Pumpkin Pie Swirls - cookie or pastry?

In one of my previous posts I had made a delicious pumpkin spice cake - the recipe only calls for half a can of pureed pumpkin, so not wanting to be wasteful I thought I'd use it in these delicious cookie-pastry-cross swirls/pinwheels.

Sounds a little confusing, but it's not really they are cookie like, but the dough is more pastry like. Whatever you want to call them they are sooooooo good!

It's the time of year for pumpkin. I used to think that pumpkin pie was only for Thanksgiving, but in reality pumpkins are totally a Halloween thing. So, pumpkin pie and cake and lattes are comfortable in October and November. Neither month owns the pumpkin. It even flows over into December.

Perhaps I should stop sharing my random thoughts and get to the recipe! The dough or batter or whatever you want to call it needs to spend some time in the fridge so be sure to read the recipe through and note the times!

Pumpkin Pie Swirls

270g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
225g unsalted butter
225g cream cheese
225g pumpkin puree
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
115g light brown sugar

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy and there are no lumps. If using a free-standing mixer or hand mixer slow it down and add the flour and salt mixture little by little. Continue to mix until completely smooth. It is a sticky dough. Lay out a piece of cling film and lightly dust with flour, also lightly dust your hands and form the dough into a ball and place on the cling film tightly wrapping it up and chilling in the fridge over night.

The next day.....

Before taking the dough out of the fridge mix the pumpkin puree with all the spices and sugar.
Lay out a piece of grease proof baking paper and as the dough will still be a little sticky sprinkle a little bit of flour over the top and bottom to avoid stick-age. Then roll it all out into an oblong shape. Spread about half of the pumpkin puree mixture over the top and leave about a half an inch border. Add more filling if you need it, if you don't then don't!
Starting with the longest side towards you and using the baking paper for support start to tightly roll up the dough. Some of the filling will squish out and that's okay. Once rolled pinch the edges to avoid too much of the filling squishing out and wrap in the baking paper and then cover tightly with cling film. Place in the fridge for a minimum of

2 hours later.....

Heat the oven to 200C/400F and line your baking sheets with grease proof paper. Take the roll out of the fridge and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place on the prepared baking sheets with space between the pinwheels and bake for 12-14 minutes. They should be a light golden brown in color. While the swirls are cooling make the frosting.

frosting:
40g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-3 tbsp boiling water

Beat the butter, icing sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. I tend to add my icing sugar a little at a time to avoid it exploding everywhere, but to each their own. Add a tablespoon of hot water one at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. tip - to make these even more pumpkin pie like add about a tsp of cinnamon to the frosting and beat well! 

Once the swirls are cooled spread the frosting on top of each one with a spoon! Then enjoy!

These are one of those treats that ticks all the boxes - they are easy, although they take a bit of time. Also they taste good and best of all they are full of all the spices I associate with comfort and winter!

Are you feeling the pumpkin love? Check out some of my other pumpkin bakes: Spiced Pumpkin Cake; Pumpkin Cupcakes; Pumpkin Spice M&M Cookies; Pumpkin Pie; Pumpkin Pasties (another great recipe for half a can of pumpkin puree); Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins; Pumpkin Spice Latte Meringues; Pumpkin Cake.

*recipe is adapted from a recipe in Sugar Sugar: every recipe has a story by Kimberly Reiner and Jenna Sanz-Agero