Spiral Sugar Cookies

In my continued quest for new recipes, I thought I'd try this cool spiral sugar cookie (and idea I've had for awhile but never knew it was actually possible.) Although this recipe isn't the most difficult I've ever tried, it was a bit of a pain due to the long periods of refrigeration! I was also a little worried about the dough when I first started, since there are practically no "wet" ingredients - though I guess that massive portion of butter made up for the lack of everything else. Sadly, I decided to omit the almond extract (since I didn't have any in my pantry and thought it wouldn't make that much of a difference.) When I finished my cookies, I definitely wished I had added something for a bit more flavor (either the almond extract or a bit more sugar!)

Surprisingly, coloring and rolling out the dough was perhaps the easiest aspect of this entire recipe. However, rolling the two doughs together into a spiral proved a bit of a nightmare. However, the end spiral came out very nicely, so I guess you don't have to worry too much about this when rolling the dough together. I also didn't want to wait four hours while the completed log chilled; instead, I opted to simply freeze the dough for about an hour (which seemed to work fine.) Fortunately, the slicing and baking of the cookies was quick and easy, so I was soon enjoying a beautiful buttery cookie!

Spiral Sugar Cookies
(yields 2½ dozen small cookies

2 c. flour
½ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
⅔ c. powdered sugar
¼ sugar
1¼ c. butter
1 t. vanilla extract
½ t. almond extract
gel food coloring (any color)
2 T. flour
1 c. multi-colored nonpareil decors or sprinkles

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars. Cube the butter and cut into flour mixture. Continue to combine until it has a cornmeal consistency. Add the vanilla and form into a ball. Divide the dough into two equal parts. To one of the halves, add almond extract, enough food coloring to obtain the desired color, and 2 tablespoons flour. On wax paper or parchment paper, roll the dough into a letter-size (A4) sheet that is about &frad14" thick.) Repeat with the non-colored dough on a separate sheet of paper. Place another sheet of paper atop each piece of dough and chill in a refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Once the dough has chilled completely, remove the top layers of wax paper and stack both sheets of dough together. With a sharp knife, cut the edges. Carefully roll the doughs along the long edge. (You might have to wait 10-15 so that the dough will be soft enough to roll.) Pour the nonpareils in a flat pan, and roll the dough to cover all sides. (I used sprinkles and used far less than a cup - though I had problems with my sprinkles not sticking.) Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Preheat the oven to 325°F (162°C.) Slice cookie roll into ¼" slices and bake on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 15 minutes.