My kids are huge Halloween fans and they’ve helped me grow to like it more and more. Finding a fun Halloween cookies recipe was something I always wanted to do. Taking a delicious, yet simple sugar cookie is the perfect way to start. You can use cookie cutters and make shaped cookies, or add food coloring and make this festive Halloween pinwheel cookies!
This recipe was first posted in 2015. It was updated in July 2024.
Halloween Pinwheel Cookies
This Halloween cookies recipe is straightforward and perfect for home bakers. It’s easy to make vibrant green and purple cookies that look amazing and taste even better. The ingredients are simple: flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and some gel food coloring.
After you mix up your basic ingredients, all you have to do is divide the dough in half and color two batches of cookie dough. You can use any color combination you want. Black can be difficult to achieve but the gel food coloring can help. But I recommend using purple, green,or orange.
These Halloween treats look more difficult to make then they are so you’ll impress everyone!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for parties – If you’re hosting a Halloween party, homemade cookies are a hit. They add a personal touch. You don’t have to decorate these pinwheel cookies because they’re cute on their own, but if you’re hosting a Halloween party, these are great for a cookie decorating bar!
- Spooky gift ideas – These cookies are also great gifts for family and friends. You can wrap them in small bags for teachers too. If you do You’ve Been Booed with your neighbors or friends, these cookies are great to include in your Boo basket!
- Fun to make – Family members of all ages can make these cookies together. Younger kids can help with mixing and rolling the dough while older family can cut the cookies slices and deal with the oven.
- Great for different occasions – It’s easy to use different colors to color the dough which makes it easy to tweak this recipe for all sorts of holidays or special occasions!
Swirl Cookie Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Bakingpowder
- Salt
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Gel food coloring
The full measurements for each ingredient can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
My favorite gel food coloring is the Wilton Gel coloring. I find I can get big bold colors when I use it!
Wilton Icing Colors, 12-Count Gel-Based Food Color
Equipment
You’ll also need a few pieces of equipment from the kitchen to make this recipe:
How to Make Pinwheel Cookies
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- 1. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy.
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- 2. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
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- 3. In a separate medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
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- 4. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until combined. Then add the remaining half and mix until fully combined.
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- 5. Divide the dough in half and place each half in a separate bowl. Add green gel food coloring to one batch of dough and knead with your hands until you get the desired color.
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- 6. Repeat with the other half of the dough using the purple gel food coloring.
7. Roll each batch of dough into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
8. Dust your counter or cutting board and rolling pin lightly with flour.
9. Unwrap the purple dough and sprinkle it with flour. Roll it out into a rectangle and set aside. Repeat with the green dough.
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- 10. Use a rubber spatula to lift the green dough and place it on top of the purple dough. Use your rolling pin to roll the two doughs together a bit. Then use a knife to trim the edges into straight lines, leaving you with a rectangle shape.
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- 11. Carefully roll the dough into a log and wrap it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the dough is firm again.
12. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
13. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and slice off the ends, then slice the cookie dough log into 1/4-1/2″ slices. (You can also bake the ends! They might not be the prettiest cookies but they taste delicious too!)
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- 14. Place the slices 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until set. (If you overcook them they will start to brown up so check on them after about 10 minutes.)
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- 15. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before placing on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Leftovers & Storage
While we don’t usually have many extra cookies around our house, you can store any leftovers so they’ll last longer.
Store any leftover sugar cookies in an airtight container. If you have a lot of extra cookies, you can put a piece of parchment paper between layers to avoid the cookies sticking together. The cookies can last at room temperature for a week.
You can also store them in the refrigerator so they’ll last longer. You do run the risk of them getting dried out! But you can store them in the fridge for about two weeks.
The cookie dough can also be frozen. You can place a cookie dough log or sliced cookies in plastic wrap and a freezer bag. Then you can store it for 1-2 minths before using it! When you’re ready to thaw it, allow it to come to room temperature on the counter before taking it out of the bag and plastic wrap.
During holiday season, I highly recommend keeping a frozen log of dough on hand for last minute cookie needs! It’s perfect for slice-and-bake cookies!
Variations
The great thing about these sugar cookies for Halloween is that you can use them in so many different ways and for so many different occasions! You can make them with different colors for different holidays.
Here are some color combinations to try:
- Halloween – orange & purple, orange & green, orange & uncolored dough
- Fall/Thanksgiving – red & orange, red & yellow (using yellow gel color will add more of a yellow hue to your cookie dough)
- Christmas/Winter – red & green, red & uncolored dough, green & uncolored dough, light green & dark green, blue & uncolored dough
- Valentine’s Day – red & pink, red & uncolored dough, pink & uncolored dough
- Easter – use fewer drops of gel food coloring to make more pastel colored dough and do combinations of pastel colors
- Memorial Day/4th of July – red & blue, red & uncolored dough, blue & uncolored dough
You can also split the cookie dough into three batches and use three different colors. You would follow the recipe as written, just layering the three parts of the dough instead of two parts.
Decorations
Pinwheel cookies work just as they are. They’re delicious round sugar cookies that you can let cool and then serve. But you can also make them even more fun by decorating them.
Here are some easy ideas for decorating Halloween cookies:
- Icing/Frosting – Icing adds extra flavor and texture to cookies. It’s also great as a base if you want to add sprinkles and other decor. You can use buttercream frosting, royal icing, or a glaze. You can also use different piping tips to add interesting frosting to your cookies.
- Sprinkles –Sprinkles come in every color combination including ones especially for specific holidays. So don’t be afraid to add some sprinkles! I have seen bats and ghosts around Halloween. ASprinlnother great option for sprinkling on is colored sugar.
- Candy – For Halloween, candy is a great option for topping cookies. You can use candy corn or candy eyes to really stick with the spooky theme.
These are a fun base cookie for cookie decorating with family and friends. They’re also a great option for taking to parties (and if you make a Christmas version, they’re cute for holiday cookie exchanges)!
More Cookie Recipes
If you’re looking for more easy cookie recipes, try some of these:
- Sprinkle Cookies (this recipe can be tweaked for any holiday!)
- Trash Cookies (these are great for using leftover Halloween candy!)
- Cool Whip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- gel food coloring green and purple
Instructions
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, bakingpowder, and salt) together.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Divide the dough in half and place each half in a separate bowl. Add green gel food coloring to one batch of dough and knead with your hands until you get the desired color. Repeat with the other half of the dough using the purple gel food coloring.
- Roll each batch of dough into a bowl and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Dust counter or cutting board and rolling pin lightly with flour.
- Unwrap the purple dough and sprinkle with flour. Roll out into a rectangle and set aside. Repeat with the green cookie dough.
- Use a rubber spatula to lift the green dough and place it on top of the purple dough. (If dough is feeling too sticky, you can place it on parchment paper and refrigerate for a few minutes.)
- Use your rolling pin to roll the two doughs together a bit. Then use a knife to trim the edges into straight lines, leaving you with a rectangle shape.
- Carefully roll the dough into a log and wrap it with plastic wrap. Be sure to cover both ends of the cookie dough log with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the dough is firm again. (You can also place it in the freezer to make this step go more quickly.)
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Slice off the ends then slice the cookie dough log into 1/4-1/2" slices. (The ends don’t always make pretty cookies but still taste good!)
- Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Back for 13-15 minutes or until the cookies are set. (If you overcook them they will start to brown up so check on them after about 10 minutes.)
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before placing on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
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alittlesass says
Did you mean 2 inch slices or 1/2 inch slices? 2 inches seems really big…
Mariah says
YesI do! Thank you! 1/2 inch and place 2 inches apart! Sometimes that mom brain just takes over!! I will update now!
Kaitie Hotard says
Love these cookies, they look so fun and festive! Planning on making them tonight for a bake sale at my daughter’s school. How many cookies does this make, if they’re about a 1/2 inch thick? I’m wondering if I should double the recipe…
Thank you!
Mariah says
This makes about 24-36 cookies depending on the slice thickness. If you like thicker cookies I’d say this would do about 2 dozen for you.
Amy says
How long should I leave them in for if my oven only goes to 220 degrees x
Steelk says
I just mixed these up and I’m wondering about the amount of flour. The dough is just crumbling in my hands and was almost impossible to put together.
Mariah says
I have had this happen once or twice as well. I’ve found that my weather (the humidity) sometimes has an impact on my cookies. I will add to add it in increments until you get the desired consistency. It seems to be the approach that works best.
Savanna says
Can these be made ahead and frozen? If so, will they taste just as good?
Lily says
I’m trying to make this with three layers, how much should i put for each color?
Lily says
color as in the dough in groups
Emme says
Turned out perfect and so cutie for Halloween!!! I subbed one of the teaspoons of vanilla for almond extract because I love almond. Soft and yum cookies – can’t wait to do a Christmas/holiday one. They’ll be a great addition to cookie boxes. Thank you!!