Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture to form a soft dough.  Divide the dough in half and stir melted chocolate into one of the halves.

On a floured pastry cloth or counter, roll the white dough into a 13x16-inch rectangle.  On a floured piece of parchment paper, roll the chocolate dough into a rectangle the same size.  Lift the paper and place the chocolate dough face down on top of the white dough; peel off the parchment.

Using the pastry cloth to assist, gently roll the cookie doughs together lengthwise to form a pinwheel and seal the edges.  Position the parchment paper along the length of the pinwheel and roll the cookie dough into the parchment.  Transfer the dough to a tray and fold the parchment paper to seal.  Chill the dough several hours or overnight until it is cold.

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Using a thin, sharp knife, slice the dough into ¼-inch-thicl slices and place them 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.  Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator to keep it cold.  Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are light brown.

Yield:  6 dozen cookies