Christmas Cookies

[Chocolatl]

Chocolate/Vanilla pinwheel cookies! They're not very labor intensive - no rolling and cutting - and they store really well.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter plus 1 tablesppon butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
(Optional: 1/4 tsp peppermint extract)

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a different bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low, and beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended (add the peppermint in when you add the vanilla, if you're using it). Next beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Transfer half the dough out to a sheet of wax/parchment paper.
2. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate and the 1 Tbsp butter over very low heat. (Can also be done in the microwave -- usually 10 second bursts at 50% power). Stir in the cocoa powder until combined. Add the chocolate mixture to the remaining dough in the bowl, and stir until combined.
3. Roll the chocolate dough out into a 12" by 10" rectangle between two sheets of wax/parchment paper. Do the same thing with the vanilla dough. Peel off the top sheets of wax paper and then flip the vanilla dough onto the chocolate dough. Using the edge of the paper for help, roll the dough up like a jelly-roll. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for four hours.
4. Preheat oven to 375F. Cover two big cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Slice the dough into 1/4 inch thick coins. Place the slices on the cookie sheets, about 1/2 an inch apart.
6. Bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes when you pull them out, then transfer them to a cooling rack to let them cool completely.