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Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies, aka Pinwheel Cookies, are beautiful soft bites of deliciousness. These slice and bake cookies are an impressive treat during the holidays or anytime.
The holiday season is the perfect time to bake all kinds of cookies! Make them to enjoy yourself or share with your friends and family. They are the perfect cookie for holiday parties and cookie swaps or simply to gift in a nice box or cookie tin.
Vanilla and chocolate pinwheel cookies are sweet and buttery with chocolate flavor. The spiraled cookies are visually appealing and make the best Christmas cookie recipe. You will be so impressed with how they turn out. The instructions are clear, with step-by-step photos that are easy to follow.
The edges are slightly crisp but the cookie itself is soft. You will not be disappointed!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Swirl Cookies
- They are the perfect Christmas cookie: These festive pinwheel cookies are perfect for the holidays because they look fancy and impressive. They are easy to package and store well.
- Makes a big batch for sharing: This recipe yields 40 to 50 cookies so there is plenty for sharing.
- Adapt to make them your own! You can easily modify these cookies by adding color to the vanilla layer or by dipping them in chocolate and colorful sprinkles.
Ingredients You Need
All of the ingredients for these swirl cookies are easy to find. You probably already have most of these ingredients in your kitchen and pantry.
- All-purpose flour: Use standard all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Sugar: Use standard granulated sugar for this recipe.
- Cocoa powder: This is for the chocolate layer. I use Dutch-process cocoa powder, available at your local grocery store.
- Unsalted butter: The butter will need to be softened slightly, but still colder than room temperature.
- Eggs: They should be at room temperature.
- Vanilla: Use pure vanilla extract.
- Salt: Kosher salt is best for these cookies.
- Agave (optional): The agave is completely optional so if you don’t have it, don’t worry about it. But I add a bit of agave to help keep the cookies soft. I make the cookies without agave with perfect results too. You can find agave nectar at most grocery stores in the baking aisle.
Equipment and Tools Needed
- Stand mixer and paddle attachment
- Baking sheet
- Whisk and medium bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Parchment paper and plastic wrap
- Sharp knife
How to Make Pinwheel Cookies
There are two parts to the dough – the vanilla layer and the chocolate layer. After preparing the dough, you chill, roll, slice and bake!
- Make the vanilla dough: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, agave (if using), and vanilla, mixing until combined and scraping down the bowl as needed. Stir in the dry ingredients, until just combined.
- Chill the vanilla dough: Transfer the vanilla cookie dough to a lightly floured surface. The dough will be a little sticky. Divide the dough in half and roll each portion into a 6-inch log about 2 inches thick. Wrap each cookie dough log in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until firm.
- Make the chocolate dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined, scraping down the edges of the bowl if needed. Mix in the dry ingredients, until just combine and the flour no longer shows. Do not overmix.
- Chill the chocolate dough: Transfer the chocolate cookie dough to a lightly floured work surface. The dough will be a little sticky. Divide the dough in half and roll each portion into a 6-inch log about 2 inches thick. Wrap each section of dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until form.
- Roll and shape the dough: Roll one of the vanilla dough logs into 1 9×11-inch rectangle. Repeat with one of the chocolate logs, then flip the rolled chocolate rectangle on top of the vanilla rectangle. Lightly flour the rolling pin and gently roll over the top of the dough to make the dough stick together.
- Chill the dough again: Roll up the dough into one big tight log (jelly-roll style), pressing gently as you roll to adhere the dough. Wrap the rolled log of dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, until firm. Repeat with the remaining vanilla and chocolate dough logs.
- Prepare for baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet (or two) with a piece of parchment paper.
- Slice and bake: Carefully slice the logs into 1/4-inch thick cookies. Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges start to brown.
- Cool the cookies: When the cookies come out of the oven, I like to use a small spatula to round the edges so that they look uniform. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Recipe Tips and Troubleshooting
- Do not overbake: To ensure the chocolate swirl cookies are soft, just bake until they are no longer shiny and the edges turn golden. If you overbake them, they will still taste good, but the cookies may be crispier.
- If dough is sticking to the parchment paper: Return the dough to the fridge for 15 minutes to chill and firm up.
- If you can’t form the perfect rectangle shape with the dough: No problem! Just cut off the uneven pieces before rolling.
- Add food coloring: If you want to add color to these cookies, you can add a bit of gel food coloring to the vanilla dough after mixing.
- Dip in chocolate: Elevate the flavor of these pinwheel cookies by dipping them in chocolate. You can also sprinkle the chocolate with sprinkles.
Make Ahead and Storage
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
You can prepare the dough 12-24 hours in advance, just be sure to wrap it tightly and store in the fridge until you’re ready to slice and bake.
To freeze: You can bake the spiral cookies ahead of time and freeze them. Once they are baked, cool them completely, then place in an airtight freezer safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature prior to serving.
Other Holiday Cookies
If you’re looking for more fun Christmas cookies, try a few of our favorite must-have cookie recipes for the holiday season!
- Royal Iced Sugar Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookies
- Lemon Tea Cookies
If you loved these pinwheel cookies, please leave a recipe rating and review below! Your feedback is very much appreciated and it helps other people discover this recipe.
Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies (Pinwheel Cookies)
Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies are an impressive treat that all cookie lovers will love! Bring a batch to your next cookie swap or bake them to share with friends and family!
Ingredients
For the vanilla layer:
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but slightly colder than room temperature
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar, (optional)
For the chocolate layer:
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly colder than room temperature
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the vanilla layer, whisk together the flour and salt together in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the vanilla, agave, and eggs and mix until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the dry ingredients until combined and no flour shows. Do not overmix. The dough will be a little sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Roll each piece of dough into a 6-inch log about 2 inches thick. Wrap each section of dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- To make the chocolate layer, whisk the flour, cocoa powder and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until combined, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the flour no longer shows. Be sure no to overmix. The dough will be a little sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Roll each piece of dough into a 6-inch log about 2 inches thick. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- To make the cookies, preheat oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- One a lightly floured surface, roll one vanilla dough log into a 9×11-inch rectangle. Repeat with one chocolate dough log. Flip the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough so that the chocolate dough is layered on top of the vanilla dough. Lightly flour a rolling pin and gently roll over the top with a rolling pin to make the doughs stick to one another. Roll up the dough into one big log, pressing gently as you roll to adhere the dough. Wrap the rolled dough and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or until firm. This will make it easier to slice.
- Carefully slice the log into 1/4-inch-thick cookies. Repeat with the remaining two dough logs. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are no longer shiny and the edges are just starting to brown. Do not overbake, this will keep the cookies nice and soft.
- When the cookies come out of the oven and while they are still hot, I like to use a small spatula to round the edges so that they all look uniform.
- Let cook on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
To freeze: Bake them and then completely cool. Place them in an airtight freezer safe container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 0g, Calories: 196kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 36mg, Sodium: 80mg, Potassium: 34mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 259IU, Vitamin C: 0.04mg, Calcium: 8mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I ended up putting the chocolate on the outside they looked great!
Hey Ashley can i use shortening/vegetable butter instead of normal butter?? I heard that with shortening the become more soft.
Hi, Christina! I’ve never tried shortening in this recipe but you can try. I hope you enjoy!
I made these cookies and they turned out amazing. I placed them in a plastic container and they are still soft and delish. I also made some white one with some cinammon and honey. These turned out a lil bit more hard but still delicious and soft enough to bite. Thanks for the recipe. It will stay in my cook notebook forever. <3
Your cookies turned out beautiful! Question: ATK uses hard boiled egg yolks in their recipe. Were yours raw egg yolks? I would rather use the raw – one less step and much easier. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi, Barb! I’m not sure which ATK recipe you are referring to. This recipe uses raw egg yolks.
Hi Ashley, Thanks for your response. I like your recipe and will try it that way. The recipe I was referring to was ATK Black & White Spirals.
Merry Christmas!
Here is what the ATK site states: “It took some detective work to develop a French butter cookie recipe with a properly sandy texture. Cutting back on the butter in our sable recipe helped, but the breakthrough was using a traditional French ingredient—hard-cooked egg yolk—which eliminated excess moisture and perfected the texture of the cookies.”
2 hours to firm up in the fridge was actually way too long in my case. I actually had to let it warm up some for me to even be able to roll it. I try using cling wrap because I stupidly forgot to buy wax paper and I screwed up so royally that I ended up losing half of the dough… Never use cling wrap.
The end result for me was not pinwheels but just mixed cookies.
The cookies came out beautifully…could have been slightly more sweet though…thank you so much..
Hi, Sangetta! I am glad to hear that the cookies came out well. Happy Holidays!