Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies

This is a fun-to-make recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies.

You might also refer to them as pinwheels.

Basically you have one layer of peanut butter cookie dough and one layer of chocolate cookie dough which gets rolled up together and the cookies are then sliced and baked.

While these may require a little more work than easy drop cookies or a pan of your favorite cookie bars, the visual effect and chocolate mixed with peanut butter taste combination is worth the effort.

The surprise in these cookies are the little "Red Hots" cinnamon-flavored candies baked into the center!

They are destinct in flavor and you always have the option to bake some with "Red Hots" and some without - the choice is yours.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies Recipe

Peanut Butter dough

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Chocolate dough

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 box Red Hots for decoration

Making the peanut butter cookie dough:

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Blend in the vanilla.
Sift together flour and baking powder and add to creamed butter mixture, mixing well until a dough is formed.
Wrap cookie dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, but not more than 2 hours.

Making the chocolate cookie dough:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg yolk, chocolate and vanilla.
Sift together flour, cocoa and baking powder and add to creamed butter mixture, mixing until a dough is formed.
Wrap dough in wax or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, but not more than 2 hours.

Assembling the swirl cookie dough:

Unwrap the two doughs and divide each in half.
Place half the chocolate cookie dough on a sheet of floured wax paper and gently roll into a 12x7-inch rectangle.
Leave dough on wax paper and set aside.
Using fresh paper, repeat this process with half the peanut butter cookie dough.
Carefully flip the chocolate rectangle on top of the peanut butter rectangle.
Using the wax paper as yoru guide, roll the 12-inch length into a tight tube.
Wrap in fresh wax paper and chill overnight.
Repeat this process with the remaining dough.

Baking the cookies:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Unwrap the cookie dough rolls one at a time and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices.
Place the slices 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and place a Red Hot in the center of each cookie.
Bake, one cookie sheet at a time, 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

This recipe yields about 3 to 4 dozen Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies.