Slice and bake pinwheel recipe! These peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies represent what I love most about baking: taking simple, quality ingredients and elevating them through technique. Yes, they require more time than a basic cookie recipe, but that investment pays off in both presentation and flavor.
There’s something mesmerizing about slicing into a log of cookie dough and revealing a perfect chocolate and peanut butter spiral inside. These peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies—also called pinwheel cookies—look bakery-level impressive, but they’re surprisingly manageable for home bakers willing to invest a little patience.
After years working in professional kitchens, I’ve learned that the most elegant desserts often start with simple techniques executed well. These slice-and-bake cookies are a perfect example. Yes, they require a bit more planning than your standard drop cookie, but the payoff is substantial: a stunning visual presentation, delicate buttery texture, and the timeless chocolate-peanut butter combination that never disappoints.
What makes these cookies special:
Unlike typical peanut butter cookies that can be dense or overly sweet, these shortbread-based pinwheels are delicate, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. The turbinado sugar coating adds just enough crunch and sparkle.
They’re moderately sweet (about 7/10 on the sweetness scale), making them perfect for adult palates and ideal for gift boxes during the holidays.
Table of Contents
- Reasons to Love This Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Step-by-Step: Assembly Instructions
- The Secret to Perfectly Round Cookies
- Make Ahead and Freeze Instructions
- Cookie Variations
- Perfect Pairings
- Storage and Shelf Life
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies Recipe
- Related Cookie Recipes
Reasons to Love This Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Recipe
- Bakery-quality presentation – The spiral design looks intricate and professional, perfect for cookie exchanges, holiday gift boxes, or impressive dessert platters.
- Make-ahead friendly – These slice-and-bake cookies can be prepared weeks in advance and stored in the freezer. Slice and bake exactly as many as you need.
- Stays fresh longer – Thanks to the shortbread base, these cookies maintain their texture and flavor for over a week when stored properly.
- Classic flavor combination – Chocolate and peanut butter is universally loved, making these cookies crowd-pleasers for any occasion.
- Professional technique, home kitchen achievable – I’ve broken down the pastry chef techniques into manageable steps that anyone can follow.
Key Ingredients
Understanding your ingredients makes all the difference in achieving that delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture:
- Unsalted Butter (softened, room temperature) – The foundation of these shortbread cookies. Butter creates that signature tender crumb and rich flavor. Using unsalted lets you control the salt level precisely.
- Smooth Peanut Butter – This is important: use no-stir homogeneous brands like Jif or Skippy. Natural peanut butter separates during the long chilling process, which can compromise your dough texture. Trust me on this—I learned the hard way in pastry school.
- Granulated Sugar – Provides structure and just the right amount of sweetness without overwhelming the delicate butter flavor.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – You can use natural or Dutch-processed. Natural cocoa gives a lighter brown color; Dutch-processed creates a deeper, darker chocolate dough. The flavor remains rich either way.
- All-Purpose Flour – Forms the structure. For best results, weigh your flour (260g per dough) or use the spoon-and-level method to avoid dense cookies.
- Turbinado Sugar (Sugar in the Raw) – Those coarse brown sugar crystals create a gorgeous sparkle and slight crunch around the edges. You can substitute demerara, sanding sugar, or pearl sugar.
Step-by-Step: Assembly Instructions
Make the Two Cookie Doughs
The beauty of pinwheel cookies is that both doughs follow the same basic method—you’re just flavoring them differently.
- For the peanut butter dough: Cream softened butter with sugar until smooth, add peanut butter, then mix in egg and vanilla. Finally, incorporate flour and salt until just combined. The dough will look sticky—that’s normal.
- For the chocolate dough: Follow the same process, but add cocoa powder along with the sugar. The cocoa absorbs moisture, so this dough gets slightly more sugar to balance the texture.
- Prepare cookie doughs. Start by mixing the peanut butter dough. Scrape out contents and shape into a rectangle. Use the same mixing bowl to prepare chocolate dough. Scrape out contents and shape into a rectangle.
- Chill doughs for at least one hour. Stack rectangle doughs on top of each other. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour up to 24 hours.
- Roll and chill. Roll the two doughs together into a log. Chill cookie log. Wrap log tightly in parchment paper and plastic wrap. Chill for at least two hours until log is solid, or up to three days.
- Slice log into 1 cm thick rounds.
- Brush egg whites around cookie and roll in turbinado sugar.
- Bake!
The key to perfect spirals: Roll firmly but gently. Too loose and your spirals will have gaps; too tight and the dough may crack.
The Secret to Perfectly Round Cookies
Here’s a professional trick: during the first hour of chilling, remove the log every 20 minutes and gently re-roll it (while still wrapped). This prevents flat spots from forming. For extra insurance, store your log inside a paper towel tube with a lengthwise slit—it acts as a protective mold.
Chill the log for at least 2 hours (or up to 3 days) until completely solid.
Slice and Bake
For extra protection, store the cookie log inside a paper towel roll! Cut a slit lengthwise down the paper towel roll. Slice the cookie dough log inside. The rounded towel roll prevents the cookie dough from forming a flat bottom.
Slice the chilled log into 1cm (about ⅓-inch) thick rounds using a sharp knife. Brush the edges with egg white and roll in turbinado sugar. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
Important: These cookies will be delicate straight from the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. As they cool completely, they’ll firm up and develop that classic shortbread snap.
Make Ahead and Freeze Instructions
These peanut butter chocolate pinwheel cookies are perfect for advance preparation:
- Refrigerator storage: The assembled cookie log keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge. Slice and bake as needed.
- Freezer storage: Wrap the complete log tightly in parchment paper and plastic wrap. Freeze for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before slicing.
- Pre-sliced freezing: Slice the entire log, then freeze individual cookies on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time.
This flexibility makes them perfect for busy holiday seasons—do the work once, enjoy fresh cookies multiple times.
Cookie Variations
- Peanut Butter Jelly Pinwheel Cookies: Make peanut butter dough as directed. Omit the cocoa powder in second dough. Replace with equal amount powdered freeze dried strawberries (or raspberries).
- Cookie Sandwiches: Use marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, pastry cream, or ice cream to sandwich two peanut butter chocolate pinwheel cookies together.
- Nutella Swirl: Swap the peanut butter for Nutella and keep the chocolate dough for a double-chocolate experience.
Perfect Pairings
These peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies are elegant enough to serve at:
- Holiday cookie exchanges
- Wedding or baby shower dessert tables
- Afternoon tea service
- Gift boxes for teachers, neighbors, or clients
- Cookie and milk parties with kids
Beverage pairings: Strong coffee, cold milk, hot chocolate, or even a dessert wine like Port or Moscato.
Storage and Shelf Life
Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to one week. Layer cookies between parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Refrigerator: These don’t need refrigeration, but they’ll keep up to two weeks if refrigerated.
Freezer: Baked cookies freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Dough:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, (170 g), softened, room temp
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, (150 g)
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter, (130 g)*
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, (260 g)*
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, *
Chocolate Dough:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, (170 g), softened, room temp
- ¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, (175 g)
- 5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, (30 g)
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, (260 g)*
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, *
Baking:
- 1 large egg white
- ½ cup turbinado sugar, or as needed
Instructions
Peanut Butter Dough:
- Prepare five sheets of parchment paper cut to 10×15-inches. Use two sheets for peanut butter dough, reserve two sheets for chocolate dough, and remaining sheet for assembly. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix until incorporated. Add egg and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
- Add in flour and salt. Mix on low speed until there are no longer any dry streaks of flour. Scrape down bowl as needed. The dough will look sticky.
- Place dough on one of the parchment cutouts. Place second parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll dough into a rectangle the same size as parchment paper. Place dough on half sheet baking sheet. Set aside while you prepare chocolate dough.
Chocolate Dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Add cocoa powder and mix until incorporated. Add egg and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
- Add in flour and salt. Mix on low speed until there are no longer any dry streaks of flour. Scrape down bowl as needed. The dough will look sticky.
- Place dough on one of the parchment cutouts. Place second parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll dough into a rectangle the same size as parchment paper. Place dough on half sheet baking sheet on top of peanut butter dough. Tightly cover baking sheet with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour up to 24 hours.
Assembly:
- Remove chilled doughs from the fridge. Unstack the doughs and place on a flat clean surface. Allow to sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes* to soften.
- Peel the top parchment from the peanut butter dough. Peel the top parchment from the chocolate dough. Position peanut butter dough lengthwise, with the long side facing you (parallel to you). Invert chocolate dough and place exposed chocolate dough over peanut butter dough allowing ½-inch of the peanut butter dough to be exposed underneath. That means ½-inch of the chocolate dough will hangover on the top.
- Peel off the parchment paper from the chocolate dough. Fold the exposed ½-inch peanut butter dough directly over the chocolate dough. Lift up the parchment paper under the peanut butter dough and use it to gently fold and roll the peanut butter and chocolate doughs into a 15-inch log.
- Remove the parchment backing. Use remaining parchment paper to roll over log. Roll the log back and forth to tighten the spiral. Wrap lightly in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least two hours up to 24 hours. During the first hour, remove log and reroll it (while still encased in parchment and plastic wrap) to ensure a round shape cookie every 20 minutes, for a total of three times.
- At this point, wrapped roll may be stored in the fridge for up three days or kept frozen for up to a month.*
Baking:
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or reusable silicone baking mat.
- Remove cookie log from the fridge. Remove plastic wrap and parchment paper covering. Use a sharp knife to slice cookie log into 1-cm thick rounds.
- Using a pastry brush, wet the edges of the cookie with egg white. Roll the wet edges into turbinado sugar or coarse sugar.
- Space cookies evenly on prepared sheet tray and bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating sheets midway through baking. Bake until cookies are lightly golden and set along the edges. Cool cookies in sheet pan for 3-5 minutes. Then, use an offset spatula to transfer warm cookies to wire rack to further cool.
Notes
- Peanut Butter: for best results use no-stir homogenous smooth peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. Natural peanut peanut butter that require stirring may separate during dough chilling.
- Flour: for best results weight dry ingredients. If using cup measurements, use the “stir and spoon method.”
- Salt: Recipe uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal = 1/2 teaspoon Morton kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt.
- Cocoa Powder: use any kind of unsweetened cocoa powder such as Dutch-processed, natural, black, etc.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Love it! I forgot to do the egg wash and turbinado sugar, but it didn’t need it. It was a big hit when I shared them with friends. Will definitely make them again.
Thank you! So glad you and your friends enjoyed it!
Loving these cookies and the pics!I agree chocolate and peanut butter together = love
Thanks! Yes, chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven!
I love the idea of having this cookie dough on hand to bake whenever a craving hits! There is absolutely nothing like freshly baked cookies (especially PB and chocolate ones)!
I like cookie doughs that I can freeze because I end up eating too much when I bake off all the dough!
These do look tasty and unique. I have seen swirled cookies before but they usually are two different types of dough. Classic flavors, which means these will disappear quickly. Also, thanks for the tip on the paper towel rolls, good to know.I do donations of baked goods and this looks like a great recipe so I am saving this. Glad I stopped by and have a great day!
Thank you for stopping by, Tina!