The cream cheese dough is reminiscent of a rugelach. Filled with savory and sweet spices and sugar, it’s a unique take on the usual holiday cookie.
Rosemary Cardamom Pinwheels
By Amy Meiers
“My mom’s cousin Dolly and I have been getting together every Christmas to bake cookies for our friends and family. We start in late November and get together at least 2 more times in December to bake. Every year we try a new cookie or technique to keep it interesting! My mom had always been our official “cookie tester” but this August she lost her battle with breast cancer. So I merged two of her favorite cookies into one to create this cookie in her memory! The rosemary isn’t a something that’s usually used in cookies and the cardamom has such a wonderful aroma. These do take a little extra work but are so so worth it!”
Dough:
2 ½ cups of flour
2 TBS granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into chunks
8oz cold cream cheese cut into chunks
In a stand mixer combine flour, sugar and salt. Stir a couple of times to mix together. Add chunks of butter until crumbly then add the cream cheese and mix until just combined. Refrigerate for about an hour.
“Rolling out” sugar:
½ cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
Filling:
½ cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp of very finely chopped fresh rosemary
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the refrigerated dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle (aprox 18” x 10”) using the “rolling out” sugar to prevent it from sticking to the board or rolling pin. Put a thin layer of the filling over the dough and roll. Refrigerate another half hour then cut into quarter-inch slices. Sprinkle the rolling out sugar on top of the cookies. Bake for 8 minutes then flip over, re-sugar and bake for another 3 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!