Cookie Anatomy of a PINWHEEL

I have always been fascinated by pinwheels – some refer to this nifty spinning contraption as a whirlygig.   I have been seeing pinwheel cookies EVERYWHERE on the web as of late, so I thought it time to put my uber fabulous decorator, Cat, to the test and see what she could create.  I posted the finished product of our first attempt on our Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. We received such a positive response in-store from those cookies that we sold, that it only seemed fitting to provide the tutorial.

To begin with, I hit the computer and Googled “pinwheels” to find an image that could serve as our template. I am pretty selective when it comes to finding the perfect image. I avoid anything 3 dimensional and focus on those images shot straight on the product.  Here is the image I selected as our template.

And here is our template
.The in-house next step would be to place the template on top of the rolled out dough and cut around it. Once the cookies are baked, the outlining process begins.  For this purpose however, in an effort to lessen product waste and conserve time, we took the next steps to parchment paper.  We began by outlining the template numerous times on a piece of parchment.

I apologize for the faint lines.  We outlined the template 8 times and then began decorating as if we were decorating a cookie. Each outline was used to demonstrate the progression of steps in decorating as shown below.

We always, always, always begin by outlining our cookie canvas with the intended design.  Here, Cat started with the red portion of the wheel and worked her way clockwise using the colored image of the template as a guide.  The outline serves as a border for the icing to stay within once filled.  Once the colors are set (dry – no shine to them) Cat then returns to the outlined cookies to fill in.

Here is an image for the finished product

And finally a look at all the photos we took, along with the original photo found via google here.

For a little educational aspect to the post, the definition for pinwheel can be found here on dictionary.com,  Regardless of how you use your pinwheel; to entertain your child for hours, as a decoration in the garden or to scare away the birds and bugs when eating,  pinwheels are a fun toy for both the young and young at heart.  They tend to bring out the kid in me..what about you?