Description
These festive Christmas Pinwheel Cookies feature a beautiful swirl of red, green, and white dough rolled into a log, coated with colorful nonpareils, and baked to a delicate, buttery finish. Perfect for holiday gatherings, these cookies combine vanilla flavor with optional extra zest for a cheerful and tasty treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough
- 3/4 cup salted butter softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Optional: 1/2-1 teaspoon additional flavoring extracts or lemon zest
Coloring and Decoration
- Red gel food coloring
- Green gel food coloring
- Holiday colored nonpareils
Instructions
- Prepare the butter and sugars: Combine the softened salted butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar in a mixer. Beat well until the mixture is light and fluffy, ensuring good aeration.
- Add eggs and flavorings: Mix in the two large eggs, vanilla extract, and any optional additional flavorings like extracts or lemon zest. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to incorporate all ingredients evenly.
- Combine dry ingredients and form dough: Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Then divide the dough evenly into three balls.
- Color the dough: Return one-third of the dough to the mixing bowl and add 5-10 drops of red gel food coloring. Mix until evenly colored. Repeat with another third of the dough and green gel food coloring, leaving the last third uncolored (white dough).
- Chill the dough discs: Flatten each colored dough ball into a disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 1 hour to firm up properly.
- Roll out dough layers: Roll out each chilled dough disc on parchment paper into even rectangles with roughly the same size and shape. Stack the layers with white dough in the middle, red and green on the top and bottom. Trim the long edges so they are even for a clean pinwheel look.
- Roll into a log: Using the parchment paper, carefully roll the stacked dough into a tight log to avoid cracks. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours to firm up for slicing.
- Coat with nonpareils: Unwrap the chilled dough log and roll it on a baking sheet lined with holiday colored nonpareils. Press gently so the sprinkles stick well and coat the outside evenly.
- Slice and bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the dough log into 1/4-inch thick cookies using a sharp knife, spacing them 1-2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake and cool: Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies are set. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
- Ensure the butter is softened but not melted to get a light, fluffy dough texture.
- Press sprinkles gently but firmly to ensure they stick well to the dough log before slicing.
- The optional additional flavorings like lemon zest or almond extract can add a nice twist to the classic flavor.
- If you prefer, chill the dough log overnight for better slicing and flavor development.
- Store unbaked dough log wrapped in the fridge for up to one week.
- Use a very sharp knife to slice the logs cleanly and prevent cracking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 90 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: 30 mg
