These tasty treats look like they are right out of a bakery! These chocolate vanilla pinwheel cookies are surprisingly easy to make, and of course, more than delicious!
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Easy Christmas Cookie
The holiday season is upon us, and for me, that means cookie season! These cute chocolate vanilla pinwheel cookies are perfect to serve throughout Christmas and are perfect if you are planning a cookie exchange.
Rich, chocolatey and buttery, what’s not to love?!
If you are looking for some more cookie inspirations, be sure to check out my Christmas Butter Cookies, Mint Chocolate Swiss Roll, and Soft Molasses Cookies recipes!
Why you’ll love these Pinwheel Cookies:
- Simple ingredients: There’s nothing fancy about the ingredients in these cookies, you’ll have most things already on hand.
- Easy: Despite their appearance, these cookies are super easy to make, even for the novice baker.
- Quick: It only takes about 10 minutes to make and roll the doughs.
How to make chocolate vanilla pinwheel cookies
You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Cream the sugar and butter together and mix in the eggs and vanilla.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
- Divide the dough in half and mix in the cocoa powder to one half.
- Roll out the chocolate dough.
- Roll out the plain dough and place on top of the chocolate dough.
- Roll the two layers together, trim the edges and roll into a sausage shape.
- Chill in the freezer.
- Cut into slices and bake.
How long do they keep?
Once the cookies have cooled to room temperature, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep well for 3 to 4 days.
To freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months, freeze them solid on a baking sheet before transferring to an freezer bag. Thaw frozen cookies at room temperature for an hour or so before enjoying.
Can you make the cookie dough ahead of time?
Yes, you can roll the dough and keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months before baking. Place it in a freezer bag to prevent freezer burn and bring it out of the freezer for 15 minutes before slicing it.
Recipe Variations
These pinwheel cookies are pretty delicious as they are, but if you like, you can put a layer of jam in between the two layers of dough for an extra special treat. You could also add green or red food coloring to the vanilla dough to make them extra festive!
Tips!
- If it is difficult to cut the cookies when the dough first comes out of the freezer allow it to sit at room temperature for a few minutes before slicing.
- Bake the pinwheel cookies in a fully pre-heated oven so that they cook through evenly.
- Cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.
More Cookie Recipes
Baking is essential this time of year! Here are some other fun cookie recipes we love.
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Pinwheel Cookies
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 360 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 grams
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ cups granulated sugar 300 grams
- 1 cup unsalted butter 226 grams, room temperature (2 sticks)
- 2 large eggs 100 grams, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 21 grams
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the sugar and butter together. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.1½ cups granulated sugar, 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix until a soft dough is formed.
- Divide the dough in half.
- Add the cocoa to one half of the dough and mix until combined.¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- With a rolling pin, roll the chocolate dough into a rectangle about 9×14 inches, on a lightly floured board.
- Repeat with the plain dough. Place the plain dough on top of the chocolate dough.
- Gently roll the two doughs together to a 3/16-inch thickness. Use a sharp knife to trim the edges so that they are straight.
- Beginning on the long side, roll the dough up tightly, jelly-roll style.
- Wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Cut the dough rolls into ¼-inch slices. Place the cookie slices 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just set.
- Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Becky’s Tips
- If it is difficult to cut the cookies when the dough first comes out of the freezer allow it to sit at room temperature for a few minutes before slicing.
- The dough can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months before baking. I would advise if you are not going to bake them the same day as the dough was made that you put the parchment paper or plastic wrapped dough log in a zip top freezer bag for add protection. When ready to bake you will need to leave the dough log out at room temperature for about 15 minutes before slicing.
- Cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment!
These are very tasty! I was struggling a bit with the dough sticking so they didn’t turn out perfect but very delicious!
Are you kidding?! Those look amazing! Thanks so much for sharing, Sylvie!
I made these for Xmas this year. Very easy to make and yummy to taste. They look beautiful, exactly what I expected! Thank you for sharing.
Those look wonderful, Christine!