Swirly Sugar Cookies

These slice and bake cookies are so much fun!  I wanted to be sure I shared the recipe with you at Christmas-time because the color combinations are endless.  I made them in blue and gold for my daughter's hockey team - but you could do red and white, green and red, etc etc.  It is a basic sugar cookie-type dough and you can use any kind of extract to flavor them.  Our kids love almond flavor - so I used almond extract.  Plus, you can mix them up a day in advance . . .and then wrap them up and let rest in the fridge until the next day before slicing and baking.  Love that!!!!  They were a huge hit . . .I am glad I made a double batch!!

Swirly Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

4 adn 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour (plus extra for rolling out)

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 and 1/2 Cup Butter, room temperature

1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

2/3 Cup White Sugar

2 Eggs, Beaten

2 Teaspoons Almond Extract (or extract of your choice!)

Food Coloring as needed

Note:  because these cookies have brown sugar in them, the natural dough color is a little darker than a regular sugar cookie.  This may cause you to need a little extra food dye depending what color you are trying to achieve!

Step 1:  In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Step 2:  In a mixing bowl, add the butter, brown sugar and white sugar.  Beat until smooth.  Add in the eggs and vanilla.  Beat again until all is well incorporated.

Step 3:  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the sugar/butter mixture until evenly blended.

Step 4:  Gather the dough into a ball and divide into two equal parts.  Place one half in a second bowl.  Add desired food coloring to the first bowl with dough (I used blue) and blend until well incorporated.  I used my hands and wore gloves.  Do the same with the second bowl (I used yellow dye).  Or, you don't have to dye the second one at all!

Step 5:  On a floured surface, roll out one ball of dough to a 1/4 inch thickness into a rectangular form.  Do the same with the second ball of dough and try to keep the size consistent.  I like to roll them out on wax paper (easy clean up and helps with the next step).

Step 6:  Stack the two rolled out doughs one on top of the other.  I had blue on the bottom, yellow on top for my first batch.  Beginning on the long edge of stacked doughs, roll the doughs to make a log so the two colors sprial inside each other.  Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 6-8 hours.  Overnight works well.

Step 7:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly grease baking sheets.

Step 8:  Unwrap the dough log, place on a clean, lightly floured surface.  Slice the log into 1/8 inch slices and place on the prepared cookie sheets.  

Step 9:  Bake in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes, until set. 

Enjoy!!