Peppermint pinwheels are an easy slice and bake Christmas cookie made with butter, peppermint extract and red and green dough, ready in 4 hours 10 minutes. That makes them a make ahead cookie exchange pick for Christmas trays, holiday parties or edible gifts, since the logs chill overnight.
Roll each colored sheet to a true 9 by 12 inches between parchment, because the three sheets have to match before you stack them. Uneven sheets give you a lopsided spiral, and the stripes come out thick on one side and thin on the other.
The dough is split three ways and only two parts get colored, so the plain layer sits between the red and the green and keeps the colors from muddying into brown. Coarse sugar goes on after slicing instead of being rolled around the log, which puts the crunch on the face of every cookie.
Plan on far more cookies than the recipe says. The stack is cut into two logs of about 9 inches each, and at quarter-inch slices that is 36 rounds per log, so 72 cookies in total and not 36.
Peppermint Pinwheels
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalRed, white and green dough sheets stack into one slab, roll into two tight logs and slice into striped rounds edged in crunchy coarse sugar.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
1/4 teaspoon green food coloring
Coarse sugar, for decorating
Directions
FAQs
How many cookies does this recipe really make?
Food Network lists about 36, but the method makes two logs and 36 is the count for one. The dough comes to 620 grams spread over three 9 by 12 sheets, which stack and split into two logs roughly 9 inches long. At quarter-inch slices that is 72 cookies.
How thin should each colored sheet be?
Each piece of dough is about 207 grams rolled over 108 square inches, which works out near an eighth of an inch. Stacked, the three layers come to about a third of an inch, and that is what gives a finished log around 1.6 inches across. Thicker sheets give you fewer, chunkier spirals.
Why does my spiral have gaps or cracks?
Cold dough cracks as it bends, so let the chilled rectangles sit a few minutes before rolling. Press the leading edge down firmly and keep tension as you roll, using the parchment to pull the log tight. Air trapped between layers shows up as a gap once you slice.
Can I use gel food coloring instead of liquid?
Gel works and gives brighter color with less liquid, so start with about half the amount and add more. Liquid coloring at a quarter teaspoon is mild, which is why these bake up pastel rather than bold. For dough colored a different way, our tie-dye wreath spritz cookies marble the colors instead of layering them.
Can I freeze the logs and bake later?
Yes, wrapped logs freeze well for up to three months, which is the real reason to make these early. Thaw a log in the fridge until a knife goes through cleanly, then slice and bake as written. Our sugar cookies dough freezes the same way if you want two kinds ready to go.
