These pinwheel cookies look fancy, but I promise with that my easy guide with a template will walk you through every step of the way. Chocolate and vanilla cookie doughs are rolled together to form a swirly pinwheel, then sliced and baked into the perfect festive cookies! Check out my step-by-step photos where I explain every step!
Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this pinwheel cookie recipe with you! I made these what felt like a million times to get them just right and to make sure that this recipe was totally foolproof and I can hold your hand every step of the way.
Other recipes I read were a little too vague for my liking, so I came up with a super easy template to use to make your life a lot easier - a piece of printer paper!
This makes the process super streamlined and much easier than having to measure and re-measure dough. We make two flavours from one dough - a vanilla and a chocolate, then stack them up and layer them for the most perfect pinwheel cookie.
These cookies are buttery, soft and chewy, and just so delicious - they taste good as well as looking amazing.
What are Pinwheel Cookies?
Pinwheel cookies are essentially a sugar cookie, made up of two different flavoured dough. I have kept mine classic and riffed off of my classic sugar cookie dough, adding in some cocoa to half for a chocolate swirl.
You make the doughs, roll them out, then stack them up and roll them up into a log. When you slice into them you reveal the spiral inside.
These look a little intimidating but I have tried to break down the steps as much as possible in order to set you up for success!
This recipe makes about 24 cookies but it would be very easy to double and make extra cookies while you are doing the process - the sliced unbaked cookies can be stored in the freezer for months before needing to be baked, giving you fancy cookies. on hand at all times!
I have left mine plain on the outside, but feel free to roll them in sprinkles or crunchy sugar, or dip in chocolate when they are baked.
How to make two cookie doughs from one batch
This is a super easy method - you mix up the vanilla sugar cookie dough, then remove half and set aside. Cocoa powder is then added to the remainder of the dough and mixed to give a chocolate dough.
This is where a scale is especially important - you can just weigh out half of the dough directly into a bowl and then add the cocoa powder to the remainder of the dough.
I do this step in my stand mixer, but you can also do it in a bowl with an electric hand mixer.
Step by step guide to pinwheel cookies
I promise this isn't as hard as it looks. Rolling out cookie dough can be super easy with a few little sneaky tricks - I'm gonna share all of them with you.
How to roll out dough evenly
The best way to roll out dough nice and evenly is to do it between two pieces of parchment paper before it is chilled. This means that it is super easy to roll out, and you don't have the issue of trying to roll out chilled dough which will crack on you at any given opportunity.
I like to use rolling pin guides to roll out my dough - alternatively you can use knitting needles or dowel of the right diameter. I use 4mm / 0.16" guides for this recipe. If you don't have guides that is fine as we are using a template to know exactly how big to roll the dough.
How to get it the right size - use a template!
I made these a ton of times during testing, trying all kinds of different options for the dimensions of the dough to give the easiest way to roll out the dough. I was going to make a template then realised that I could just use a simple thing most of us have in our house - a piece of A4 / Printer paper!
Use the paper as a guide to know how big to roll out your dough - you want just a little extending around the edge as once it has been frozen you will use the paper to cut the dough to size.
I like to do an initial roll-out, then use the paper as a guide, removing pieces where the dough is wonky and placing them where needed to get it to the right size. You can just place the piece where it needs to go and cover with the parchment and re-roll, and it will patch itself on.
Freeze your dough for 20 minutes then trim to the correct size
Once you have rolled the dough out, transfer it between the parchment paper to the freezer. When I was testing this recipe I found that trying to flop a piece of dough onto another piece and make sure that they aligned properly was hard and stressful. We don't do hard and stressful here, so freezing the dough makes it solid and super easy to work with and get nice clean cuts.
Remove the top piece of parchment, then use a ruler and your piece of printer paper as a guide and cut the dough into a nice neat rectangle the same size as the piece of paper. Repeat this with both pieces of dough - if at any point they are getting too warm, just pop them back into the freezer.
Stack up doughs
This is where having frozen dough really helps - remove the parchment from both sides of the chocolate dough, and place it on top of the vanilla dough, leaving about a 1cm gap along the long side - this is to help start the spiral to get a nice neat pinwheel.
Leave the dough to stand here for 5-10 minutes until it is nice and pliable. Do not try and roll it if the dough is too cold as you end up with a huge hole in the middle of your roll of dough and it is so sad.
Roll up your log of dough
Starting with the vanilla overhanging dough, carefully fold it over the edge of the chocolate dough, as shown in the image below. You can use the parchment paper to help get things started if needed.
Then, carefully roll up the log of dough into a tight sausage. I find to get started, working my way along the length of the dough to get the roll started is the best way. Make sure you are not rolling up any big air bubbles and the roll is nice and tight.
If the dough starts to crack, just patch it back together carefully with your fingers. Gently roll the log of dough on your surface to help seal the edge, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours but up to a few days.
How to slice and bake pinwheel cookies
Remove your log of dough from the fridge and unwrap. Slice into about 1cm pieces, and arrange on your lined sheet pan.
Again, if at any time things are getting soft, pop the dough back into the fridge. Make sure that you use a super sharp knife and cut in one motion - do not saw back and forth as it might ruin the pattern.
Freeze the dough before baking - this helps to control the spread of the cookies too.
Can Pinwheel Cookies be made ahead of time?
Yes - this is a great recipe to make ahead of time. The rolls of dough can be made up to 5 days in advance, or you can freeze the sliced cookies - they bake from frozen already so there are no extra instructions for baking from frozen.
To store in the freezer, slice the cookies, freeze until solid on a sheet pan, then transfer to an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How do you store pinwheel cookies?
Store pinwheel cookies in an airtight container. They are a soft and chewy cookie, and will keep well for about a week.
Can this recipe be scaled?
Yes - it is not too much more effort to make two logs of dough so if you wanted to, you could easily double it, especially because the cookies freeze so well.
Do not try and work out how to change the size of the rectangle - just make a double batch of dough then divide into two pieces of chocolate and two vanilla and make two separate logs of dough.
How to chill round logs of dough so they don't get a flat side
I use a sneaky little trick here - I chill my dough in a PVC pipe! I just got a little length of it from the hardware store, and it works perfectly for keeping the log of dough in in the fridge so that it does not get a flat side from sitting on a shelf.
This is a totally optional step - you could also use a paper towel roll cut in half.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page
Can I add flavouring to the cookies?
I haven't tried sorry but if you wanted you could add something like a peppermint extract!
Can I add sprinkles?
Yes - if you wanted to you could roll the cookies in sprinkles or sparkly sugar before slicing and baking.
What do I do with any offcuts?
If you want to, you can re-roll these together and roll out to make a few marbled sugar cookies!
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Super Cute Pinwheel Cookies (With Template!)
- Author: Erin Clarkson
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Prep Time: 45 minutes -
Cook Time: 20 minutes
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Total Time: 3 hours
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Yield: 24 servings -
Category: Cookies -
Method: Baking -
Cuisine: American
Pin RecipeDescription
These pinwheel cookies look fancy, but I promise with that my easy guide with a template will walk you through every step of the way. Chocolate and vanilla cookie doughs are rolled together to form a swirly pinwheel, then sliced and baked into the perfect festive cookies!
Ingredients
- 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 180g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 large egg (50g not including the shell), at room temperature
- 310g all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt (use less if you are using regular salt and omit if you are using salted butter)
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 15g dutch process or regular cocoa, sifted
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Cream on medium to high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl once or twice during the process. Alternatively this can be done in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer.
- Add the egg and mix well to combine.
- Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder, and mix until a dough forms.
- Remove 360g of the dough and set aside in a small bowl.
- Add the cocoa to the remaining dough in the mixer, and mix to combine until the cocoa is incorporated.
- Working with one colour of dough at a time, take the dough and place on a a piece of parchment paper. Top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll out to a thickness of 4mm (0.16"), using a piece of A4 printer paper as a guide (see notes below on sizing). You want the dough to be big enough that you can cut around the piece of paper in the next step - take pieces off any areas that stick out and place them in areas that need them, then keep rolling - they patch themselves to the dough.
- Once the dough is the right size, transfer it to a baking sheet and repeat with the other piece of dough.
- Transfer the dough, still on the baking sheet and between the parchment paper, to the freezer and freeze for 20 minutes - you want it to be fully solid.
- Remove from the freezer and remove the top sheet of parchment paper from the first piece of dough. Use the piece of printer paper as your template and use a ruler to cut the dough to exactly the size of the piece of paper. Do the same with the other flavour of dough. If at any time they are getting warm, transfer them back to the freezer (make sure if you are stacking them there is a piece of parchment between them.
- Once you have cut out the dough to the size of the piece of paper, freeze both pieces again for another 5 minutes.
- Loosen each piece carefully from the bottom piece of parchment - leave the vanilla dough on the parchment paper.
- Carefully place the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough, leaving about 1cm of vanilla dough for overlap along the long edge (see images in blog post). Gently press the dough together to make sure that there are no air bubbles.
- Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes until the dough is soft enough to roll up - if it is too cold it will be hard to roll.
- To roll up the pinwheel cookies, starting with the long edge, carefully fold the overlapping vanilla edge of the dough over the edge of the chocolate dough - pull the parchment paper up to help it adhere if you need. Continue to tightly roll the dough up into a roll. If the vanilla dough cracks, just use your fingers to patch it up. Once you have a log of dough, gently roll it back and forth a few times to make sure that it is nicely sealed.
- Tightly wrap the log of dough in plastic wrap, and then chill for at least 2 hours or up to 5 days. I like to place mine inside a piece of PVC pipe, or you can use a paper towel roll cut in half to rest the dough in to help it not get a flat edge.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 330°f / 165°c. Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the log of dough from the fridge. Unwrap and place onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice off the end of the dough to reveal the spiral inside.
- Slice the log of dough into cookies approximately 1 cm thick. Arrange on the sheet pan / sheet pans (I can fit a whole batch on one pan but you may not be able to depending on how thick you cut them and how big your pan is).
- Transfer the cut cookies to the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes.
- Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes, until the edges and middles are set and the edges are starting to go a little golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and leave the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
If you are scaling the recipe please note that you will have to manually scale values within the method - eg remove 700g of the vanilla cookie dough if you are making a double mix.
Printer paper is a slightly different size depending on what country you are from - a piece of letter paper / A4 printer paper will work great! (approx 8x11" / 20x28cm) - A4 is a slightly different size but will work fine.
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