Peanut Whirligigs

From the second Grand National Pillsbury Bake Off 1950 Peanut Whirligigs by senior winner Mrs. May Kendrick, Akron, Ohio.

"Fresh roasted peanuts and cream cheese flavor this cooky dough.  It's spread with melted chocolate, rolled like a jelly roll, and sliced to make pinwheel cookies."

For some reason I made all these cookies in the order of how they appeared in the gift box (see below), from left to right.  After making the first cookie, Cherry Winks, and then the multi stepped brownies I started to rethink making all 6 cookies.  I decided to revise my plan into just making three or at most four of the options.  This was getting to be too much.  Since I didn't think I was going to be making the Whirligigs, I used all of my chocolate on the tops of the brownies.  I went on to make the spirtz cookies because normally these are pretty quick and easy.  Then I said "Done."  I couldn't help thinking about how the set was not complete though.  I had wanted so much to take on the challenge and bake the whole box of "satisfaction".  I had to complete the set! So I pushed forward with the Mad Hatters but the Peanut Whirligigs had some improvising because I was out of chocolate. And there was no way I has going to any grocery store on Christmas eve.  I don't do crowds and I knew all that would be left on the shelf would be the fancy Ghirardelli expensive stuff, which is not happening.  What else did I have in my pantry?  Nutella! These cookies were a pain to make because of doing the jelly roll thing and then "tying them off" with string trying to get the pinwheel look to show clearly on each one and hold a circular shape.  I think the only thing going for them is the nutella and I would not make these again...But if you are a completest as I am here is the recipe:   

Recipe Peanut Whirligigs:

So just one last look at how amazing the cookies looked all together with the packaging.  

The fam loved them and oohed and ahhhed! I was really proud of how they turned out.  Even though the Cameo Tea Cookies and the Whirligigs were bland at least they weren't fruitcake!

{These cookies are Grand National Pillsbury Bake Off winners that I baked for Christmas gifts as shown in this Good Housekeeping magazine ad from December 1951.}