Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

From their decadent red swirls to their peppermint flavors, these slice-and-bake Vegan Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies are an irresistible addition to your holiday baking list.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Method Oven

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 14

Chill Time 3

Total Time 3 44

Servings cookies

Calories 134kcal

Author Caitlin Shoemaker

Ingredients

1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt* omit if using salted butter
1 tablespoon soy milk or another dairy-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/4 270 g cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
Extra flour for dusting
Red gel food coloring
1/4-1/2 cup sprinkles optional, for rolling the dough

Additional Tools:

Hand mixer or stand mixer
Plastic wrap
Parchment Paper
Rolling pin
Ruler or measuring tape

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cream the butter: Add the softened butter to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer on low speed until light and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.
Wet Ingredients: Add the powdered sugar, baking powder and salt; beat until combined, about 1 minute. Finally, add the milk, vanilla, and peppermint. Beat again until combined.
Dry Ingredients: Add the flour to the bowl and beat one final time on low speed, until just combined.
Divide: Use a spatula to smooth out the dough evenly across the bottom of the bowl and divide it into thirds - it doesn’t need to be perfect! Remove roughly 2/3 of the dough and set it aside to be the white portion of the dough. Add red food coloring to the remaining 1/3 of the dough (I used about 1/2 teaspoon) and beat on low speed until the dye is evenly distributed. You can also wear gloves and knead the dye in by hand, or mix with a spatula.
Chill: Wrap the un-dyed dough in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Repeat with the red dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or place in the freezer for 45 minutes, until more firm.
Roll the White Dough: Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cutting board or work surface and generously dust it and your rolling pin with flour. Place the white disc of dough onto the parchment paper and sprinkle with more flour. Roll the dough out until it forms an 8x13 rectangle; try to be as precise as possible. If the dough is too long in a certain area, you can cut it off with a knife and re-add it to the rectangle using your fingers. Use your fingers to smooth out any cracks as well. Transfer the dough and parchment paper to a baking sheet and refrigerate while you roll out the red dough.
Roll the Red Dough: Place a new sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and dust with flour. Place the red disc of dough onto the surface, dust with flour, and roll out into an 8x12.5” rectangle. The red dough will be a little thinner than the white dough, so roll carefully! Sprinkle lightly with a little extra flour and set aside.
Layer: Remove the white dough from the fridge and return to your work station. Do your best to flip the red dough onto the white dough. It’s difficult to get exact, but the extra flour on the red dough should allow you to move it around some (or use your fingers to move and reshape the dough). Do your best to line all edges up; the red dough should be slightly smaller than the white dough on one long side, but it’s ok if it isn’t. Gently roll the dough once aligned to remove any air bubbles - try not to stretch it any further.
Roll: Starting from the long white edge with no red on top, begin to roll the dough towards the opposite long edge. I like to use the parchment paper as a sort of sushi mat to allow me to easily pick up and roll the dough, peeling it back as necessary. Do your best to roll up the dough with no air bubbles or gaps.
Cut & Chill: You should have one long log of dough. Cut the dough in half and do your best to roll it a little to form more of a smooth circle. Optional: spread the sprinkles across a clean work surface (1/4 cup for half of the dough or 1/2 for all of it) and roll the dough logs in the sprinkles until they are evenly coated.
Chill: Wrap each dough half in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. (Note: if you want perfect circles, I recommend rotating and reshaping the dough every 15 minutes or so as it will flatten on the bottom side slightly).
Preheat: Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I like to re-use the paper from steps 6 and 7).
Cut: Remove one log of dough from the freezer and do any final shaping if necessary. Unwrap the dough and use a sharp knife to cut it into 12 cookies; each cookie should be about ½” thick. Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. If you notice any big gaps between the two layers use your fingers to gently press them together.
Bake: Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 10 to 11 minutes, until the bottom edges of the cookies are barely golden. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat steps 13-14 with the remaining dough log.
Serve & Store: Serve immediately, or store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Video

Notes

Make Ahead: Follow the recipe through step 10. Place the cookie dough logs in the fridge instead of the freezer for up to 3 days before proceeding with step 12 of the recipe. Note that the logs will flatten more when stored in the refrigerator, so I recommend rolling them slightly to be more round before you cut the cookies.

Nutrition