Serve the prettiest cookies at the exchange this year when you bring these homemade Christmas Pinwheel Cookies! Red and white swirled cookies are gorgeous and surprisingly easy to make from scratch. With just a hint of peppermint, they’re festively flavored and tasty as can be.
Christmas Cookie Pinwheels
If you’ve never made pinwheel cookies before, don’t worry. They’re a lot easier to make than you may think! The gorgeous red and white swirl in these cookies is pretty simple to achieve with my wonderfully easy-to-follow steps.
These Christmas cookies aren’t just pretty, either. They’re also deliciously sweet, buttery, and festive with just a touch of pure peppermint extract. Made with just 7 inexpensive ingredients, pinwheel cookies are a stunning AND budget-friendly cookie recipe!
Why You’ll Love this Pinwheel Cookies Recipe:
- Pretty: Don’t you just love serving a dessert that you know is gorgeous?! It gives you major bragging rights, especially when you snap a picture for social media.
- Festive: Ideal for Christmas cookie exchanges or leaving out for Santa Claus, these red and white swirled peppermint cookies are wonderfully festive.
- Scrumptious: Lightly flavored with peppermint, these buttery, sweet pinwheel cookies have the most amazing consistency and flavor.
How to Make Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Beat the butter and powdered sugar together.
- Mix in the flour, peppermint, and salt until smooth.
- Divide the dough in half.
- Add red food coloring to one-half of the dough.
- Roll the white dough into a rectangle on top of a sheet of plastic wrap.
- Carefully press the red dough on top of the white dough and roll it out.
- Roll the dough into a log.
- Chill the dough log.
- Preheat the oven and prepare a baking sheet,
- Slice the dough into ½-inch thick cookies.
- Bake.
- Cool, then enjoy!
Any brand will do the trick! Just make sure you’re using pure peppermint extract, not oil.
YES! This step is very important for making sure the cookies don’t spread out once they bake in the hot oven.
Definitely! In an airtight container or wrapped in both plastic wrap and aluminum foil, these cookies will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Make sure you follow the ingredients perfectly, as baking is a science! One ingredient measured incorrectly could result in cookies that don’t hold their shape. Also, make sure the dough is chilled for a full hour in the fridge.
Awe everyone at the cookie exchange when you bring these pinwheel cookies with you! They’re gorgeous, delicious, and usually disappear in minutes. Consider making a double batch if there will be a large crowd where you’re headed!
Be warned – if you make these pinwheel cookies this year for your family, they’ll expect them next year, and the year after that, and… Well, you get the idea.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Use a sharp knife to ensure nice clean cuts when you slice the dough log into cookies.
- When you slice the log, make sure you’re cutting the dough into perfect ½-inch slices. Use a ruler for the most exact measurements.
- CHILL THE DOUGH! It’s essential for this refrigerator cookie recipe, otherwise, your cookies will spread like crazy in the hot oven.
Can I use more than 2 colors of dough?
Yes! These cookies would be just as festive with green food coloring or even a combination of red, green, and white. For pinwheel cookies with 3 colors, simply split the dough into 3 sections (color 1 section red, 1 section green, and keep 1 section plain) and layer the dough in whichever order you desire.
What food coloring is best for pinwheel cookies?
I’ve found that gel food coloring yields the best results. It creates a wonderful vibrant color, and you don’t have to use a lot.
Can I make a chocolate version of these pinwheel cookies?
You sure can! Instead of having a plain white layer, add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder to create a rich chocolatey flavor.
Can I add sprinkles to these cookies before baking?
Yes, just roll the log in sprinkles (like nonpariels) before slicing and baking the cookies. Make sure they’re festive colors like green, red, and white.
This holiday season, make these festive pinwheel cookies that will have every elf in your house smiling from ear to ear!
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 226 grams, room temperature (2 sticks)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar 28 grams
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 50 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 grams
- ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract 3 grams
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Red food coloring
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and sugar together on high speed for 1 minute.1 cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup powdered sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Add the flour, peppermint extract, and salt and beat together until smooth.2 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Divide the dough into 2 equal sections. Keep one section in the stand mixer bowl and place the other section in a separate bowl.
- Add a drop or 2 of red food coloring to the dough that is still in the stand mixer bowl. Beat together until all of the dough is red.Red food coloring
- Place a large piece of plastic wrap onto the counter. Place the white (no food coloring added) dough on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle (approximately 7×9 inches).
- Remove the red dough from the bowl and carefully press or roll it out on top of the white dough. It should completely cover the white dough (and become the same shape as the white dough).
- Before rolling, slice about ¼ inch of dough off of the end closest to you so there’s a nice, neat line of dough to start with. This ensures pretty pinwheel centers.
- Use the plastic wrap the help you roll the dough into a log. Do not wrap the plastic wrap into the log. Once the dough is in a tight log, tightly wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Once the dough log has chilled, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and place on a cutting board. Cut the log into cookies about ½-inch thick.
- Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet leaving 2 inches of space between them.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes – the cookies will still look soft at this point.
- Remove them from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool before serving.
Notes
- Use a sharp knife to ensure nice clean cuts when you slice the dough log into cookies.
- When you slice the log, make sure you’re cutting the dough into perfect ½-inch slices. Use a ruler for the most exact measurements.
- CHILL THE DOUGH! It’s essential for this recipe, otherwise, your cookies will spread like crazy in the hot oven.
- These cookies would be just as festive with green food coloring or even a combination of red, green, and white. For pinwheel cookies with 3 colors, simply split the dough into 3 sections (color 1 section red, 1 section green, and keep 1 section plain) and layer the dough in whichever order you desire.
Hi! I’m curious how hard these cookies get when you bake them? Are they on the softer, chewy side? Or are they more crisp?
Obviously I will cook them for the specified time. 😊 Thank you!
These cookies are more crisp and shortbread-like!