To make these pinwheel cookies, phyllo dough is brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with cardamom sugar, rolled into a spiraled log, and sliced and baked. In the oven, the melted butter and cardamom sugar mingle and caramelize on the sheet pan, forming a glassy surface, while the phyllo bakes up flaky and golden all the way through. The cookies are so shatteringly tender that they give palmiers, a buttery French cookie made from puff pastry (and one of my favorite cookies), a run for their money.
This recipe was excerpted from ‘What's for Dessert’ by Claire Saffitz. Buy the full book on Amazon. Head this way for more cookie recipes →
Recipe information
Yield
Makes about 20 cookies
Ingredients
¾
½
9
10
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
In a small bowl, toss together the demerara sugar, cardamom, and salt to combine. Set aside.
Step 2
Place a piece of parchment paper about the size of the phyllo sheets on the work surface and set a single sheet of phyllo on top. Place the remaining sheets of phyllo on the work surface next to the parchment and cover with a damp towel to prevent them from drying out. Use a pastry brush to gently brush the sheet of phyllo with a thin layer of the melted butter, working the butter all across the surface of the dough and trying not to tear it (you don’t need to cover every square inch). Sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of the cardamom sugar evenly across the buttered phyllo. Place another sheet of phyllo on top of the first, aligning them, and butter and sugar as you did for the first (be sure to keep the remaining phyllo covered with the damp towel as you work).
