Make this year's Christmas extra special with these Cinnamon Cannoli Pinwheel Cookies.  With their eye catching spiral, delicious cinnamon flavor, and secret ingredient (our cinnamon original cannoli chips) they're sure to be the most talked about cookie on your holiday table!  

These cookies are a bit of a project, but well worth the time.  They're best made over a few hours, so plan in advance before starting this project. The most important step that cannot be skipped is chilling the log of dough before cutting it, so if you don't have time to let the dough rest for 3 hours, these cookies might not be for you. You could however, try one of our other quick cannoli recipes - try our Cannoli Chip Toffee or Cookies and Cream Cannoli Bark if you're short on time.  

Here is what you need:

Vanilla Cookie Dough

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt 

1 1/2 cups of flour

Cinnamon Cannoli Dough

6 tbsp butter (3/4 of a stick)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of cinnamon cannoli crumbs

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of flour 

Start with the vanilla dough.  In a medium size mixing bowl (using either a hand beater or stand mixer) cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until fluffy.  Add the egg, once fully incorporated, mix in flour, baking powder and pinch of salt. Remove dough from the bowl.  Flatten into a disk, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.  

Make the cinnamon cannoli dough in a similar way.  To start make cannoli crumbs.  You can crush them by hand for a coarser texture, using a mallet or rolling pin to crush the chips, but for this recipe we used a food processor to chop them uniformly.  Pour cannoli chips, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and the sugar into a food processor and pulse until the chips are finely crushed.  Be careful not to go to let it turn into cannoli butter (yum) so once they start to get fine, open and stir with a spatula.  In the same stand mixer/medium bowl, cream butter and cannoli and sugar mixture.  Once light and fluffy, add the egg and beat until incorporated.  Mix in flour, salt, and baking powder, remove dough from the bowl.  Flatten into a disk and refrigerate for at least an hour.  

Flour your table and rolling pin, and roll out your refrigerated vanilla dough into a 18" x 12" rectangle. Set aside, and roll the cannoli dough into a slightly smaller 17" x 11 1/2" rectangle. Lightly mist the vanilla dough with a spray bottle if floury, and place the cinnamon cannoli dough on top of it.  Rolling the dough out on parchment paper can help transport them here too.  

Starting on the long side, roll the sheets of dough into a tight spiral, making an effort to squeeze out any air bubbles that form.  Seal the edge (if too floury use a bit of water to help stick) and wrap the log in plastic wrap or parchment paper.  Refrigerate for two hours, or freeze for one.  

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.  

Remove dough from the fridge or freezer, unwrap and place on a clean cutting board.  Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4" slices.  If frozen, let thaw for about 15 minutes until soft enough to cut.  

Place cookies on the tray (this should make enough for two baking sheets worth) and either wrap remaining dough, or prepare a second tray.  

Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they start to feel firm. Remove from oven then transfer to a rack to cool.  

These cookies are a little soft, they don't have a lot of crunch or snap, but will last for a few days stored in an airtight container.  Freeze extra dough and cut cookies when needed.