SHF/IMBB Cookie Swap: Armadillos and Peppermint Pinwheels

For this month's Sugar High Friday, a joint event with the folks over at Is My Blog Burning? has everyone doing a cookie swap. The roundup features 152 recipes (Part 1, Part 2).

My first contribution is Armadillos (recipe). This is basically a chocolate chunk cookie augmented with butterscotch and nuts. Obviously, you can alter it with your favourite ingredients. For me, the defining characteristic is the trio of cinnamon, vanilla and almond. These flavourings make the cookie a little more sophisticated. The cookies spread in the oven, so make sure to keep them apart and watch the timer as they burn easily. Very simple to make, and a joy to consume.

I made one other cookie for this event, a much more challenging one. Peppermint Shortbread Pinwheels (recipe) look pretty impressive, but I can't say they turned out perfectly. The problem was a butter shortage, not normally a concern chez moi. As any seasoned baker can attest to, the ratio of butter to flour is paramount to a product's final outcome, especially so with shortbread. My dough, short one ounce of butter, was very dry and didn't roll out easily. It kept cracking and resisted attempts to patch it together. When the two layers were combined, they weren't strong enough to be rolled, so I used a sheet of parchment like a sushi mat to form the pinwheels. After being chilled, the dough tended to break apart as I sliced them. Fortunately, the heat of the oven fused together the broken pieces, but you can see the cookie's faults in the photograph. However, they still tasted fine, with a delicate mint flavour and crumbly texture.

I'm flattered to announce that the shortbread was selected as one of the 12 winners! Thanks to all who voted.