Raspberry Swirl Cookies

Have you ever seen those studies on TV where they show tired people driving on a stunt course, and the drivers think they are fine, but then they run over stuff, don’t brake fast enough, and can’t stay on the road?  (Scary indeed!)  Apparently baking while sleep-deprived can have a similar effect.  Let the following story be a lesson to all of you…I baked these after one of those rough nights when The Littlest Apple woke up 5 or 6 times, and apparently I was really off my baking game.

This is my first month participating in The Cookie Carnival, an event hosted by Kate of The Clean Plate Club.  Each month, all participants make the cookie recipe of the month.  The recipe for March is Raspberry Swirl Cookies.  Although I have plenty of experience with cinnamon rolls, this was my first time making a jelly-roll style cookie.  The cookie dough came together easily and tasted yummy all by itself, but after that, it was a comedy of errors for me.  I’ve never been a big fan of jams and jellies, but I thought that the raspberry could be good combined with coconut.  My dough got pretty sticky while rolling the cookies up, so some of the raspberry-coconut mixture fell out.  I substituted pecans for the chopped walnuts.  In my second mistake of the day, I realized that I rolled up my cookies without adding the pecans.  Since I thought the pecans were a crucial part of the cookie, I pressed the pecans down onto the tops of the sliced cookies before baking them.  In my third error of the day, I burnt one of the pans of cookies, though just barely.  And just to round out the recipe, I forgot to butter the pan before I put the cookies down, so they were nearly impossible to get off the pan, especially in one piece!  The cookies were decent.  I would love to experiment with another filling besides raspberry jam.  There could be some great variations on this recipe, so I may revisit it…and pay more attention next time.  Thanks, Kate, for hosting such a cool event!  To see everyone else’s cookies (which I’m sure turned out much better than mine), head on over to The Clean Plate Club for the round-up.

And just to top it all off….my camera is on its last legs, so my pictures aren’t any good either.  Figures.

Raspberry Swirl Cookies
Bon Appétit | February 2004

Makes 2 dozen.

ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preparation
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Flatten and shape into rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly before rolling out.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13×10-inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick). Mix jam and coconut in small bowl to blend. Spread over dough, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Sprinkle nuts evenly over jam mixture. Starting at one long side, roll up dough jellyroll style into 13×2 1/2-inch log. Wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap cookie log; cut 1/2 inch off each end and discard. Cut remaining log crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange rounds, cut side down, on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart; reshape into neat rounds, if desired. Bake cookies until edges and bottom are golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.