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Spiral cookies are great for any time of year! You can make them in so many ways – colored sugar or make them cinnamon or lemon or chocolate chip. They are an easy slice-and-bake sugar cookie with a delicious filling – and they’re perfect for the holidays.
I love these cookies – they’re the flavorful cousins to my spiral cookies that I absolutely love, except I’m showing you FOUR different ways to make them! I’ve been making these cookies for years and everyone LOVES them. The dough tastes great and they’re so pretty too!
Spiral Cookies are a slice and bake cookie like my butter cookie recipe, but they’re rolled out and filled with your favorite things. I’ve been making them with colored sugar forever but recently I’ve loved making them as cinnamon roll cookies or lemon cookies with lemon curd! They’re so versatile, easy to make, and they freeze great too.
Ingredients Needed
- Sugar- These use Granulated Sugar
- Butter – Make sure it’s softened for easy use. You can use unsalted or salted (I used Challenge Unsalted Butter).
- Almond extract- You can also use vanilla extract if you prefer that flavor.
Filling Options
- Colored sugar – Such as red and green for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s Day, etc
- Mini chocolate chips
- Cinnamon sugar – made from cinnamon and granulated or brown sugar. Learn how I turn these into cinnamon roll cookies.
- Lemon curd or jam – my favorite lemon curd recipe goes great in these
- You could also use Nutella or Peanut Butter!
How to Make Spiral Cookies
- Cream sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. You can also use a hand mixer. Add almond extract, salt, and egg. Mix everything together until it’s completely combined then slowly stir in flour.
- Divide the dough into two pieces. Place half on wax paper or plastic wrap. Use your hands or a rolling pin to press the dough into an 8-inch rectangle.
- Fill the dough with a filling of your desire and then use the bottom sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap to help you roll the dough properly. Repeat this process with the second half of the dough.
- Wrap rolls in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator until they are firm. This should take about 1 hour, but you can leave them in overnight if you’d like.
- When ready to bake, slice the cookie and place on a parchment paper or silicone lined cookie sheet and bake until no longer glossy and golden brown around the edges.
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Expert Tips
- These have no baking soda or baking powder, so they won’t spread. You don’t have to spread them a ton on the baking sheets.
- If the dough is too soft to work right after mixing you can chill 15-20 minutes in the refrigerator before pressing into the rectangle.
- To keep the dough from getting the flat side from laying on a refrigerator shelf, chill the rolls right-side up in a drinking glass.
FAQs
Roll your pinwheel cookies using a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper. This process is similar to rolling up a cake roll, just a lot less tricky!
If your pinwheel cookies aren’t rolled very tight, your dough may be too thick or not malleable enough to be rolled tightly. Make sure you follow the recipe and use a piece of wax paper or clingwrap to support the dough as you roll it up. This really helps!
Spiral Cookies Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Cookie Dough:
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted Challenge butter softened
- ½ teaspoon almond extract , optional (use vanilla extract if you prefer)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups (273g) all-purpose flour
Filling suggestions:
- ¼ cup each of two colored sugars (red and green for Christmas)
- 1 cup (170g) mini chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup lemon curd or jam
Instructions
- Cream sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Add almond extract, salt, and egg and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly stir in your flour and mix until just combined.
- Divide dough into two pieces. Place one half on wax or plastic wrap spread out on your counter. Cover the top with another sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap. Use your hands or a rolling pin to press the dough into a 8-inch rectangle (oblong is fine). Fill the dough as desired using one of the filling suggestions below. Use the bottom sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap to help you roll the dough. Repeat with the second half of dough. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour (overnight is fine).
- Heat oven to 350°. Slice rolls of cookie dough into 1/4-inch slices. Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.
- Bake 6-9 minutes until the bottom edges begin to brown. You may want to rotate the cookie sheets halfway through baking. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet and then remove to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to one month.
Colorful:
- Pick two colors of colored sugar (i.e. red and green for Christmas). Working on one rectangle of dough at a time, sprinkle alternating lines of colored sugar before rolling up.
Chocolate Chip:
- Working on one rectangle of dough at a time, sprinkle about 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips on each rectangle, then press to adhere them, before rolling up.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Mix 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Working on one rectangle of dough at a time, sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar on each before rolling up.
Lemon or Jam
- Working on one rectangle of dough at a time, spread each with a thin layer of lemon curd or jam before rolling up.
Sadly the dough is a bit too soft and I think splitting the dough makes too thin and small of a classic pinwheel cookie.
I recommend not splitting the dough and rolling it 10×14 for a larger pinwheel cookie I chilled the dough and added a pinch more flour to make it manageable.
What kind of butter did you use? Was it extra soft when you started? I’ve never had an issue rolling these right away, so chances are the butter was too soft to start. Make sure it’s only softened; not melty looking (your finger should make an indent, not go all the way through). If this happens again, just chill the dough for a bit so you can handle it.
I’m going to try these for Christmas. Sprinkles, lemon curd, cinnamon sugar and Nutella. 🥰
I have looked at your video countless times and followed the directions exactly, but my cookies turn out very small. Like you pop 1 whole cookie in your mouth and it is like a baby bite!
I love cooking but have always struggled with baking. I have been trying to find recipes to help me learn and this one was great. It was not too hard and simple ingredients I already had. I was able to make three different wheels with this recipe.
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