Description
Celebrate the festive season with these delightful Christmas Pinwheel Cookies featuring swirls of red, green, and white dough rolled with holiday sprinkles. These buttery, sweet cookies are chilled and sliced for perfect shape and baked to a light golden finish—ideal for holiday gatherings and gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour (360 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (225 g)
- ½ cup light brown sugar (100 g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coloring and Decoration
- ½ teaspoon red food coloring
- ½ teaspoon green food coloring
- ½ cup holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Prepare Dry Mix: In a mixing bowl, combine 3 cups all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt; set aside for later use.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together 1 cup softened unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar, and ½ cup granulated sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Beat in 1 large room temperature egg and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract into the creamed mixture, mixing until well combined.
- Combine Flour Mixture: Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring with a spatula or mixer until no streaks of flour remain and the dough is uniform.
- Divide and Color Dough: Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Add ½ teaspoon red food coloring to one portion, ½ teaspoon green food coloring to another, and leave the last portion plain. Mix each thoroughly until colors are uniform.
- Roll Dough Layers: On a lightly floured surface, roll each colored dough portion into a 12×8 inch (30×20 cm) rectangle. Layer the doughs by placing the green rectangle on the surface first, then the plain white dough on top, and finally the red dough.
- Form Pinwheel Log: Starting from the long end, tightly roll the layered dough stack into a log. Roll the log in ½ cup holiday sprinkles to coat the outside, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. The log may lengthen slightly as you roll.
- Chill Dough: Refrigerate the wrapped dough log for at least 3 hours to firm up, making it easier to slice thinly and maintain the swirl pattern.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) or 160°C if using a fan oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Slice and Bake: Remove dough from fridge and slice into ¼ inch thick slices. Place slices cut side down on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them slightly apart.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cookies are slightly puffed and the edges are lightly golden. Rotate baking sheets halfway through baking for even cooking.
- Cool: Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Rotate baking sheets halfway through the baking time to ensure even cooking and uniform color.
- This recipe yields approximately 36 to 48 cookies depending on how tightly you roll and how thinly you slice.
- Keep the dough chilled before slicing to maintain the distinct swirl colors and prevent spreading.
- Extra dough scraps can be recombined for a pretty multicolored swirl and baked as additional cookies.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 70 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
