Valentine's Day Swirl Cookies - pretty pinwheel cookies with colorful sprinkles on the outside that will bring a smile to anyone you serve. Perfect for school parties or to give as gifts to neighbors who may not have a special "valentine" in their lives anymore.
Another Valentine's Day Recipe that is perfect for February 14th and maybe all year round!
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I know looking at this photo, you might be thinking, this is not an easy cookie recipe! There's no way I can bake that!
What if I told you that all you need to do to bake this cookie is take two different colored sheets of cookie dough and sandwich them together?
That sounds easy, right? Then you roll the sheets of cookie dough up into a cylinder, press a few pretty sprinkles all over the outside of the cylinder too. Then slice and bake!
Table of Contents
How to make Valentine's Day Cookies
I thought I would update a popular Christmas cookie post but use different colors and make them more appropriate for Valentine's Day next month.
That's right, I made Valentines Day Swirl Cookies aka red pinwheel swirl cookies. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a difficult cookie to make...it's not!
This recipe is very similar to my Colorful Christmas Cookies, only using slightly different colors for the swirl part.
Swirl Cookies
Once you see how easy these Valentine's Day Swirl Cookies are with the step-by-step photos, you'll be making these cookies for many different occasions. All you need to do is change the color to go along with your special occasion.
So far I have used the same cookie recipe with different colors for my Chocolate Swirl Cookies. Not to mention, my Slice and Bake Colorful Swirl Cookies that would be great for Christmas or St. Patrick's Day.
If you're planning on giving these cookies as gifts, make sure you check out the cute Valentine's Day gift tags available for you to download and print.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
18 Pieces Valentine's Day Treat BoxesMore InformationBoxes with TagsMore Information24Pcs Valentine's Day Treat Boxes RedMore InformationValentine’s Day Cupcake BoxesMore Information
Ingredients
Make sure you print out the recipe below and save it for later!
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
- Ganulated sugar
- Unsalted butter (cut in chunks)
- Vanilla extract
- Red food coloring
- Valentine's Day colored sprinkles
🥣Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Combine the Dry Ingredients
- To begin with, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars with paddle on medium until well blended.
- Slowly add the butter, gradually, and continue mixing. Add the vanilla extract. Finally, continue mixing until the dough forms a ball.
- Remove all the dough and divide into two equal parts.
- Return one portion back in to the mixer and add the red food coloring.
- Mix until the color is spread out evenly and the dough is completely red.
Step 2: How to Roll out the Cookie Dough
- Using a rolling pin, roll out each portion of the dough, between two sheets a wax paper until it reaches about 11 x 9 inches and is ¼ inch thick.
- Finally, slide both layers unto a baking sheet pan and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Step 3: How to Combine the Two Cookie Dough Layers
- When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both. Brush the uncolored vanilla dough lightly with water using a pastry brush.
- Then flip the colored dough onto the vanilla uncolored dough so they are stacked atop each other and even.
- Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a small knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines.
Step 4: How to Create the Swirl Design
- The first thing you need to do is make sure the dough is still cold, but flexible. If needed, place the baking tray back in the refrigerator to chill the dough again.
- Once it’s ready, begin rolling the long side of dough up jelly-roll style.
Step 5: How to Add the Sprinkles
- Begin by pouring out the colored sprinkles onto a large platter and set aside.
- Now gently lift the dough log onto the sprinkles and roll away.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for a few hours or you can freeze the dough for up to three months at this point.
Step 6: Baking Instructions
- Slice your dough into ¼ inch slices and bake on parchment lined baking sheets in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn golden brown.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes.
- Then move them to a cookie rack to finish cooling.
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Substitutions and Variations
This recipe is so easy to adapt for different holidays or occasions just by changing the color of food coloring or sprinkles.
Top Tip
- If you see the Valentine's Day Swirl Cookies dough is too "wet" from the food coloring, add another tablespoon of the flour.
- Once you have the dough rolled out, make sure it is chilled before even trying to roll the two layers together.
- After you have both colored layers of dough on top of each other, trim them to make sure they're both the same size. Otherwise the spiral look of the cookies will be off. You can save the excess dough to make extra cookies.
- You can easily change the food coloring and sprinkles for any occasion you're celebrating.
- Swap out the vanilla extract for mint or almond extract.
More Recipes to Love
- Heart Shaped Treats
- Valentines Day Ice Cream Floats
- Heart Shaped Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Valentines Day Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Heart Shaped Oreo Truffles
Printable Valentine's Day CardsClick HERE to SAVE!
📖 Recipe Card
Valentine's Day Swirl Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour plus possibly a few more tablespoons
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup unsifted powdered sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter cut in chunks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon of food coloring of your choice and/or ½ teaspoon of any desired extra extracts
- 1 ½ cup holiday sprinkles
Method
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars with paddle on medium until well blended. Add butter in, gradually, and continue mixing. Add in vanilla extract.
- Continue mixing until the dough forms a ball.
- Remove all your dough and divide into two equal parts.
- Return one portion back in to the mixer and add the food coloring and any extra extracts.
- Mix until the color is spread out evenly.
- Roll out each portions of your dough, between two sheets a wax paper until it reaches about 11 x 9 inches and is ¼ inch thick.
- Slide both unto a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both. Brush the uncolored vanilla dough lightly with water using a pastry brush. Then flip the colored dough onto the vanilla uncolored dough so they are stacked atop each other and even.
- Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a small knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines.
- Be sure your dough is still cold, but flexible. Once it’s ready, begin rolling the long side of dough into a swirl, jelly-roll style.
- Pour out sprinkles onto a large platter and set aside. Now gently lift your dough log onto the sprinkles and roll away. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for a few hours or you can freeze the dough for up to three months at this point.
- Slice your dough into ¼ inch slices and bake on parchment lined baking sheets in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn golden brown.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a cookie rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
Emily McFarland says
Do you need to do the second chill time (after adding sprinkles ) before baking ?
Lois says
You need to chill the dough two separate times. The first time when each colored sheet is rolled out flat and then again after you have rolled both sheets together to form the cylinder shape and covered with sprinkles. (You can also freeze the cylinder shape at this point too.)