Masa Harina Pinwheels

Masa harina rainbow pinwheels - mostly for my buddy John.
(A slight adaptation of my Rosaquillas recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups instant corn masa (also called masa harina)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup water at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar & food coloring (for rainbows)   

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place silpat sheets or parchment paper on two cookie sheets.
2. Make up rainbow colored sugar:
• Put a couple of tablespoons of sugar into a small ziplock bag (or clean pill bottles)
• Add a drop or two of food color into the bag.
• Seal the bag and shake it up.
• If the sugar forms clump, use your fingers to press the clumps out.
• Keep working at it until the color is nice and uniform.
• Try to make red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
• You probably want extra of red (50% more), orange (40% more, and yellow (30% more) to even out rainbow - see my notes.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the masa harina flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a separate stand mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. 
5. Add the granulated sugar to the butter in a slow, steady stream, continuing to beat until the mixture is well blended and creamy.
6. To the creamed butter, add the water, alternating with blended dry ingredients. 
7. Beat the mixture with the paddle attachment of the electric food mixer until a uniform dough is formed.
8. Roll put the dough into a rectangle with long edge on top.
9. Spread purple sugar in row along top edge, then blue sugar, ... ending with red sugar at bottom. The colors should overlap a little.
10. Gently roll up the dough starting from the red row. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
11. Slice into 1/4" or so wide cookies, and place on prepared cookie sheets. (Use a sharp knife or dental floss to cut.)
12. Gently press cookies with the palm of your hand, flattening slightly.
13. Bake until cooked through and lightly browned on the bottom and around the edges, 20-25 minutes.

Carole's Notes:

The next time I make these I would change the color sugar proportions. Since the cookie is rolled up from the bottom, if you make the red orange and yellow rows maybe 50%, 40%, and 30% wider than the other colors, the cookies will appear to have better balanced rainbows.

Recipe is adapted here http://carolelikesroundfood.blogspot.com/2014/12/rosquillas-nicaraguan-corn-masa-cookies.html which builds from http://zesterdaily.com/cooking/corn-masa-cookies-in-nicaragua/ plus ideas for rainbow cookies from various sources.