Description
Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies are festive, colorful, and perfect for holiday celebrations. These soft, buttery cookies feature vibrant red, green, and white layers infused with refreshing peppermint extract and decorated with nonpareil sprinkles for a cheerful look. Rolled into a log and sliced into delicate pinwheels, they are as delightful to look at as they are to eat.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups (480 grams) all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Decoration
- 1/2 cup nonpareil sprinkles, red, white, and green
- Green food coloring
- Red food coloring
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars: In another large bowl, beat the softened butter with the confectioners’ sugar and white sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add flavorings and eggs: Add vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and eggs to the creamed butter mixture. Beat again until fully combined and the mixture is smooth.
- Combine dry and wet mixtures: Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients while beating. Continue until a soft but not sticky dough forms.
- Divide and chill dough portions: Divide the dough into three equal portions. Wrap one portion with cling wrap as the plain white dough and refrigerate.
- Color remaining doughs: Add green food coloring to one portion and knead until evenly colored, then add red food coloring to the remaining portion and knead. Wrap each colored dough with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll out dough rectangles: Remove chilled doughs and roll each on lightly floured parchment into a 9×12-inch rectangle.
- Stack dough layers: Stack them carefully with green on the bottom, then plain white, and red on top. Trim edges to create an even rectangle.
- Roll into log: Starting from the long side, roll the stacked dough tightly into a log shape.
- Apply sprinkles coating: Pour sprinkles into a baking sheet, then roll the dough log over them, pressing gently to cover the surface evenly.
- Refrigerate log: Wrap the sprinkle-coated dough log tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to firm up.
- Preheat oven and prepare trays: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice cookies: Remove the chilled log from the refrigerator and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices using a sharp knife.
- Bake cookies: Place slices evenly spaced on the baking sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes until set but still soft.
- Cool cookies: Let cookies cool briefly on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
- Make sure dough is well chilled before rolling to prevent colors from blending.
- Use a very sharp knife to get clean slices and prevent squashing the dough log.
- Sprinkle coating can be adjusted or omitted as preferred.
- Cookies maintain freshness best in an airtight container for up to one week or frozen for longer storage.
- Allow cookies to cool fully to achieve the best texture.
