’re excellent! They’re sturdy enough to pack in a lunch box and pretty enough to serve at a luncheon or cookie exchange. In fact, if you see a cookie exchange in your future, you might want to bookmark this.
Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookies
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt (original recipe called for 1/2)
2 cups all purpose flour
Fillling:
2 teaspoons butter
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in peanut butter, vanilla and egg. Add baking soda and salt, stir until well distributed, then add flour and stir until it is absorbed. Chill dough for 45 minutes (no longer).
Meanwhile prepare the filling. Melt chocolate with butter in a bowl over hot (not boiling) water. Let cool slightly
Divide chilled dough in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half into 10 X 8 inch rectangle and spread each rectangle with half the chocolate mixture, stopping about ½ inch from sides.
Starting from long side roll up each rectangle jelly roll style to form 2 long rolls. Wrap separately seam side down in plastic wrap. Chill until firm (at least 3 hours)
Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes of until lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
Makes about 32
Good old PB & Chocolate combo! Yum. And they ARE pretty. Printing now….
Two of my favorites…they are so perfect looking! Yum, thanks!
Those are cute!
Welcome, Sophia. Leave it to Anna to find an idea for your cookie.
And she is not a fat copycat.
So those are the Peanut Butter Pinwheels that Sophia was referring to!
They’re attractive and it’s nice to know they taste good too.
Those look adorable. What a great addition to a cookie tray!
I made these and gave them out at Christmas – they were a big hit!
My mom declared that they looked just like the ones she remembered and my dad (who doesn’t really like peanut butter) declared them “not a bad cookie” so I must say that they were a wonderful success and second the encouragment to them.
Belated birthday greetings to Emma. We were in Disney World and Atlanta. The cookies look great. On a similar theme you might want to try these. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000123.html Last year my Emma had a mean Spanish teacher and her only redeeming feature was she would give extra credit if you brought in food. So I made several different cookies and brownies for Emma to take in. I made the cookies in the link for Dia de Los Muertos and they were a big hit. They are a little bit fiddly but if I can manage it then anyone can. They are really tasty and look amazing. I think it might become a tradition to make them every year.
Great idea with the holidays closing in faster that we think this would be a great recipe for a cookie exchange… Consider it bookmarked
Thanks again, Sophia!
I wish I had this recipe last Christmas.
Jackie, thanks for the skull cookie link. Maybe I’ll make some for my friend Patty. She’s from Mexico.
I was just about to start making these when I noticed it says to cream both sugars. I only see brown sugar in the list. How much white sugar am I supposed to use? Today is Back to School here in NC and I thought they’d make a nice treat for the girls when they come home from school.
Hi Jackie,
There’s only one sugar. I fixed that. I had it in my mind there were two as I typed the instructions, but there was only one.
HMMM PEANUT BUTTER . THESE LOOK GREAT.
This looks like a very yummy recipe…I will try for sure…thanks