Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

Enjoy a big batch of these easy and festive Christmas pinwheel cookies. These bright and colourful peppermint sugar cookies are guaranteed to make the Grinch’s heart grow three sizes, and are great for cookie exchanges or Christmas Eve treats. Switch the colours for different occasions and enjoy!

I’m so excited to share these peppermint Christmas pinwheel cookies with you!

Just look at those colours; red, green and white!

There really is no other colour combo that screams Christmas to me. I love them all swirled together. They look so pretty!

So pretty in fact that I can assure you that leaving these out on Christmas Eve will certainly stop the Grinch from stealing the Christmas cheer!

They are also a great hit with little ones; the colours and sprinkles delight even the biggest kids, which makes them perfect for festive cookie exchanges or gift boxes.

The best Christmas cookie dough

The best thing about these cookies, as well as how amazing they look, is how versatile the cookie dough is – it’s my most favourite sugar cookie dough recipe.

You’re also going to love…

• Beautiful even, soft bake that holds its shape when baked
• Fun to work with so you can make any festive shaped cookie you want
• Irresistible buttery flavour that makes you go back for more
• Leave them plain or flavour with peppermint, vanilla and more
• Slice and bake from frozen for cookies on demand

What you need to make Christmas pinwheel cookies

View my Amazon shopping list with equipment and ingredients.

When you’re ready to get stuck and made these very festive Christmas pinwheel cookies, go and grab these…

The Ingredients

• Butter – You can use either salted or unsalted butter with a pinch of fine sea salt. Unsalted gives you more control of how much salt you have in your recipe. Remember to bring this up to room temperature before using.
• Plain Flour or All-Purpose Flour
• Caster Sugar or Superfine Sugar
• Peppermint Extract – This will give the cookies a delicate minty flavour or you could use vanilla extract instead
• Baking Powder – Just a little bit to help the cookies stay light and soft
• Eggs – Remember to take them out of the fridge before you want to use them; 15 minutes should be plenty of time.
• Red Food Colouring Gel
• Green Food Colouring Gel
• Red, Green and White Sprinkles

For the flavour, you can either add vanilla extract or give the cookies a festive twist. I’ve gone for peppermint extract in these for that classic Holiday flavour.

You could try a little lemon zest and poppyseeds for a fresh spring taste. Or maybe orange extract and zest for an alternative festive flavour.

The Equipment

There is absolutely no fancy equipment needed here!

All you really need to grab is a large mixing bowl and a rolling pin. I prefer to mix my cookie dough using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment; but you could use a hand held mixer or a spoon to bring everything together.

You’ll also need plastic wrap or cling film to wrap the cookie dough in, before chilling.

How to make the pinwheel swirl

Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card

Isn’t that pinwheel pretty and beautiful? Perfectly swirly it’s one Dr Seuss and the Whos of Whoville would be proud of!

And believe me, they are quite simple to make. Just take your time, have a little patience, and follow these steps…

Rolling out the dough

After you’ve chilled the cookie dough, it’s time to roll it out. You’ll want to work with each piece individually to get them to roughly the same size and thickness. First up – the plain cookie dough.

• Place the chilled dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap or cling film , and lay another piece over the top.
• Gently roll out the dough between the cling film into a large rectangle about 4-5mm thick. And after every 5 rolls, peel back the top layer of cling film to release the dough. Replace, then continue roll out.
• Repeat the rolling out for the green and red cookies doughs, so you end up with three different coloured dough rectangles, all about the same size.

Assembling the cookie dough layers

Next up – layering! This will be the order your colours swirl together when rolled up. I’m going for green, plain then red; but you can layer in whatever order you prefer.

• Start by removing the top pieces of cling film from the plain and red cookie doughs. Then place the uncovered side of the red dough on top of the uncovered side of the plain dough. Flip over the dough and remove the remaining cling film from the plain dough.
• Take the cling film off the top of the green dough, then place the green dough on top of the uncovered plain dough.
• Finally, to seal the cookie dough layers together, gently roll over the green cookie dough still covered in cling film.

Rolling up the cookie log

Now you’ve got all the dough layers sealed together, it’s time to roll it up. Start by removing the wrap from the green dough, then from the narrow end of the dough, begin to roll the dough into a log.

TOP TIP: Use the bottom layer of the cling film still on the bottom cookie dough layer , to help pull the dough into a tight roll.

Decorating the cookie log

If you want to leave you cookies there, go ahead and chill the dough, before and slicing up and baking. But if you want to add a little extra festive touch, then get the sprinkles ready!

• The best way to get your sprinkles onto the dough is to pour them into a shallow baking tray. This stops them from escaping all out the worksurface.
• Pop your cookie dough log on top of the sprinkles and roll! You might need to add a little gentle pressure to get the sprinkles to stick. Keep going until you have a good, even coverage all over the outside of the dough.
• Last but not least, re-wrap the dough and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour before slicing them up and popping in the oven.

Frequently asked questions

Top tips for Christmas pinwheel cookies

Trust me, follow the recipe and take your time rolling the cookie dough and you’re going to end up with some of the most awesomely festive sugar cookies. But to make sure you absolutely nail them, you’ll want to check out these top tops…

• Keep your dough chilled – Sugar cookie dough can be sticky, so when you’re not working with it pop it in the fridge to keep it cool. It will be so much easier to handle and roll out.
• Don’t roll your dough too thin – If you get a bit too eager when rolling out your dough and take it too thin, when you roll it up it’s more likely to crack or tear. The easiest way to make sure your dough is the correct thickness is to use an adjustable rolling pin and set it to 5mm. These rolling pins are amazing, for getting the perfect dough thickness every time.
• Use food colouring gels – When you bake the cookies, the colours will fade a little, so make sure your raw cookie dough is a really strong colour. I prefer ProGel food colouring gels, but Americolor gels create fantastic colours too! Avoid liquid food colouring as it will make your dough wet and sticky.
• Chill the cookie dough before cutting – Once rolled up, chill your cookie dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour, but ideally overnight. The chilled dough will be easier to cut and the cookies will hold their shape better when baked.
• Make one smooth cut – Use a large sharp kitchen knife to cut your cookie dough into round, and do it one smooth action. Do not saw through the cookie dough or use a serrated knife as this will cause the dough to tear.
• If all else fails… cheat – If you don’t want to make your own cookie dough, you can make these with store-bought cookie dough. Split it into three and colour each portion before assembling for the pinwheel swirl. Bake according to the packet instructions. You can find ready made cookie dough in the chiller section at the supermarket.