Our Christmas Pinwheel Cookies will be the star of the holiday cookie swap! They are fun and festive and use our favorite classic sugar cookie recipe!

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

One of my absolute favorite things about the holidays is all of the baking. Yep, I’m one of those people who lives for baking all the goodies during the holiday season! Each year, I try to find a new and fun recipe to try out.

If you haven’t ever taken a try at making pinwheel cookies, then can I recommend that this year be THE year?! You will love them! Plus, they are so fun and festive (the colors are just awesome!) They are great to bring to a holiday party or perfect for a cookie exchange.

They are likely to be the center of attention at any party because of the bright red and green pinwheels that are created when you make them! To top it off the outside is covered in cute red, white, and green Christmas sprinkles. It adds a nice finishing touch and a little crunchy sweetness to the cookies.

These cookies require a few different steps, but they are actually much easier than you would think and the final product is more than worth it.

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies stacked on a red plate

So, if you’re like me and look forward to your holiday baking days, then this is definitely a recipe for you! Continue reading to find the ingredients you will need and a detailed list of instructions.

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Ingredients

To begin, you’ll basically be making classic sugar cookies, and then you’ll add the red and green food coloring to give them a festive finish!

1 cup of butter
½ cup of sugar
½ cup of powdered sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Red food coloring (about ¼ teaspoon gel food coloring or more to get the desired color)
Greed food coloring (about ¼ teaspoon gel food coloring or more to get the desired color)
4 tablespoons red, green, and white Christmas cake decorating sprinkles

How to Make Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

MIX: The sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Beat the ingredients on medium until creamy, about 2 minutes.
ADD: Add the egg and continue mixing until combined. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until all combined.
DIVIDE: The dough in half (leave half in the mixer and put the other half aside.) Add the red food coloring and almond extract to the dough in the mixer bowl and mix together on low speed until the color is uniform. Do the same with the other half of dough making that half green.
SPLIT: 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.
PRO-TIP: Do not skip this step!
ROLL: 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.
STACK: 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.
ROLL: 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.
PRO-TIP: Do not skip this step!
PREHEAT: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
SLICE: Remove 1 log from the refrigerator and carefully slice ¼ to ½-inch-thick cookies, depending on how thick you want them.
BAKE: 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.
COOL: Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
REPEAT: Repeat the steps to finish cooking the remaining log of cookies.

Cream together your butter, powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla. Then, add in the flour, salt, and baking soda until it forms a soft dough.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces and place each in its own bowl.
Add red food coloring to one ball of dough and work it into the dough until you reach a uniform color. Repeat this again by adding green food coloring to one ball of dough and working it into the dough until you reach a uniform color.
Transfer each ball of dough to its own piece of wax paper that has been lightly floured.
Flour top of the dough ball lightly and roll each piece of dough out into a rectangular shape about ¼ inch thick. So now you have a red rectangle and a green rectangle each on its own wax paper.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 10-15 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator. Flip the red dough onto the top of the green dough and peel the wax paper away so the pieces of dough are touching and layered. Trim the end of the dough so that they are even and smooth.
Begin to make a log roll of the dough rolling the end up and pulling away the wax paper. If the dough starts to tear, just pinch it together in those spots. After rolling the dough, set it aside momentarily.
Place the 4 tablespoons of candy sprinkles onto a rimmed sheet pan.
Place your tightly rolled dough directly onto the sprinkles in the pan and roll until the outside is coated well.
Wrap the log in wax paper or plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for two hours.
While the log is cooling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
After two hours, remove your cookie log from the refrigerator and slice it into about ½ inch thick slices.
Place the cookie slices onto a lightly greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches between each cookie (about 12 per cookie sheet).
Bake for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven and let cool.

Pro Tips Making Pinwheel Cookies

These cookies will take a little bit of extra time and love, but trust me when I say, the final result is worth it! And what great Christmas cookies don’t take some time and love?!

These can be a little bit tricky to make for the first time, so here are a couple of pointers.

The vibrancy of the red and green color will depend upon how much food coloring you put in. So, if you want a very vibrant color make sure to add a little bit extra! However, if you’re using gel food coloring, you don’t need nearly as much!
Rolling the pinwheel can be a bit tricky. If for some reason your dough is too sticky, try putting a little bit of flour on your hands while you roll it.
If the dough is too dry and it cracks or it starts to tear, simply pinch these spots back together and smooth them out!
These pinwheel cookies can be used for any holiday or occasion. Simply change the food coloring colors and sprinkles!
We love this classic sugar cookie recipe, but feel free to swap it out for your favorite! We won’t be offended!

More Christmas Desserts

I can’t wait for you to try out these Christmas Pinwheel Cookies. They are such a great holiday treat. They turn out so vibrant and festive and they make a great cookie to share. They are sure to get everyone in the holiday spirit!