Description
Celebrate Halloween with these festive Halloween Pinwheel Cookies featuring vibrant orange and black swirls. These buttery, soft cookies are not only visually striking but also deliciously sweet, perfect for holiday parties or spooky treats. Easy to make and customizable with sprinkles or additional colors, they’re sure to impress both kids and adults alike.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coloring and Decoration
- Orange gel food coloring
- Black gel food coloring
- Sprinkles or colored sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined to ensure even distribution of leavening and seasoning.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, which usually takes about 3-5 minutes.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Beat in the large egg and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and fully incorporated, which will help bind the dough and add flavor.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing gently until a soft dough forms, taking care not to overwork it to maintain tenderness.
- Divide and Color Dough: Split the dough evenly into two portions. Add orange gel food coloring to one half and black gel food coloring to the other, kneading each until the color is uniformly mixed.
- Roll Out Dough: Roll each colored dough between two sheets of parchment paper into rectangles approximately ¼ inch thick and similar in size. Chill both dough rectangles for 20-30 minutes to firm up.
- Layer and Roll: Remove the top parchment sheets, place one dough rectangle on top of the other, gently press together, and trim edges to form a neat rectangle. Starting from the long side, roll the dough tightly into a log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour until firm.
- Preheat and Slice: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Slice the chilled dough log into ¼-inch thick rounds and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Optionally, press sprinkles or colored sugar onto the edges for extra decoration.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 10–12 minutes or until they are just set and slightly firm around the edges but still soft in the center.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, ensuring they hold their shape and texture.
Notes
- To add a fun twist, incorporate a third color like purple or green for more vibrant pinwheels.
- The dough can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, wrapped tightly, for up to one month.
- Use gel food coloring rather than liquid to maintain the dough’s texture and achieve the most vibrant colors.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 60mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
