Put a spin on your holidays with these pinwheel cookies! This Peppermint Pinwheel recipe makes rich-tasting cookies with a minty surprise that everyone will love!
A swirl of color and a hint of peppermint make these festive cookies perfect for the holidays! They may look like they are difficult to make, but they are as easy as rolling out cookie dough. Easy enough for the kids to help, and they will love baking (and eating!) these swirly treats!
An added bonus is that the dough logs can be frozen ahead of time to be sliced and baked whenever the need for cookies arises. Perfect for those surprise holiday visitors or cookie exchanges!
Anyway you slice it, these Peppermint Pinwheels are a great addition to your holiday cookie platter.
Ingredients:
scroll down for full recipe with exact measurments
- butter
- sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- peppermint extract
- flour
- baking powder
- cream of tartar
- salt
- red food coloring
How to Make Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and optional peppermint extract until combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
Divide dough in half and dye half red with the food dye.
On a clean, floured surface, roll each dough out into a rectangle approximately 1/4” thick, and then layer the red dough on top of the undid dough.
Roll the doughs up in a log form and then wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate one hour.
Preheat oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut the cookies in 1/4” thick circles. (Discard the uneven ends.)
Place the cut cookies on the prepared cookie sheets and bake
Tips
When rolling out the dough, try your best to keep both halves the same overall size and thickness so that you can more easily roll them up together and the swirls are more ‘uniform’.
Use as much or as little of the red food coloring to color the dough, or change up the colors to make blue or green swirls.
If peppermint isn’t your thing, you can leave it out and just add a little bit more vanilla extract – about another 1/2 teaspoon.
Print
Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Description
Put a spin on your holidays with these bright swirls! This Peppermint Pinwheel recipe makes rich-tasting cookies with a minty surprise that everyone will love!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- red food coloring
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and optional peppermint extract until combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.
- Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture
- Divide dough in half and dye half red with the food dye
- On a clean, floured surface, roll each dough out into a rectangle approximately 1/4” thick, and then layer the red dough on top of the undid dough.
- Roll the doughs up in a log form and then wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and cut the cookies in 1/4” thick circles. (Discard the uneven ends.)
- Place the cut cookies on the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 8-12 minutes, until just slightly golden
