The third recipe I baked from the Strib's cookies book was the Cranberry Pecan Swirls that was a finalist in this year's Star Tribune holiday cookie baking contest.  For some reason I thought the entries in the contest were supposed to be original recipes, although in retrospect, I can see how that might well not be a requirement.  Hmmm.  That's good to know.  This recipe is remarkably similar to one that won the Family category in the 1997 Cookie Contest sponsored by the Dallas Morning News.  Here is the recipe from this year's Strib contest:

Cranberry Pecan Swirls

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Note that the dough must be prepared in advance, as it requires freezing for at least 8 hours before slicing.

1½ cups flour, plus extra for rolling dough
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup finely chopped fresh cranberries
½ cup ground pecans
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, and reserve.  In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

In a small bowl, combine cranberries, pecans and orange zest.

On a lightly floured work surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to a 10-inch square. Sprinkle cranberry mixture over dough, leaving a ½-inch border on two opposite sides. Roll dough, jelly-roll fashion, beginning at one of the borders and rolling towards the other border. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at least 8 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap dough logs and, using a sharp knife, trim off uneven ends. Cut dough into 1/4-inch thick slices and place cookies (flat side down) 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 14 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 2 minutes and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

2012 Finalist: Annette Poole of Prior Lake, Minnesota

I went into this with hope and an open mind.  I have never made a refrigerator cookie in my life and was just hoping this venture wouldn't require any liturgical language.  By and large, I would say it was a successful outcome.  I like that the cookies are not cloying sweet.  Mine are not especially tender and I am willing to take responsibility for that.  There is a slight possibility (cough) that I mis-measured the flour and used too much.  Note to self: start using mise-en-place, you dope!  Had I done that (measured and organized all the ingredients before beginning), I wouldn't be doubting the measure.  Next time.

I love kitchen gadgets – er-r-r, tools.  Yeah, that’s the ticket.  Tools.  I have a Braun Multi-Mix unit, no longer made, and it includes a small chopping bowl and blade (below), beaters, dough beaters, and a stick blender attachment.  The chopper is very handy and its compactness makes for a better chopping of a small quantity than my food processor. 

 

I used the chopper to finely chop the pecans, the closest I came to “ground pecans,” and to chop the cranberries.  It did a great job.

There’s no sugar in this filling; after putting the ingredients in a bowl, I combined them with a wide-tine fork — the “meat fork” that came with your stainless flatware.

When I mixed the dough for chilling overnight, I patted it into a disk — thinner will chill through faster that a big round.  Use of a pastry canvas and a stockinette-covered rolling pin made rolling the dough painless enough.  The dough handled nicely.  I had a fair amount of dough left after trimming to a 10” square.  I’m not sure if next time I’ll roll a larger square and make a bit more filling for it, or if I would just make the 10” square thicker than it was.

Spreading the filling on the dough was straightforward and rolling the dough into a log was easier than I anticipated.  Too bad my pie dough doesn’t handle this neatly.

Somewhere or other I read about using a pastry blender to score a log of “icebox cookies” dough for neat slicing.  The tines are 1/4” apart and this was a very nice help.   I baked them on parchment.  Maybe I’ll use a Silpat sheet if I make them again and save on the parchment (yes, I know the parchment can be used more than once.)  These, too, are tinned up and tucked away in the auxiliary fridge.

These are good.  And next time, I’ll be darned sure about the flour measure!  Give them a go if you’re looking for a cookie that’s not horribly sweet.