I’m headed out in just a few minutes to a Christmas cookie party. Seriously cannot think of a better breakfast way to start my day! In that spirit, I wanted to share some inspiration I came across on Nour’s blog recently.

Nour is an English-speaking Tunisian expat here in Dakar for her medical studies. And she also enjoys crafting, DIYing, cooking and baking. She’s recently started sharing her adventures in the kitchen (and out of it) on her blog here.

And today, she’s sharing recipes for cookies-made-in-Dakar with us!

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

This recipe is originally for chocolate and plain pinwheel cookie, but it could be easily adapted to create a very colorful variety that suits Christmas time!

500 g all-purpose flour
220 g packed brown sugar
135 g white sugar
305 g butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
red food coloring
green food coloring

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl. Beat the butter with the brown and white sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until evenly blended. Then gather the dough into a ball. Divide into four equal parts. Set aside two parts. Add red food coloring to the 3rd part of the dough and green food coloring to the 4th part. Use a fork or wooden spoon to blend the food coloring into the dough until evenly blended. Add additional drops of food coloring to make the desired shade. Wrap the dough balls in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for 30-40 min .

Let’s start with the pink pinwheels: Get two dough balls out: the pink and one that’s plain. Roll out the plain dough to 1/4 inch (5mm) thickness. Do the same with the pink dough. Place the pink dough on top of the plain dough (the color you want inside in the cookie should be put on top). Beginning on one edge, roll the doughs to make a log so the two colors spiral inside each other. Wrap the log in parchement paper, then in a cotton towel, and refrigerate at least 8 hours (you can leave it in the fridge overnight). Do the same thing for the remaining dough to make the green pinwheels.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F) and place parchement paper on 2 cookie sheets. Unwrap the dough log, and place on a clean, lightly floured surface. Slice the log into rounds 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven until set, 5 to 6 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent edges from browning. Remove from oven, and cool on racks.

For Nour’s recipe for Soft Gingerbread Cookie, click here. (And then you can email me for directions to my house to drop them off!)