Spiral Shortbread Cookies

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed plus
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1 cup powdered sugar, plus
• 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/2 orange, zest of, grated
• 1 pinch baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed plus
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1 cup powdered sugar, plus
• 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/2 orange, zest of, grated
• 1 pinch baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Recipe

• 1 time does not include refrigerating the doughs.
• 2 to make the plain dough: using a sharp knife, slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise.
• 3 separate the seeds from the skin by scraping the blade of the knife along the inside of the bean.
• 4 place the butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds and orange zest in a medium sized mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
• 5 combine the baking powder, salt and flour and add to the butter mixture all at once.
• 6 beat on low speed just until combined, about 1 minute.
• 7 (do not overmix the dough, or it will become tough.) remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a 4-inch by 9-inch rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• 8 (the dough can be made in advance and refrigerated overnight.) to make the chocolate dough: using a sharp knife, slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise.
• 9 separate the seeds from the skin by scraping the blade of the knife along the inside of the bean.
• 10 place the butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds and orange zest in a medium sized mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
• 11 combine the baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and flour and add to the butter mixture all at once.
• 12 beat on low speed just until combined, about 1 minute.
• 13 (do not overmix the dough, or it will become tough.) remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a 4-inch by 9-inch rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for one hour.
• 14 (the dough can be made in advance and refrigerated overnight.) to make the spiral pattern: preheat an oven to 400 degrees.
• 15 remove the doughs from the refrigerator.
• 16 (they will be hard; to make them easier to roll, give them a few quick raps with a rolling pin.) lightly flour each side of each piece of dough and roll each piece into a 7-inch by 16-inch rectangle about 1/8-inch thick.
• 17 brush what will be your bottom layer of dough with a thin coat of water.
• 18 place one dough on top of the other and roll out another inch or so.
• 19 brush the top dough with another thin coat of water to help the dough stick to itself.
• 20 starting at the long side, roll the two dough into a cylinder 1 1/2- to 1 3/4-inch in diameter.
• 21 put in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes or so until hard.
• 22 cut the cylinder into 1/2-inch thick slices and lay the cookies cut side down on a parchment paper covered baking sheet, about 1/2-inch apart.
• 23 bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
• 24 the cookies will store for 5 days in an airtight container.