Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies have always been a favorite for children and adults. Baking these cookies is an activity that brings families together, with parents and grandparents teaching children cooking them.
These cookies are so delicious that you can never stop at one. The sweet and savory flavors always keep you wanting more. In addition, these cookies can be easily made at home with readily available ingredients.
So, in this article, we shall see the recipe for Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies.
Overview of the Maurice Lenell Pinwheel Cookies
Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies are sweet buttery cookies made with nearly equal amounts of vanilla and chocolate. They became well-known and were in huge demand when they were first sold.
Created by the Lenell brothers and their friend Billing, who opened a Swedish bakery in the 1920s, these cookies were famous for a long time before their production was discontinued in 2008 for multiple reasons. But the good thing is that, though these cookies are no longer being sold in stores, the recipe has been shared enough, which makes it possible to make them at home.
Cooking Time of the Cookies
While it does not take much time to bake the cookies, it involves a couple of hours for preparation. The baking time is about 8-10 minutes, depending on when the cookies turn goldish.
Ingredients and Making Process of the Cookies
Despite how professional and complicated the delicacy looks, the recipe for making these cookies is pretty simple and easy. You can make them at home on a cold rainy day or a day off from work, and you will not regret making them.
Ingredients
To make Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies, you’ll need the following components. The quantity of each ingredient will have to be adjusted according to the number of cookies you intend to make.
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1cup unsalted butter
- 1⅓ cups of granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 8 oz white sparkling sugar
Making Process
Here’s the step-by-step guide to making Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies at home. Have a look!
Step 1
Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt to a large bowl and mix them well.
Step 2
Add the granulated sugar and unsalted butter to a separate bowl and blend well. If you have a beater, it could come in very handy. Beat the mixture until it becomes light and fluffy in texture. This entire process should take merely a couple of minutes.
Step 3
Break two eggs and beat them thoroughly in a separate bowl. Add the vanilla extract to the eggs and mix well.
Step 4
In this step, you must add all the flour, sugar, and egg mixture into a single bowl and mix well.
Step 5
Now, you need to knead this mixture into a dough for the cookies. You can knead using bare hands or a dough maker. Keep in mind that the dough needs to be kneaded very fine.
Step 6
Once the dough has been kneaded well, you can shape it into a 4×4 square and split it into two halves.
Step 7
Keep one half of the dough aside and put the other half in the mixer. Melt the chocolate and add it to the mixture. Make sure that it blends well together.
Step 8
Now, shape the chocolate-added dough and the plain dough into 4×4 squares and refrigerate for 40 minutes.
Step 9
Place the two doughs on separate parchment papers and roll them. Now remove the parchment papers, place the chocolate dough on top of the plain dough, and cut them horizontally in half.
Step 10
The next step is to roll up both halves so that they take the shape of a cylinder. At this stage, you can coat the outside of the dough with colored sugar if you want to make the cookies look attractive. Finally, wrap the dough in clear plastic wrap and keep them in the refrigerator overnight to make them a bit firmer as a preparation for the next step.
Step 11
When you want to bake the cookies, the first thing is to preheat your oven to 350℉. So, after you’re ready, cut the dough into one-fourth-inch pieces and place them on the cookie tray. Do not forget to line the tray with parchment sheets before baking.
Step 12
The final step is the baking itself. Put the tray inside the preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or till you see the plain dough get a golden color. After you’re satisfied with the texture of the cookies, remove and allow them to cool on a rack before transferring them to a clean and dry jar.
Nutritional Value in Maurice Lenell Pinwheel Cookies
Though cookies aren’t exactly known for their health benefits as much as their delicious taste, they have some nutritional value. The nutritive values of the cookies are given below.
| Calories | 220g |
| Carbohydrates | 26g |
| Fats | 12g |
| Proteins | 2g |
Tips to Make the Maurice Lenell pinwheel Cookies
While cookies are easy to bake, specific tips and tricks will help make them perfect. It takes patience and sincere effort to make cookies perfect. Though many factors come into play while making cookies, at the end of the day, how well you understand the recipe matters.
So, here, we’ve listed a few tips and tricks that could be helpful while baking the Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies.
Make Sure All the Ingredients are at Room Temperature
Using the ingredients at room temperature might not seem like a fundamental rule in baking, but it is. When the ingredients are too cold or hot, they do not mix well, which may impact the dough and the texture of the cookies.
Certain ingredients, like butter, need to be thawed before they are used, or they won’t blend well with other ingredients and will form lumps. Even eggs must be kept outside for some time and shouldn’t be added straight from the refrigerator to the bowl to avoid clump formation.
In the case of melted chocolate, if it is being melted on the spot and not in advance, it is necessary to let it cool down a little before it can be used in the dough.
Bake the Cookies Batch by Batch
This rule does not only apply to cookies but also to many other recipes. If you put too many batches at once into the oven, they will not get appropriately baked. Therefore, it is better to place one batch at a time to monitor and ensure that it is cooked well before removing it.
The center of the oven is the most heated place, where cookies get appropriately cooked. So, make sure to place the cookies there for baking. But if you have time restraints and are in need to bake multiple batches of cookies at once, rotate the parchment sheets after half the baking time is completed.
Refrigerate the Cookie Dough
This tip is usually considered a rule of thumb for some people. But, again, this rule also applies to many dishes. Refrigerating the cookie dough before baking has a lot of known benefits. For one, cookies are less likely to crumble and have a better appearance when the dough is refrigerated. This is because the fridge’s low temperature makes the dough firmer.
Besides, the flavor of the dough seems to get concentrated when it is refrigerated. Thus, chilling the dough before baking ensures better and properly cooked cookies.
Correct the Dimensions of the Cookies
Whether baking for a professional event, family gathering or just enjoying yourself at home, irregular-shaped cookies aren’t as attractive as perfectly shaped ones. So, unless your cookies are shaped differently, it is best to ensure their shapes and sizes are consistent.
Aside from their appearance, the shapes are also essential to ensure that the cookies are baked evenly. In addition, the width needs to be uniform for all the cookies so you don’t end up with a couple of burnt or underbaked cookies.
This mishap may happen because the temperature we set in the oven is measured for a particular dimension of cookies. So, when we alter them, they are either not appropriately cooked or overcooked. For the Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies, a one-fourth inch of thickness is considered suitable for proper baking.
Conclusion
Although the baking process of Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies seems to be a lengthy task, the ends justify the means, at least in this case. Furthermore, the feeling of biting into this sweet buttery delicacy will make up for the effort you put into baking them.
Above are best Maurice Lenell pinwheel cookies recipe from https://bluevelvetrestaurant.com/. Thank you for reading and hope you have a nice cake.
