Having two jars of my homemade apple cranberry jam, which I wanted to use in this week's cookie, I decided to make a swirl cookie. I also added walnuts to give it a little crunch. They turned out just like I thought they would, soft and with a great apple cranberry taste.
I added the Apple Cranberry Homemade Jam with this cookie even though it was in last week's recipe. I always hated having to jump around to find parts of a recipe. So I have included everything here.
I hope you enjoy it!
Apple Cranberry Walnut Jam
Making homemade jam is rewarding, and you get the flavors you want. So take the time to mix this up quickly on the stove.
How to Make Swirl Cookies
Swirl cookies take a bit more work, but the result is always worth it. There may seem like many steps, but each step can be done at different times, so it isn't a large chunk of time all at once.
Mix Wrap Chill for Swirl Cookie Dough
After mixing up your dough in the stand mixer, prepare a floured surface.
Gently press your dough together with your hands before dividing it roughly in half. I like to pat each half out into a square shape; this makes it easier to roll out later.
Once you have your squares, wrap them tightly in plastic, so they don't dry out. Chill these for at least two hours, but longer is fine. I do one square piece at a time, so the dough doesn't get too warm while I'm working.
Rolling Log Cookies
Prepare a floured surface. You'll want to roll the dough out onto parchment or a silicone mat to help when it's time to roll it into the log shape. If you do it on the counter, it might not easily come up, and you'll end up with a mess.
Roll out one square at a time, and then spread half of your homemade jam over the top. The bright cranberry is just so cheerful! Next, sprinkle on your chopped walnuts, then roll your dough up fairly tightly to get a good spiral.
One trick I've learned is to cut a paper towel tube in half length-wise and set my wrapped dough logs in them. It takes both halves of the paper towel tube for one log so you will need 2 tubes if doing both logs. The paper towel helps them not to flatten out as they chill. If you don't have any tubes available, rotate the logs a few times once they are in the refrigerator.
Chill overnight, and then you are ready to slice them and set them up on a lined baking sheet. If they squish a bit when slicing, gently form them back into rounds.
The cookies are done baking once they are no longer shiny. Enjoy!
Storage
I keep these in a plastic container, and they should last 5 to 7 days. Just keep an eye on them if you put on an air-tight lid. This cookie does contain fresh fruit in the jam so you might want to leave the lid off once in a while to allow the cookies some circulated air for evaporation.
Apple Cranberry Walnut Swirl Cookies
Barbara HallIngredients
APPLE CRANBERRY JAM
- 1 (1) Granny Smith apple
- 1 cup (100 g) Fresh cranberries
- 1 ¼ cup (250 g) Sugar white
- ¼ cup (59.15 g) Water
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Holiday spice blend*
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Lemon zest
COOKIE DOUGH
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 4 oz (113.4 g) Cream Cheese softened
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) Sugar white
- 2 (2) Eggs
- ½ tablespoon (0.5 tablespoon) Apple juice
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
- 3 cups (375 g) All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon (1.25 teaspoon) Baking powder
- ½ cup (58.5 g) Chopped walnuts Handful sprinkled on top of the jam before rolling
Instructions
APPLE CRANBERRY HOMEMADE JAM
- Peel and dice the Granny smith apple. Zest and juice 1 lemon into 2 bowls and set aside.
- In a medium-size saucepan, add the cranberries, diced apple pieces, water, and sugar, bringing the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Don't worry about the size of the whole cranberries. They will pop open and become small. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes until the cranberries open, and the apple pieces soften. Next, add the lemon zest and juice plus the holiday spice blend. Stir and cook until it starts to thicken and become syrupy. Transfer to glass containers to cool. This recipe for the jam will make 2 batches of these cookies.
COOKIE DOUGH
- Weigh or measure the sugar into a bowl and set it aside. Weigh or measure the flour, baking powder, and salt, running a whisk to blend. In a stand or handheld mixer, cream the butter and the cream cheese on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and blend for another two minutes on medium speed. I scrape down the sides and across the bottom and mix for another 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and apple juice. Add one egg at a time until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add the flour mixture.
- On a floured pastry sheet, transfer the cookie dough and mix by hand to ensure all the cookie dough ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be tacky, so add flour if needed to shape the dough. Divide in half, and shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Place one of the wrapped cookie dough rectangles onto a well-floured pastry sheet. It helps if you have something under your rolled-out dough so that after you add the filling, you can roll it into a log shape. Rolling the cookie dough on something other than your countertop would be best. Take your Apple Cranberry Homemade Jam and spread it onto the rolled-out cookie dough. I take a handful of chopped walnuts and sprinkle them on top of the jam.
- Start rolling and lifting the pastry sheet to help it roll until you get to the end. Next, I tear off a piece of plastic wrap and put it under the edge of the log so that I can roll the log onto the wrap. Then I finish wrapping the log and shape it a little better. I have two paper towel center tubes that I have cut in half length-wise. I put two halves together and put a log on them. Since there are 2 logs, I needed two center paper towel tubes. Set the logs on a pan and put them into the refrigerator overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 350° and line your cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. Take one of the cookie logs out of the refrigerator and slice it into about ½ inch slices. Line the cookies about 2" apart (I get 12 to a pan) and bake for 13 - 15 minutes. You don't want any shiny dough on the top. Take them out of the oven, leaving them on the pan for 2-4 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
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