Gluten Free Pinwheel Cookies

Plate of red and green Christmas cookies swirled with festive colors, served with a glass of milk and a white napkin in the background—perfect for your gluten free holiday baking.

4.86 from 7 votes

Gluten Free Pinwheel Cookies

With red, green and white swirls, these gluten free pinwheel cookies are a festive choice for holiday baking. They’re soft, fun to make and look beautiful on the plate.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Chill45

Total Time1 25

Course: Gluten Free, Sweets

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Christmas, Cookies

Servings: cookies

Author: Bella Bucchiotti

Equipment

Ingredients

3 1/4 Cups gluten free flour gluten free 1:1, or use all purpose flour if you prefer
1 1/3 Cups granulated sugar
1 Cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon almond extract
1/2 Teaspoon salt
red food coloring
green food coloring

Instructions

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and airy, about 4 minutes
Once light and airy add in the eggs, salt, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
Add in the flour and baking powder. Mix until combined.
Divide the dough into 3 equal amounts.
Cut a 15-inch square of plastic wrap or parchment paper and lay it down on your work surface. Very lightly sprinkle with flour.
Take one piece of the dough and lay it on the parchment paper. Gently roll the dough out into a rectangle about 9 x 12 inches, use a little flour if needed to prevent the rolling pin from sticking. Dust off any excess flour from the rolled dough, then set the rolled dough aside.
Take another piece of dough and set aside for a moment while you work with the last piece of dough in the bowl. Add green food coloring to the dough that is in the mixing bowl, and mix until fully incorporated.
Rinse and dry off the bowl and the mixer so that no green food color is left behind.
Place your last piece of dough back into the mixer and add in the red food coloring. Mix until fully incorporated.
Now that all of the dough has been rolled out, bring the white piece of dough and set it in front of you. Carefully flip the red piece of dough on top of the white dough (plastic wrap/parchment side up), then peel off the plastic wrap/parchment. Dust off any excess flour from the red layer, then repeat the process with the green dough, flipping it on top of the red dough, peeling off the plastic wrap/parchment and dusting any excess flour off.
Use a rolling pin to gently roll the stack of dough a bit, the purpose of this is to ensure all of the layers stick together.
Using a long knife or a pizza cutter, trim the 2 x 12-inch sides of your stack of dough, so that all 3 layers are even.
Starting on one of the 12-inch sides, tightly roll the dough, just like you would cinnamon rolls, into a log. You can use the plastic wrap/parchment on the bottom to help roll it up evenly and tightly. It is important to roll them tightly so that all of the layers stick together.
Wrap your cookie log in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for at least 45 minutes (or overnight) to chill.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a couple cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper
Remove the cookie dough log from the refrigerator and unwrap it. If you want to add sprinkles to the outside, this is where you would roll in sprinkles to cover the outer portion completely.
Use a very sharp knife to slice the log into ¼-inch slices. Place the slices onto your prepared baking sheets.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until the edges have set, then cool on a cooling rack.

Notes

Roll dough evenly: Make sure all layers are the same thickness for even spirals.
Chill thoroughly: A cold dough log slices cleanly and bakes evenly.
Use a sharp knife: This prevents squishing the dough when slicing.
Work quickly: If dough softens while assembling, return it to the fridge.

Nutrition

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