Swirl cookies or Pinwheel cookies are definitely a recipe to have in your easy go-to snacks list. They are delicious, beautiful-looking and real simple to make.
Making these beautiful cookies really isn’t rocket science. Basically it is just two different colored sugar cookie doughs slapped together and rolled in a log, frozen and then sliced in gorgeous hypnotic-looking discs.
The best part is that the dough is stored in the freezer so you can slice and bake it up into cookies at any moment.
You can use most any sugar cookie dough, my Perfect Sugar Cookie recipe works wonderfully for these😉
Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g (1 cup) of butter, softened
- 170 g (1 1/2 cup) of powdered sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract (or 1 pack, about 10g of vanilla sugar)
- 1 large egg
- 400 g (2 1/2 cups) of flour
- 100 g (3/4 cup & 1 tbsp) cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
Instructions for making the dough are in the post of Perfect Sugar Cookies.
Instructions for pinwheel cookies:
Divide vanilla cookie dough in two. Add 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder in half of the dough. To even out the texture, you can gradually add up to 1 tbsp of water. Knead until fully incorporated.
Roll both doughs out on parchment paper into about a quarter inch thickness.
Brush the vanilla dough with water and place carefully the chocolate dough over it.
Brush some water on the top dough (just yo make it damp, not wet!) and roll it up in a tight log. Cut in thirds, cover all three pieces in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least an hour.
Heat the oven to 180C/375F.
Take the dough log out of the freezer. Using a sharp large knife, cut even slices (about 5mm / 1/4 inch thick). Place them on a baking sheet leaving a little space in between.
Bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies should keep their original coloring and shouldn’t brown at all to keep the aesthetics and the tender texture.
Take out of the oven and let rest for 5 min on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Pinwheel cookies require a bit of planning ahead to look really pretty (because of the freezing time), but all in all they are really easy to make and once you have the roll ready in the freezer, you can have beautiful cookies at moments notice!
The doughs rolls can be stored in a freezer for up to 3 months if they are properly wrapped and sealed in a freezer bag.
I hope you got some inspiration here. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for more tips and recipes.
If you want more snacking inspiration, I have put together these two resources to simplify your life a bit:
- The inspiration list 30 Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids
- A small guide of 10 Mood-Boosting Foods (Plus 6 Smoothie Recipes to See Them in Action)
KAGU CUISINE 