Cranberry Pomegranate Shortbread Spiral Cookies

Ingredients

For the filling
1 cup cranberries fresh or frozen
½ cup date pieces
2 tsp pomegranate molasses syrup
2 tbsp water

For the shortbread
4 oz unsalted butter 1 stick, brought to room temperature and cut into cubes
2 oz sugar 55g, approx ¼ cup – I used light brown but any relatively fine
4 oz all purpose flour, approx ¾ cup
2 oz cornstarch, approx ⅓ cup
¼ tsp cinnamon

Directions

First make the filling by putting all the filling ingredients (cranberries, date pieces, pomegranate molasses and water) in a small pan. Heat over a medium-low heat and stir occasionally until the cranberries pop and break up and the mixture comes together as a jam. It will still be a little lumpy.

Set aside to cool -it can be kept covered at room temperature or refrigerated for a couple days.

When ready to make the shortbread, preheat oven to 350F.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add flour and corn starch/cornflour and mix together but be careful not to over mix.

Divide the mixture in two and roll out half the mixture on a surface floured with a little corn starch. Roll to around ¼ inch thick, or thinner if you can, into a square or rectangular shape.

Carefully spread a very thin layer of the jam over the shortbread then roll from one side into a spiral, being careful to not have gaps as you roll and smoothing any cracks in the dough. Cover in plastic/cling film and either freeze for around 10-12min or chill in the fridge for a couple hours. Either way, when you go to cut it the dough should be firm and not squash. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Note – You may well not need all of the jam.

After chilling, carefully slice the log of dough into relatively thin slices and place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for around 10-12min until just starting to brown. Allow to cool a minute before transferring to a cooling rack.