Chew on This | Homemade Pinwheels

The Husband left this morning for work after kindly getting breakfast started for the school bound little ones. The Boy was a bit put out by his dad's departure. He felt jilted. Time had moved too quickly for him this morning and he was not too pleased. You see, he likes waking early with his dad and spending some quiet, quality time with him chatting, giggling and just being. Together.

Today, time was wicked fast.

The Boy stomped upstairs and just...cried. I picked that baby up and held him. He was mad and sad and couldn't decide which emotion was going to win. I held on tight and kissed his cheeks and rubbed his back. He sniffled less and wrapped those boy arms tight around me. And we sat. And sat. And quietly held on tight.

That's how our Monday started, bitter and so, so sweet. What about you?

Cares

Here's our recipe:

One of my Grandma's favorite cookies - the Pinwheel! I've changed it up a bit by using our standard shortbread cookie recipe instead of a chocolate shortbread like the store bought Pinwheel. No worries - you could always use my Mocha Chocolate shortbread recipe (only use a half recipe when replacing for this particular recipe) in place of the regular shortbread recipe listed here for a more authentic Pinwheel!

Homemade Pinwheels

Cookie Layer:

1 1/2 sticks butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup sugar

1 t vanilla

1 3/4 C flour

1 pinch salt

Marshmallow Layer:

13 ounces miniature marshmallows

Chocolate Layer:

1 C semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 C heavy cream 

9x13" baking dish, greased

To make your shortbread layer, cream together your butter and sugar until combined in a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla and stir. Slowly sift in your flour and salt. Don’t over mix. Stop mixing when a crumbly dough forms. Press dough in a flat layer into your baking dish and chill for 30 minutes.

When ready, preheat your oven to 350℉ and place baking dish with shortbread dough into your preheated oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Pull baking dish out of the oven and cover your cookie layer with the miniature marshmallows. Place the baking dish back into the oven and allow the marshmallows to puff and get very lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. While waiting, prepare your chocolate layer.

Place your chocolate chips and heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high in 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Do this until chocolate is just slightly softened and then stir until chocolate is melted, smooth and pourable.

When the marshmallows are done, remove the baking dish from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Next, pour the chocolate over the marshmallow layer and smooth with a knife or offset spatula to ensure full coverage. Allow everything to cool about 20-30 minutes then place the baking dish, covered with plastic wrap, into the refrigerator to cool completely. When ready to serve, slice portions with a knife or cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter and enjoy!