These easy, breezy puff pastry pinwheels are so easy to make and so lovely to eat. They are a delightful snack, or a crispy hors d’oeuvre for the evening drinks with the neighbors. Made from both store bought puff pastry and pesto, these pinwheels come together in less than 30 minutes. Delicious to eat hot straight from the oven, or cold in the picnic basket.

How to make the pinwheels stick together

To avoid the pinwheels to open when they cook, do not put the filling all the way to the edge that is furthest away from you when you roll it. When you get to the end, you can brush the last bit with a bit of egg wash, before fastening the two edges of puff pastry. Press the edges gently and it will stay closed while cooking in the oven. The pinwheel itself will puff open a bit, but it should stick together to stay as a round pinwheel. As you can see from the pictures below.

Cheese

For the shredded cheese, I usually use a basic medium cheddar. To add an extra layer of goodness to these pinwheels, I will finely grate some Parmesan or Gran Padana on top as soon as the pinwheels come out of the oven. This will melt the cheese a bit, but the cheese will not disappear. You can use which ever cheese you prefer or what you have in your fridge at the moment. Just make sure it is a cheese that melt easily as the pinwheels are not in the oven for very long.

Dipping sauce

These pinwheels are delicious to eat on their own, but if you want to, you can make a pot of my versatile Creamy sriracha 3-2-1 dressing to dip the pinwheels in for a spicy addition.

Substitutes

If you have the skills, feel free to substitute the store bought puff pastry with your own. The same with the pesto. I like to use this recipe, but sometimes I just need a quick solution and reach for a store bought jar in my cupboard. I like the Aldi brand for a budget version or Sacla for a more expensive version.

Freezable

These pesto pinwheels freezes well for about three months in a freezer bag and you can take out as many as needed. If you are bringing them to a pick nick, put them straight from the freezer into the pick nick basket. Or if you’re eating them at home, leave them to thaw in the fridge for an hour, then pop them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp them up.

Print Recipe

Pesto pinwheels

These easy breezy pesto pinwheels are so easy to make and so lovely to eat. They are a delightful snack, or a crispy hors d’oeuvre at the evening drinks with the neighbors.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pesto, puff pastry

Servings: 12 pinwheels

Equipment

• 1 Dough cutter

Ingredients

• 1 sheet 375 g puff pastry
• 2 tbsp red or green pesto
• 100 gram Cheddar cheese shredded
• 50 gram Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Optional

• 1 egg for egg wash
• Nuts chopped

Instructions

• Set the oven to 180 °C (400 °F).
• Unroll the puff pastry sheet in to rectangle with the longest side towards you.
• Shred the two cheeses, but keep them separate.
• Spread the pesto evenly over the pastry sheet, but keep long side furthest away from you free.
• Generously spread the cheddar cheese across the puff pastry sheet, leave the top strip clear.
• Roll up the puff pastry from the long side away from you. Possibly wet your fingers with some water to fasten the dough at the end. It depends on the dough if this step is necessary, you will notice this when you roll up your dough.
• Roll the dough so the end bit is underneath the roll.
• Use a dough scraper to cue 2cm wide strips of your roll and place cut side up.
• Gently press on the pinwheels.
• Sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese.
• Place in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes.
• Check for colour and add another 5 minutes if necessary.
• Take out and place on a wire rack to col to keep crispiness.
• Enjoy cold in your picnic basket or on your buffet table.

Notes

Leave one long edge empty about 1 cm in, and when you roll it up, roll it from the opposite side so that the filling doesn’t pour out as you roll the puff pastry. Anchor the dough to make sure the pinwheels doesn’t open, apply some water, or egg wash, with your finger before finishing the roll, press gently on the dough end bit to make it stick.

Variations

Try to make these with different kinds of pesto. In these photos I have used green and red pesto, but try it with my current favourite Sacla’s char-grilled aubergine pesto. Sometimes I add in finely chopped olives and pine nuts for a thicker filling or use tapenad instead of pesto.
Another great tip is to make it sweet. I make these cinnamon pinwheels for a quick dessert.