Description
These festive Christmas Pinwheel Cookies feature swirls of red, green, and white dough rolled together with holiday sprinkles. Perfectly soft and lightly golden, these colorful cookies are chilled before slicing to keep their vibrant pattern intact, making them ideal for holiday celebrations and cookie exchanges.
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
Other Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon red food coloring
- ½ teaspoon green food coloring
- ½ cup holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, combine the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside for later use.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Beat in the large egg and pure vanilla extract to the creamed butter mixture until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Mix in Flour Mixture: Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until no streaks of flour remain and dough is uniform.
- Divide and Color Dough: Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Add red food coloring to one portion, green food coloring to another, and leave the third portion white. Mix each until the color is evenly distributed.
- Roll and Layer Dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll each colored dough into roughly 12 by 8 inch (30 by 20 cm) rectangles. Layer the doughs by placing the green rectangle first, then the white on top, and finally the red on top of all.
- Roll into Log and Coat: Starting from the long end, tightly roll the layered dough into a log. Roll the log in holiday sprinkles until coated. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Chill Dough Log: Refrigerate the wrapped dough log for at least 3 hours to firm up and set the shape.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Sheets: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) or 160°C if using a fan oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice and Bake Cookies: Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and slice into ¼ inch thick slices. Place cookies cut side down on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies are slightly puffed and lightly golden on edges. Rotate midway for even baking if desired.
- Cool Cookies: Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Rotate cookies halfway through baking to ensure even cooking and browning.
- This recipe yields about 36 to 48 cookies depending on how tightly the dough is rolled and sliced.
- Keeping the dough chilled is essential to maintain sharp, firm colors and to make slicing easier.
- Trimmings of dough create pretty multi-colored swirls and can be baked separately for extra cookies.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 50 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
