Say goodbye to boring and hello to sprinkles and color! These Spiral Cookies are fun! Red for Christmas, pink for a girl party or blue for pool-side snacks. They’ll make any occasion brighter and more fun!
Original post: December 2011 | Updated: December 2020
I first made these colorful spiral cookies from Sprinkle Bakes back in the wee early years of my blog. Not only are these spiral cookies pretty, but they are also deliciously tasty.
And you can imagine how much kids enjoy them! I heard someone say once after I made them, “Ooo, look! A Grinch cookie!” The green swirls do strangely remind me of the Grinch’s long, swirling fingers.
How To Make Sprinkled Spiral Cookies
These cookies are versatile because they are great year round and easy to adapt with fun colors. They promise to be a hit!
Prep The Dough
STEP 1
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugars in a food processor and process to mix. Add butter and process until the mixture has a cornmeal consistency. Add the vanilla and process until mixture just forms a ball.
STEP 2
Divide the dough in half and return one half to the food processor. Add almond extract, gel food coloring and 2 Tbsp flour to the food processor until just incorporated.
STEP 3
Roll out each half of the dough between sheets of wax paper into an 8×11-inch(ish) rectangle, with a 1/4-inch thickness. Leaving the wax paper on the dough, stack on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
Assemble The Cookies
STEP 4
Pour 1 cup of multi-colored sprinkles in a shallow dish.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and peel off the top pieces of wax paper from each half of dough. Flip the colored dough half over onto the white dough half so that dough is touching dough.
Remove the top sheet of wax paper and trim the long edges with a sharp knife so that the sides are straight and parallel with one another.
STEP 5
When the dough becomes just pliable, roll it into a log beginning with a long edge. Gently curl the edge with your fingertips and do your best to avoid creating air pockets.
Carefully lift the log into the sprinkle-filled dish. Gently roll it around until the outside is completely coated with color.
Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, about 4 hours.
Bake The Cookies
STEP 6
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Slice the cookie log into 1/4-inch-thick discs and bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the cookies are no longer shiny. Move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
- If you have any scraps of dough leftover, just roll them out in worm like strips, bake them and enjoy a treat! They won’t need to bake as long so keep an eye on them.
- The green swirl is fun for Christmas, but any color would be just as fun. Bright yellow for a spring-time cookie? Orange for a Halloween cookie? A swirl of colors for a birthday cookie?
- Use a piece of 8.5×11 paper as a guide when rolling out and measuring the dough rectangle.
To Sprinkle or Not To Sprinkle
If you’re not usually a sprinkles kinda person – just wait! These cookies need the sprinkles for two reasons.
- You will enjoy the crunch it gives to each bite of your cookie because they are a soft sugar cookie on their own.
- The extra pretty look it gives these cookies (and only these if that’s what works for you) make them more festive, and are worth picking up a bottle and rolling these cookies into them!
Gel vs Liquid Food Coloring
This recipe calls for you to use gel food coloring. Could you use liquid food coloring? Sure. But here’s a few reasons to switch over to gel.
- It is thicker, it has a viscous texture.
- Gel food coloring is concentrated and helps achieve a more vibrant color.
- It does cost a little more but you won’t use as much and achieve a more true color that you were hoping to attain.
- Gel food coloring will stain your fingers, so you might want to wear plastic gloves.
Storing Spiral Cookies
You made these tasty show-stopping cookies so be sure after they have completely cooled to place them in a air-tight container or a ziploc bag. You can enjoy them over the next few days if you can keep your hands off them!
Best Dessert Recipes
- No bake strawberry pie is a great dessert for gatherings of any kind. It is super easy to prepare and it is packed with delicious strawberry flavor!
- Gingerbread Poke Cake = the marriage of Gingerbread Cookies and cake! This cake is beyond delicious and a total crowd pleaser.
- Creamy banana cheesecake is the perfect way to use up ripe bananas. So delectable and satisfying! Top it off with caramel sauce for good measure!
- This carrot cake recipe made without nuts is the way to go! It is moist, flavorful, perfectly spiced and topped with yummy cream cheese frosting!
- Snack bites take less than 10 minutes to make and you probably have all of the ingredients sitting in your pantry. Kids adore them! Great after school or anytime snack with no preservatives or unknown ingredients.
- Almond Cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious and super easy to make! They are topped with an almond glaze and a touch of orange zest that will leave you wanting more (and more and more)!
- Monkey bread with cream cheese hiding inside! Stuffing the dough with gooey-ness makes a delicious treat. Prepare to WOW your guests!
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Sprinkled Spiral Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter cubed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tube gel food coloring any color
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup multi-colored nonpareil sprinkles
Instructions
- Combine the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, salt and sugars in a food processor and process to mix. Add butter and process until the mixture has a cornmeal consistency. Add the vanilla and process until mixture just forms a ball.
- Divide the dough in half and return one half to the food processor. Add the almond extract, food coloring and 2 Tbsp flour and mix until just incorporated.
- Roll out each portion of dough between sheets of waxed paper into an 8×11-inch rectangle, with ¼-inch thickness. Stack the dough, leaving in the wax paper, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
- Pour the sprinkles into a shallow dish. Remove the dough from fridge and peel off the top pieces of wax paper from each dough half. Lift one and flip it over onto the other half so that the doughs are touching. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and trim the long edges with a sharp knife so that the sides are straight.
- When the dough becomes just pliable, roll the dough beginning with a long end into a log. Gently curl the edge with fingertips and try to avoid creating pockets of air. Carefully lift log into the dish with the decors and roll until outside is completely coated. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, about 2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.Slice the cookie log into 1/4-inch-thick discs and bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the cookies are no longer shiny. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- If you have any scraps of dough leftover, just roll them out in worm like strips, bake them and enjoy a treat! They won’t need to bake as long so keep an eye on them.
- The green swirl is fun for Christmas, but any color would be just as fun. Bright yellow for a spring-time cookie? Orange for a Halloween cookie? A swirl of colors for a birthday cookie?
- Use a piece of 8.5×11 paper as a guide when rolling out and measuring the dough rectangle.
why is this the only cookie recipe I’ve ever seen that uses a food processor? I’ve baked cookies for years and never ran across that. I don’t have a food processor but I have a Kitchen Aid mixer and a blender. Guess I will try to make these a normal way and see if they turn out.
after making this recipe a few years ago…..it’s still one of my favorite Christmas cookies.
I love to hear that, Julie. Thank you!
I grabbed this pin a couple years ago, but actually made them tonight for the first time. I’m very happy with how they turned out, I didn’t have to tweak or change anything. I used liquid food color and I thought it turned out bright and pretty. I would post of pic but I don’t see that option. oh well, they pretty much look like the pics in this recipe! thank you!
So glad to hear that Julie. Nice of you to let me know how they turned out. Have a Merry Christmas!
Can you make the dough a head of time and freeze it to bake later?
Hi Traci, Great question. You can definitely refrigerate this dough for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
Dough seemed too dry. I had to add an egg for the dough to be able to roll out. The cooking time is way off to cook a thick cookie and I have a calibrated brand new professional baking oven. Taste is good, Color is striking but I will not make these again.
These came out super pretty. I honestly thought the recipe was too tricky and I’m unlikely to make these again, but they were serious show-stoppers! I live in CO and the dough didn’t come together AT ALL following the recipe exactly. I normally don’t have to adjust recipes for altitude as I’m only at ~5,200 ft, but the air here is super dry in the winter. I added 1 egg yolk, which totally did the trick. Then for the food coloring, an entire tube seemed excessive so I used maybe 1/4 of a tube and they were crazy bright. The color wasn’t bad, but I could have gotten away with less. As I was making them I repeatedly thought they were not going to turn out but they were seriously so pretty. After rolling them in sprinkles, I froze the logs for about a week. I thawed them on the counter for maybe an hour before slicing and baking. They tasted great too – maybe more like a butter or shortbread cookie than a traditional sugar cookie. They were sandy and crumbly, but in a good way.
Thanks for the recipe!
I appreciate all the feedback! It’s helpful for me and for others who have tried or are thinking about it. There are so many elements that affect a recipe coming out. I agree these look amazing and are not something you make everyday but are SO fun for holidays! They aren’t sugar cookies, agreed, but similar. Merry Christmas!
I’ve been on a cookie baking spree for two days now. this is todays project. ALL of my other cookie recipes call for softened or room temperature butter, so my sticks of butter have been sitting out on the counter to get nice and soft. I’m going to have to buy new butter just for this. As an aside, why are so many people confused about "sticks" of butter? Just wondering don’t other countries sell their butter in sticks or if that’s just an American thing.
It’s fun to get in a baking spree! But yes, softened butter is usually the norm for baking so I threw you a curveball! Thanks for commenting!
These look and sound amazing!! Love the ……….!
Oh they are so fun – kids love them! Thanks for commenting!
Hello! What size tube of food coloring gel is used? And should the entire tube be put in the recipe?
Hi J! Just the standard 0.67(ish)-oz. tubes work great!
Megan