Swirly Sugar Cookies

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, and salt. Mix together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture slowly to avoid the flour flying up and making a mess.

Separate 1/2 of the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper. Place another sheet of waxed paper over top of the dough and roll out approximately into a square. With the left over 1/2 of the dough, add your desired colour of food dye. Mix until the colour is evenly spread throughout the dough. As you did with the first piece of dough, roll it out into a square between two sheets of wax paper. Place both pieces of dough (still between the waxed paper) into the fridge for 1 hour until cool and slightly firm.

Remove dough from, fridge, remove the top sheet of waxed paper from each piece of dough. Decide which colour you'd like to be on the outside of the swirl. That will be your bottom dough. Lightly brush the bottom dough with water. Carefully flip the top dough onto the bottom dough. Gently roll out the dough. You should not be decreasing the thickness just helping to bond the two layers. Carefully begin to roll the dough into a log, using the waxed paper to avoid sticking your fingers to the dough. Once fully rolled into a log, put a few sprinkles along one edge of the log and roll it towards you. Continue until there are sprinkles all around log. Cover with waxed paper and place in fridge for 2 hours or freezer for 15 minutes until firm (it will be much easier to cut). Cut into 1/2 inch slices and place on an un greased cookie sheet. Cook for 15-17 minutes or until slightly golden brown on edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing.