Christmas Pinwheels

These fun, festive Christmas pinwheel cookies are perfect for the holidays with layers of swirled sugar cookie dough for the ultimate sweet treat!

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Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Total Time3

Servings

Table of Contents

Let’s Dish: About These Pinwheel Christmas Cookies
Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Ingredients
Pinwheel Cookie Substitutions And Additions
How To Make This Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Recipe
How To Serve These Old Fashioned Christmas Pinwheels
Storing Christmas Pinwheels
Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Frequently Asked Questions
More Recipes You’ll Love
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Christmas pinwheel cookies are a playful and delicious way to celebrate the holiday season. With red and white swirls and bright nonpareil sprinkles, these cookies are simple to make and add a touch of festive fun to your dessert table. The buttery sugar cookie base melts in your mouth, while the pop of color makes them a favorite for cookie exchanges and holiday parties. Whether you’re an experienced baker or just looking for something new, these cookies are a must-try this year.

christmas pinwheels cookies stacked on top of each other on a plate

Let’s Dish: About These Pinwheel Christmas Cookies

MAIN INGREDIENTS: granulated sugar, salted butter, vanilla extract, egg, all-purpose flour, baking powder, red food coloring

QUICK STEPS: cream sugar, butter, and vanilla; add egg, then mix in flour and baking powder; divide dough, color half with red food coloring; chill, roll, and layer dough into pinwheel logs; chill again, slice, and bake

TOTAL TIME AND YIELD: 3 hours, 36 servings

Why This Recipe

Eye-Catching Design Made Simple: The red and white pinwheel pattern looks intricate but is easy to achieve with straightforward layering and rolling techniques. Each step is carefully explained, making it approachable for any home baker.
Perfect Texture and Flavor: Our team crafted this recipe to give the cookies a soft, buttery texture that melts in your mouth, with just the right level of sweetness to keep them balanced and not overly sugary.

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Ingredients

christmas pinwheels raw ingredients that are labeled

You’ll need:

1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon red liquid food coloring

FOOD COLORING: You can easily switch the food coloring to a different color to mix up the look of these Christmas swirl cookies. Green works, as well as red, or you could even make a snowy theme and go with blue.

SPRINKLES: A great way to add a little something else to these easy pinwheel cookies is to add sprinkles. Before baking, you can add the sprinkles around the outside of the log.

How To Make This Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Recipe

STEP ONE: In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract.

Beat the ingredients on medium speed until creamy, about two minutes. Use a rubber spatula and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the egg and continue mixing until combined.

butter, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla creamed together in a measuring cup

STEP TWO: Add the flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients and mix together on the low setting until no streaks of the flour mixture are visible.

flour, salt, and baking soda added to a measuring cup

STEP THREE: Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Divide the dough in half and remove half of it to a piece of parchment paper.

Add the red food coloring to the remaining dough in the stand mixer bowl and mix together on low speed until the color is uniform.

food coloring added to the dough in a measuring cup

STEP FOUR: Divide each dough portion in half so you have two red dough and two white dough pieces.

Form each piece into its own separate rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

STEP FIVE: After the dough is finished chilling, remove one piece of dough, and roll dough out on a piece of parchment paper with a rolling pin until it is roughly an 11×7 rectangle.

Repeat with all pieces of dough. Trim the edges with a knife so you have straight lines.

STEP SIX: Once all four pieces of dough are rolled out, carefully place one red dough piece on top of the dough-colored piece.

On the other two pieces, place the red piece on the bottom.

STEP SEVEN: Carefully roll each rectangle into a long log. Wrap in plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for an additional one to two hours, or overnight.

OUR RECIPE DEVELOPER SAYS

Don’t skip the chilling time. This will help them keep their rolled shape.

logs wrapped in wax paper on a wooden board

STEP EIGHT: When ready to bake these cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

PRO TIP:

While completely optional, we love how these cookies look with sprinkles on the outside. Roll the log in colorful sprinkles before slicing.

STEP NINE: Remove one log from the refrigerator, and with a sharp knife, carefully slice ¼ to ½-inch thick cookies, depending on how thick you want them.

Space cookies about one inch apart on the baking sheet.

Place in the oven and bake cookies for nine to 11 minutes.

PRO TIP:

These cookies taste best if they are not overcooked, so watch them carefully.

STEP TEN: Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for two to three minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

STEP ELEVEN: Repeat the steps to finish cooking the remaining log of cookies.

How To Serve These Old Fashioned Christmas Pinwheels

The spiral of classic Christmas colors will make these cookies a welcome addition to your holiday season. Share them at a festive cookie swap or save them for Christmas Eve along with a warm mug of homemade hot chocolate or mint hot chocolate.

While you are in a baking mood, how about trying some Christmas fudge? Our snowman truffles are adorable as well and would make those little ones’ eyes light up.

MORE CHRISTMAS RECIPES

Cookie Recipes

Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Dessert Bars

Christmas Bar Cookies

Storing Christmas Pinwheels

ON THE COUNTER: Store any cookies in an airtight container at room temperature on the counter. You can keep them there for up to one week.

IN THE FREEZER: You can freeze the unbaked log for up to a month. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and pop it into a freezer bag.

This means you can make bigger batches, freeze some, and finish the process whenever you need them.

a close up shot of Christmas Pinwheels on a platter

These Christmas pinwheel cookies are a festive, soft, and visually fun treat that brings holiday cheer to any gathering. Easy to make and even better to share, they’re bound to become a seasonal favorite.

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Frequently Asked Questions

How do I store these pinwheel Christmas cookies?

This festive recipe will be fine stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week.

Can I freeze the cookie dough log?

Yes! For this Christmas pinwheel cookie recipe, you can freeze and bake it later. Just wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw frozen dough, slice, and bake.

Can I change the color of these festive cookies?

The sky’s the limit, and you can make these fun Christmas cookies any color you’d like! You could even use this recipe at another time of year for a different holiday, just by changing the dough color.

More Recipes You’ll Love

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

5 from 5 votes

These fun, festive Christmas pinwheel cookies are perfect for the holidays with layers of swirled sugar cookie dough for the ultimate sweet treat!

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 3

Servings

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe

Ingredients

1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon red liquid food coloring

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Beat the ingredients on medium until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Use a rubber spatula and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and continue mixing until combined.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix together on the low setting until no streaks of flour are visible.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Divide the dough in half and remove half of it to a piece of parchment paper. Add the food coloring to the remaining dough in the stand mixer bowl and mix together on low speed until the color is uniform.
Divide each half of the dough in half so that you have 2 red and 2 dough-colored pieces. Form each piece into its own separate rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
After the dough is finished chilling, remove one piece of dough and roll it out on a piece of parchment paper until it is roughly an 11×7-inch rectangle. Repeat with all pieces of dough. Trim the edges with a knife, so you have straight lines.
Once all 4 pieces of dough are rolled out, carefully place one red piece on top of the dough-colored piece. On the other two pieces, place the red on the bottom.
Carefully roll each rectangle into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for an additional 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.
When ready to bake these cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Remove 1 log from the refrigerator and carefully slice ¼ to ½-inch-thick cookies, depending on how thick you want them.
Space cookies about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are barely starting to brown on the edges. These cookies taste best if they are not overcooked, so watch them carefully.
Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Repeat the steps to finish cooking the remaining log of cookies.

Video

Notes

Don’t skip the chilling time. This will help them keep their rolled shape.
While completely optional, we love how these cookies look with sprinkles on the outside. Roll the log in colorful sprinkles before slicing.
These cookies taste best if they are not overcooked, so watch them carefully.

Nutrition

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Proudly Prepared by the Spaceships Kitchen

This recipe was developed, tested, cooked and photographed by the Spaceships Kitchen. From our dinner table to yours, we hope you think it's out of this world!

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Stefanie Knaus Photographer
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Christmas Pinwheel Cookies