Sugar Free Swirl Cookies

  The holiday parties are getting pretty crazy for me this year, so far I have been to about two and everyone has had more than one drink. I didn’t even recognize a few of my co-workers once they had a few drinks in them. I guess once the holidays come around you barely know the people you spend so much time with during the year!  During this holiday season I am maintaining my weight instead of losing are gaining any. I am doing a pretty good job at maintaining my weight, and I think it’s thanks to all the sugar free recipes I have been making.

We have a big annual potluck every year; we have to cook something special and write a little note about the dish. I dread the potluck, because every year someone tries to outdo the rest of the group with an extravagant dish and a real cheesy note next to it.This year I decided to make sugar free swirl cookies. I have not been eating any sugar at all, and since a few of my coworkers found out they were diabetic.  I decided to make a sugar free festive treat that tastes great!    Sugar Free Swirl Cookies can be made with any color, but you may have a hard time working the color into the dough. I don’t think splenda takes food coloring to well. It took me 15 minutes to work in the color.I also found that chilling the cookie dough in the fridge was pointless. The freezer is the way to go. Depending on the temperature of your freezer; I would say 30 minutes to an hour is more than enough.  They are also perfect with a glass of milk and went like hot cakes at the holiday potluck. 

Sugar Free Swirl Cookies Recipe:
3 ½ cups Flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ cups splenda
1 cup whipped butter, softened
1 egg and 2 egg whites
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp. mint extract
Food coloring
Recipe Directions:  Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl.   Cream the butter with splenda in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and extracts until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until evenly blended. Gather the dough into a ball, and divide into two equal parts. Place one half in a second bowl. Add red food coloring to the dough in one bowl, and green food coloring to the dough in the other bowl. Use a fork or wooden spoon to blend the food coloring into the dough until evenly blended. Add additional drops of food coloring to make the desired shade. Let dough chill for 30 minutes covered with a towel in the freezer or until the dough hardens.  Roll out the red dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Roll out the green dough to 1/4 inch thickness, and place on top of the red dough. Beginning on one edge, roll each dough to make a log so the two colors spiral inside each other. Wrap the log in waxed paper, then in a cotton towel, and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Important: If you’re skeptical about the freezer place in fridge for 8 hours, but they will not be easy to slice. We’re working with a sugar sub, it does not act like sugar at all…. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough log, and place on a clean, lightly floured surface. Slice the log into rounds 1/8 inch thick, and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven until set,  4 to 6 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent edges from browning. Remove from oven, and cool on racks.