Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

Last week on Facebook I found this recipe for the cutest pinwheel cookies from Walking on Sunshine and knew I had to try them.

These are a very easy cookie to make and you can use any color food coloring gel you want to make them festive for any occasion.  I chose to make mine red and white for Christmas; the original ones were green and white which were also pretty.

I really didn't change anything in this recipe (shocker, I know) and they came out great.  Mine kind of slouch a little on the edges but they have a great butter cookie flavor and I would definitely make them again.

Here's what you need:
1-1/4 cup butter, unsalted at room temperature
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 to 2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
food coloring gel in the color you desire
holiday sprinkles, I used a red and green sugar sprinkle

In the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl mix the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt.

Add the butter and vanilla and mix until combined.

 

Take half the dough out and add a few drops of food coloring gel to the half still in the mixing bowl.  I chose to use red and leave the other half white but you can use any color combination you would like to.

 

Mix until all the color is incorporated.

 

Place each color of dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll to about 1/4 - 1/8 of an inch thick in a rectangle about 9 x 11.  As you can see this was my first time and I went a little crazy with the shape, lol.  It still worked out so it's okay.  Place both parchment filled packages on a baking sheet and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to firm up.

 

When the time is up remove the dough from the fridge and take the top sheet of parchment off of both dough pieces.  Brush one with a little bit of water, using a pastry brush, then flip the second one on top and try to match up the sides as best as you can.

I used a bench scraper to cut an even edge on all sides.  If you have enough dough you can use it to piece together to kind of patch it to make a bigger rectangle.

 

Lightly press the edges together to seal.  Starting with the long edge, roll the dough in a tight roll making a long log, jelly roll style.

 

When the whole log is rolled up, place the sprinkles in a line along the edge of the log and roll the whole log of dough in the sprinkles lightly pressing them into the dough.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the plastic wrap and slice the log into 1/4 inch pieces and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

 

Bake for 15 minutes then remove and let cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet then remove to a cooling rack.

These cookies are actually very easy to make, they just sound complicated.

These Christmas Pinwheel Cookies are delicious and have a traditional butter cookie flavor.

Enjoy!

Serves approximately 24-30 cookies

Here's the handy printable - Christmas Pinwheel Cookies