Guild Wars 2: Cinnamon Pinwheels

ArenaNet has started rolling out the next major plotline of the Guild Wars 2 story. Both new chapters were very enjoyable to play and I loved where the story went. Without giving anything away, I will say the new character is extremely adorable and I cannot wait to see the character get developed. With these new chapters, they have also added two new zones to explore. These zones feel completely different from the Maguuma areas added with the Heart of Thorns expansion. I love Ember Bay! Just being in the zone you feel an impending doom looming over you. Walking around, you are always threatened by modified minions of Primordus or just falling off a cliff into a pool of lava. Let us not forget the soul destroying Chalice of Tears. I can’t wait to actually attempt this jumping puzzle with my husband in the near future. I’ll probably ask him to bring his puzzle jumping Charr Mesmer, the Puzzle Fairy, to give me a hand.

The food from Guild Wars 2 was one of my main influences for starting up Pixelated Provisions. I prioritized cooking when the game launched. I had friends sending me their ingredients in order to max out my cooking skill for the guild as quickly as possible. I filled the guild bank with many cooked dishes. Looking back at it, most were not that helpful but they all looked delicious. This week we are cooking up one of the starting recipes of a novice cook in Guild Wars 2, the cinnamon pinwheel cookie. I’m surprised such a tricky cookie is introduced so early in a chef’s career. The difficult part of this cookie is probably the assembly portion. In order to make that step a bit easier, it is very important that you let the dough chill in the refrigerator. Skipping that step will make the dough unworkable and you will not get the beautiful pinwheel effect on the cookie. Keep your cool and prep each of the steps as you work and you will successfully bake these tasty morsels.

Ingredients:
3 ½ cups (510 g) flour
1 tsp (6 g) baking soda
1 tsp (5 g) baking powder
¼ tsp (1 g) salt
1 cup (205 g) sugar
½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (100 g) cream cheese
¼ cup heavy cream

3 tbsp melted butter
¾ cup brown sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cardamon

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream it. Once smooth, add the sugar and mix until well combined.

Mix in the eggs one at a time. After the eggs are combined, add the cream cheese and vanilla extract.

Add half of the flour mixture. Mix in the heavy cream and then add the remainder of the flour mixture.

After the dough has been mixed well, place the dough into some plastic wrap. Cover the dough in the wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least three hours.

Once the dough has rested, it is time to start making the cookies. Preheat your oven to 350℉. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamon. Take the dough and split it into thirds. Keep one of the thirds out and place the others back in the refrigerator.

Roll out the dough into a rough rectangle. Brush the melted butter onto the dough.

Sprinkle a third of the cinnamon mixture onto the buttered dough. Carefully roll the dough tightly.

Pinch the ends of the rolled dough together to help avoid unrolling while baking. Cut the cookies into ½ inch thick pieces (should get about 20 cookies per set).

Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies have browned slightly. Repeat these steps until all the dough has been cooked.