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There’s no doubt about it – these are some mighty pretty Christmas cookies! Although holiday baking is largely about the flavor of the delicious treats you make, how they look is also important. It isn’t necessarily hard to make such nice-looking cookies, and these chocolate roll cookies are easy even for beginner home bakers.
Italian chocolate filled cookies are a holiday favorite, so consider adding these sensational sweet treats to your Christmas baking list this season.
Love festive baking? Also try Italian fig cookies, jam kolachy cookies, canestrelli cookies, and cinnamon lattice cookies.
Italian Rolled Chocolate Cookie Ingredients
The chocolate cookie roll will have a tasty, flaky crust and a spicy, nutty filling which everyone will go wild for. The crust is made with cream cheese, to keep it light and soft, while the chocolate filling has chocolate chips, condensed milk and chopped walnuts. In addition, we are using vanilla and cinnamon in these chocolate log cookies to give them the perfect flavour.
Pretty much every Christmas cookie tray has some variation of a chocolate-based log or cookies in it. Whether you know them as cookies, logs or rolls, there are different kinds to choose from. This recipe is one of the Italian cookie recipes that my Italian family makes, although I am not sure if they are traditional Italian cookies. These chocolatey cookies are great for Christmas baking but you can find them in bakeries throughout the year too.
Chocolate and Nuts: The Perfect Combo
Holiday baking is all about special, festive tastes, and combining chocolate with nuts results in such a perfect cookie for special occasions. The taste is well-rounded and you can serve this with any drink you want, or even for dessert. Chocolate and nuts are both indulgent ingredients which go together so nicely. There are other chocolate nut cakes and cookies to choose from, if you want to do some Christmas baking. These Italian fudge roll cookies are one of the best ones though if you like sweet cookies during the holiday season!
You will need to plan this chocolate nut roll cookies recipe ahead because the dough needs to go in the refrigerator overnight. If you skip this step, the dough won’t hold together when you try to roll it out. So plan to spend one day drooling over the thought of these chocolate roll cookies before you actually get to taste one! Yep – chilling the dough for at least 8 hours is an important part of this Italian recipe. Don’t skip it because you will want to eat these delicious cookies!
The reason for the long chilling time is that we are using cream cheese to make the dough for this chocolate log cookies recipe. This is along with margarine (butter if you’d rather) and flour. This makes very soft dough which does need to be very cold before rolling it up. The cream cheese is a great ingredient though because it results in such a light, flaky crust!
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out. Maybe even use two layers. Once the dough is sufficiently cold, you can roll it out and then prepare the filling. The filling is spread over the rolled out dough, then it is time to roll it up. This is how you make the log. The fudge filled dessert strips are placed on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or cookie sheet to bake.
How to Shape and Cut Chocolate Roll Cookies
As you can see, we like to press the finished log down before slicing, so the Italian rolled cookies are long and thin. You could also make them round, like a Swiss roll, but this way looks more elegant. Make sure you give the logs of chocolate swirls enough time to cool to room temperature before slicing into fudge filled dessert strips. This will keep the cuts clean and ensure the chocolate roll cookies look their absolute best! These Italian chocolate fudge roll cookies will disappear fast, so it is great that this is an easy recipe.
Recipe Variations
As with many holiday baking recipes, these Italian fudge cookies can be customized. Choose from bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Even white chocolate chips would offer a change of pace, or you could use more than one type. The walnuts can be switched for chopped mixed nuts or another type. Pistachios or even cashews would work in these chocolate filled Italian cookies.
As for the vanilla extract, that really does give these Italian chocolate cookies a nice flavour, but almond extract would work too. The cinnamon is festive – try a pinch of nutmeg instead if you want though or even some allspice if that’s your thing.
There is always something impressive about homemade rolled cookies. They just look like they are tricky to make – but that couldn’t be further from the truth. And there’s no need to reveal these are actually pretty simple to prepare! The chocolate walnut pinwheel cookie will become a Christmas time tradition but it is also good any time of year.
These chocolate roll cookies, or chocolate pinwheel cookies, are great whenever you make them. Christmas is always a great time to try new recipes though, and this Italian chocolate cookies recipe is one that deserves to make it on to your holiday baking shortlist! These Italian chocolate roll cookies will impress guests at holiday parties and please the family when it’s time for an after dinner treat.
Italian Chocolate Roll Cookies Recipe
Italian Chocolate Roll Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 8 Ounces cream cheese
- 1 Cup butter
- 3 Cups all purpose flour
Filling
- 12 Ounces chocolate chips, milk
- 14 Ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 Cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/4 Tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 Tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the dough ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Knead together until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, place on plastic wrap and then refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets and set aside.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Sprinkle powdered sugar out on a flat surface. Roll out the dough to a ¼" thick rectangle or some people prefer a circle.
- Place the filling ingredients into a saucepan and cook on low heat until chocolate is melted.
- Spread the chocolate filling down the centre of each rectangle/circle. Fold to the centre and roll. Press to seal all edges. Turn log over so the seam sides are down.
- Put each log on the prepared baking sheet using two spatulas.
- Bake for 20 minutes to 40 minutes. If you like a softer doughy cookie, bake on the lower time range (this is what I prefer) but if you want a crispier flaky cookie bake longer. Cool the cookie log for 30 minutes, transfer to a cutting board and then slice into cookies. NOTE: the number of cookies will vary on how thick you cut them.
Nutrition
If you’re expecting a lot of guests though, you might want to double or triple these chocolate rolled cookies recipe. Christmas baking is all about not running out of the best snacks! These Christmas cookies keep for a couple of days in a sealed airtight container or a freezer bag.
Let me know if you add these Italian chocolate filled cookies to your holiday baking list this year. But watch out, they are VERY addictive! Everyone will want to know how to make this Italian fudge roll recipe.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Simple and delicious! There were no leftovers at all.
Love the sophisticated look and excellent flavor. My new favorite!
Delicious & very easy to make!❤️
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!