Cranberry Pecan Pinwheel Cookies (Filled Cookies)

Cranberry Pecan Pinwheel Cookies are soft, pillows of brown sugar cookie with a wonderful tart-sweet cranberry and pecan jam filling. They’re an easy filled cookie to make and they’re beautiful!!

I need to qualify that though. They ARE easy. But, they are a little more time consuming than the average cookie. The dough has to be chilled. Then it is rolled and filled and needs to be chilled, again. So, while not difficult, you do need to plan ahead to make them.

A Twist on a Classic

This is ALMOST not a new recipe for you guys.

Earlier, I made Filled Date Cookies with Walnuts (Date Pinwheel Cookies), so I almost opted not to share this one.

But Cranberry Pecan Pinwheel Cookies end up being a completely different cookie, because of their very vibrant color and flavor.

So, the “different” part of this recipe is the jam. The cookie is exactly the same. The process is exactly the same.

The two cookies couldn’t be more different, though. And that’s because of the that scrumptious fresh cranberry and citrus jam.

I would happily eat the jam filling, for either cookie, out of a bowl with a spoon! Yum! Cranberry Pinwheel Cookies are definitely worth sharing.

The Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough:

• Butter
• Dark Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• Vanilla
• Salt
• Baking Soda

For the Cranberry Pecan Jam:

• Fresh Cranberries
• Sugar
• Corn Starch
• Fresh Orange, juice and zest
• Cinnamon
• Allspice
• Pecans

Dark Brown Sugar vs Light Brown Sugar

Can I substitute light brown sugar for light brown sugar in Cranberry Pecan Pinwheel Cookies?

Sure. I’ve subbed dark for light or light for dark many, many times, when I have run out of one or the other.

You do need to understand that there IS a difference between light and dark brown sugar, though.

Most brown sugar is made by refining the sugar cane into granulated sugar and then adding the extracted molasses back into it.

Dark brown sugar has just under double the amount of molasses as light brown sugar. So, while the two can be interchanged in recipes, it can mean a slight textural difference in the way your food bakes.

Dark brown sugar is heavier and contains more moisture (liquid molasses). And since molasses is acidic, dark brown sugar is more acidic than light. It also has a deeper, richer flavor that is more caramel-y or toffee-like.

Because the actual amount of molasses is so small in both types of brown sugar, in proportion to the granulated sugar that they both are made from, you won’t need added dry ingredients to compensate for the extra moisture in dark brown sugar.

You may find that baked goods made with dark brown sugar rise ever so slightly higher because of the acidic reaction with baking soda.

And because that acidic reaction is less with light brown sugar, cookies may spread a little more, instead of rising higher. Again, this will typically be only a slight difference.

Items baked with dark brown sugar tend to be moister, denser, chewier and more caramel-y in flavor. And of course, their color is deeper brown.

In the end, light and dark brown sugar are usually pretty easy to sub for one another in a recipe. There will be differences. But they should be slight.

Cranberry Benefits

Making the Pinwheel Cookies Cookie Dough

• Cream the butter and brown sugar together.  I used my stand mixer, but these are easily made by hand, too.)
• Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix until completely incorporated.
• Divide the dough in half and place each half of the dough in a gallon zip-top bag, press it down flat and refrigerate for 1 hour.  You want the dough to be chilled enough that you will be able to roll it out.
• While the dough is chilling make the cranberry pecan jam.

How to Make the Cranberry Pecan Jam

1. Start with fresh cranberries. Put them in a medium sauce pan and add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice, orange juice and orange zest.
2. Stir everything together and bring the entire mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently.
3. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop and the mixture thickens to the consistency of jam.
4. To see if the jam is done, start counting seconds as you drag a spoon through the jam to the other side of your pan. The trail you leave will begin to fill in, but you should be able to count 5 seconds before it closes completely, at the other end.
5. Remove the cranberry jam from the heat, stir in the pecans, and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before using it to fill the pinwheel dough.

Rolling the Pinwheel Cookies

1. Now, divide your chilled dough into two halves. Roll each of them into a 9×12 rectangle on top of a sheet of parchment paper.
2. Spread each rectangle with 1/2 of the jam.
3. Work from the long edge, of each rectangle. Use the parchment paper to help you roll the dough and filling into a log.  The log will be fairly big around, 3 -3.5 inches in diameter.  Because the filling layer is thick, it will not be tight swirls like pinwheel cookies. 
4. In the end the roll will have a swirl of dough at the center, surrounded by jam and then dough encasing it all.  It won’t form the tight round and round pinwheel like the cookies from the past that had just a tiny thin ribbon of filling.

5. Wrap and chill the logs for at least 6 hours.
6. To bake the cookies, cut the logs into 1/3″ slices and place the slices on a cookie sheet leaving at least 2 inches in between. (If you rotate the log a quarter turn after each slice you make, it will help the cookies stay round instead of going flat on one side.)
7. Bake.  The cookies will be lightly browned around the edges, but still soft and tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the *baking sheet for 3 minutes, before removing to cooling racks.
8. Enjoy, my friend! Cranberry Pecan Filled Cookies are going to be gorgeous on your Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert tables!

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