Raspberry Pinwheels
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These delicious Raspberry Pinwheels with crushed pistachios are sweet and buttery. These cookies are festive, easy to make and perfect for your holiday table.
Easy Raspberry Pinwheel Cookies
I love these cookies, they look absolutely amazing, and more importantly they are delicious. This cookie recipe I’ve been making every year around the holidays just because they look so festive and are so delicious.
These raspberry pinwheels are very easy to make and everyone loves them. They’re great because you can fill them with your favorite jam and top them with your favorite nuts.
Why You’ll Love These Raspberry Pinwheels
- Quick and Easy! This easy 7-ingredient cookie recipe doesn’t require any fancy ingredients, special skills, and you can whip it together in under an hour!
- Nutty Fruity Cookies! Soft cookies that are buttery and filled with raspberry jam and topped with some ground pistachios.
- Holiday Ready! Raspberry Pinwheel cookies are an old-fashioned classic holiday favorite that families have been making, enjoying, and giving as homemade gifts for generations.
- Flour – Simple all purpose flour is all you need.
- Salt – Just a dash is used to balance the sweetness. If you’re using salted butter, you can omit the salt.
- Butter – Always use unsalted butter to control the amount of added salt.
- Cream Cheese – I love the addition of a bit of cream cheese in these cookies, it helps make them extra buttery and tender.
- Baking Powder – A little bit of baking powder as our leavening agent.
- Sugar – Regular granulated is all you need, to add sweetness to our cookies.
- Egg – You will need a large egg for these cookies.
- Vanilla Extract – Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Pistachios – They need to be finely chopped or ground. You can also use almonds or pecans if you prefer.
- Raspberry Jam – I love to use seedless raspberry jam, but any type of jam will work.
These cookies may look fancy, but they’re really not that difficult to make. The dough comes together in minutes with the help of a stand mixer, though you can make it by hand too.
First, preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) so it is ready for baking once the cookies are ready to bake. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
To begin, add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your mixer and mix using the paddle attachment until well combined. Add the sugar and baking powder to the bowl and continue mixing until well incorporated.
Next, you’ll need to add the egg and vanilla and mix that in. Then add the flour and finish mixing it until well incorporated.
Form the dough in a ball and cut it in half, then wrap each half in plastic wrap. Place the cookie dough in the fridge and chill it for about 20 minutes.
Take a piece of dough from the fridge and roll it into a 10-inch square. If you have a pastry wheel use it to cut it into 8 squares, each about 2×2 inches. You can also use a knife or a pizza wheel.
Next, cut 1 inch slits from each corner to center, but not cutting all the way. Fold every tip to the center to form a pinwheel. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. Use a bench scrape for ease of use, to pick up each cookie and transfer it the baking sheet.
Fill each cookie with about ½ teaspoon of raspberry jam right in the center of the cookie then sprinkle with chopped nuts. Repeat with remaining piece of dough. Re-roll leftover dough to make additional cookies.
Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets then finish cooling the cookies on wire racks.
Can I Use Other Types Of Jam Or Nuts?
Yes! You can use any type of jam or nuts you like. Just make sure to keep the ratios of the ingredients the same and the cookies will come out perfect.
Can I Make These Cookies Gluten-Free?
Probably yes, yet I’ve not tried. Just follow the same instructions, but make sure to use a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour that has xanthan gum in it, which acts as a replacement for the gluten that is naturally in all-purpose flour.
Expert Tips
- Room temperature ingredients. The butter needs to be soft to make the dough. And for the best texture, the large egg should be at room temperature as well so when mixed with the dry ingredients everything emulsifies properly.
- Rotate the pan. Most ovens have hot and cold spots. So for the most uniform baking, rotate the sheet pan halfway through the baking time.
Storage
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
These cookies will last in the freezer for up to 3 months stored in an airtight container. You can thaw them in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
You can also freeze the dough properly wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 3 months.
Other Delicious Cookie Recipes To Try
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
- The Perfect Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Cookies
- Amish Sugar Cookies
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Raspberry Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 3 ounces butter (⅓cup, softened)
- 3 ounces cream cheese (⅓ cup, softened)
- 5 ounces sugar (⅔ cup)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup raspberry jam (seedless, strawberry or apricot work as well)
- ¼ cup ground pistachios (or almonds (optional))
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) so it is ready for baking once the cookies are ready to bake. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your mixer and mix using the paddle attachment until well combined. Add the sugar and baking powder to the bowl and continue mixing until well incorporated.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix that in. Then add the flour and finish mixing it until well incorporated.
- Form the dough in a ball and cut it in half, then wrap each half in plastic wrap. Place the cookie dough in the fridge and chill it for about 20 minutes.
- Take a piece of dough from the fridge and roll it into a 10-inch square. If you have a pastry wheel use it to cut it into 8 squares, each about 2×2 inches. You can also use a knife or a pizza wheel.
- Cut 1 inch slits from each corner to center, but not cutting all the way. Fold every tip to the center to form a pinwheel. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. Use a bench scrape for ease of use, to pick up each cookie and transfer it the baking sheet.
- Fill each cookie with about ½ teaspoon of raspberry jam right in the center of the cookie then sprinkle with chopped nuts. Repeat with remaining piece of dough. Re-roll leftover dough to make additional cookies.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets then finish cooling the cookies on wire racks.
Notes
- Recipe yields 32 cookies.
- Room temperature ingredients. The butter needs to be soft to make the dough. And for the best texture, the large egg should be at room temperature as well so when mixed with the dry ingredients everything emulsifies properly.
- Rotate the pan. Most ovens have hot and cold spots. So for the most uniform baking, rotate the sheet pan halfway through the baking time.
- Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
- These cookies will last in the freezer for up to 3 months stored in an airtight container. You can thaw them in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- You can also freeze the dough properly wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Hi Jo, I like the butter and cream cheese dough, and they look so festive. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thank you Mihaela. 🙂