Dutch Windmill Cookies – kinda

This past week, as is customary, St. Nicholas and his helper, Black Pete, traveled by boat from Spain to Holland.  This year, as reported by a friend who lives in The Netherlands, the duo took an unscheduled plunge when the boat capsized on their way into Groningen (in northern Holland).  Luckily, the water was shallow, albeit icy, and no one was hurt.  Despite the drenching, tonight Dutch children will open gifts (I wonder what the boat captain will get?) and families will read poems they’ve composed for each other.

In honor of the soggy saint, I made a batch of what I call Polish Dutch windmill cookies.  The directions somehow got all mixed up in my head and being somewhat Polish, I didn’t think to look at the picture until after I had baked the cookies.  They’re a bit more pinwheel than windmill, but you get the general idea.  They still taste pretty darn good and isn’t that what’s important?

The link below will take you to the updated directions, which are a bit easier to follow than the instructions in the recipe book I have.

Dutch Windmill Cookies (from Land O Lakes)

¼ c sour cream

½ t baking soda

1 ¾ c flour

½ t salt

¼ t cinnamon

¼ t nutmeg

1/8 t ground cloves

1 c packed brown sugar

½ c butter, softened

sliced almonds

Heat oven to 350°F.

In a small bowl, stir together sour cream and baking soda. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Beat together brown sugar and butter until creamy.  At low speed, mix in sour cream mixture until thoroughly combined. Then, thoroughly incorporate flour mixture.

Again, I’m going to refer you back to the original website for directions on cutting and shaping the cookies.  

Bake the cookies 7 - 11 minutes, or until set and lightly browned and cool on the cookie sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

As an aside, I found it easier to work with the dough after it had been chilled.  I put the dough between two sheets of waxed paper and rolled it into a square, as indicated.  Then I slid the dough and paper onto a cookie sheet and moved it to the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Good luck and Vrolijk Kerstfeest!

If you want to create pinwheels, here's what I did.

Cut the dough into triangles

Arrange the triangles on the cookie sheet

Press a couple sliced almonds into the center of the pinwheel (or windmill)