Coconut Cream Cheese Pinwheels

Well well well- we've gotten to the home stretch in my cookie decathlon.  For the final batch, these tricky little monsters that are oh so delicious and oh so devilish to make.  I got the recipe from my Martha Stewart Cookies book, which is different from the one on her website.  Wonder why.  Anyway,  If you find any tricks to working with sticky cookie dough, please share!

Just look at those stealthy ninja star temptresses!

Ingredients
For the dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the filling

• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I get mine at Whole Foods)
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

For the glaze

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling (I just used granulated sugar)
• 1/3 cup strawberry jam

Directions

1. Make dough by whisking together flour, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl.  Set aside.  Mix butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, set to medium-high speed for about 2 minutes or until butter mixture is fluffy.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.  Divide dough in half, and pat into disks.  Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until dough is firm, 1-2 hours.  Maybe overnight would help with the sticky factor.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats.
3. Make filling by creaming together cream cheese and sugar in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, until fluffy.  Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.
4. Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator.  Roll about 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface.  I tried rolling it out between pieces of wax paper, and had to be very careful with pulling the paper off my super thin dough.  I have no clue if I got it to 1/8 inch thickness, but it was as thin as I could go and still work with it.  
5. With a fluted cookie cutter or pastry wheel, cut into fifteen 2 1/2 inch squares.  I broke out the tape measure for that, I kid you not!  Transfer to prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
6. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut 1-inch slits diagonally from each corner toward the center (but don't cut all the way to the middle; leave a spot in the middle for the filling).  Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.  Fold over every other tip of the cut pastry to cover the filling, forming a pinwheel.  Press lightly to seal.  Use the tip of your finger to make a well in the top.
7. Make the glaze by using a pastry brush to lightly brush the tops of the pinwheels with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake 6 minutes.  Remove and use the lightly floured handle of a wooden spoon to make the well a little deeper in each cookie.  Fill each well with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam.  Return to oven and bake, rotating halfway through, 6 more minutes.
8. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool 5 minutes.  Transfer cookies to rack and let cool completely.  Roll out remaining dough and repeat.