I love these because they are fast and easy to make, and you can use anything you have on hand. They can be savoury or sweet. They make a great snack or appetizer, and look nice to impress your friends!
Pin Wheels
Ingredients:
- Puff pastry, pre-made
*This would also work with phyllo dough, just prepare a few sheets as directed. - Fillings; your choice. Spreads, veggies, herbs, etc. Ideas below
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
I usually only use a small amount of dough, because I’m only making a few to eat fresh. Obviously, use as much as you want to make as many as you want! Remember that a little goes a long way.
- Pre-heat oven according to the puff pastry’s instructions. Mine is 400F/200C
- Roll out your puff pastry very thinly into a square.
Rolling Tip: You can dust your rolling pin with flour, or place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll over that.
- Thinly spread out your filling over the square, leaving about an inch free at one end (to seal when rolling up).
- Lightly wet with water the edge of the dough without any filling on it.
- Starting with the side opposite of the edge you just wetted, carefully start to roll the dough edge into itself. This rolling is like making a jelly roll/jam roly poly/swiss roll or sushi.
- Roll until there is nothing left to roll! Press the wet edge into the outside of the dough, sealing it. Place the seam on the bottom. You now have a dough log!
- With a sharp knife (or a serrated knife if your knives are dull), cut into medallions between 1-2 cm thick. Set on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. *Bake separately, or put them together in a circle for tear-apart pin wheels like cinnamon buns!
- Repeat until all of the dough log has been sliced. If needed, clean knife every couple slices if it gets doughy. This will help the slices be nice and clean, and not squishing them down.
- Bake! Check on your pinwheels halfway through the recommended cooking time. If you made them thinner or thicker, baking time will depend on that. When they are a golden color, it’s probably time!
Filling ideas:
- Pizza: sauce, basil, nutritional yeast/cheeze
- Pesto, pine nuts, diced tomatoes
- Hummus, onions, roasted red peppers
- Leftover curry
- Deli slices & cheeze
- Garlic Bread: margarine, garlic or garlic powder, salt, parsley flakes
- Pâtés, artichoke heart spread, etc
- Jalapeños!
- Cinnamon buns: Margarine, cinnamon, brown sugar, nuts
- Raisins, walnuts, brown sugar
- Jam/Preserves/Marmalade
- Apples or bananas with brown sugar and cinnamon (and margarine to keep it moist inside)
- Apple walnut chutney
Anything really! I would love to hear more of your ideas! (Also expect more photos to continually pop up here as I make more of these.) I made mini cinnamon rolls one day, but we ate them before the camera came out!
Update: I made more! Made with brown sugar, cinnamon, and crushed walnuts.
Ronin Dining 
Those look fantastic! What brand of puff pastry did you use? I’ve heard Pillsbury is technically vegan, but I’m hesitant to use it.
I’m in the UK now, and use JusRol.
We used to make the Pillsbury crescent rolls often- so at least they used to be ok! (I know they’re not exactly healthy!). I would always say “make your own” but puff pastry is just too intensive for an everyday item. For a dinner party, perhaps.
What a great quick and simple appetizer idea! With so many possibilities, thank you for all the flavor ideas! ^_^
They looks awesome and I love that you have such an extensive list of suggested fillings! Thanks!
Sounds so yummy! I bet you could bake and freeze extras, then pop in the toaster over for little snacks or to pair with salad for lunch. I would do that, assuming I could stop eating them long enough to save some for later!
BTW: I never would have thought of using hummus and I think that would be the first flavor I would try!
Those look awesome!
I made these this morning, with the Pillsbury Puff Sheets (it’s all I had in the freezer). I put tomato sauce, Daiya “cheese”, crumbled veg burger (Amy’s BBQ), and sauteed onions. OMGosh! They were so good! My 6 y/o and I finished them off for breakfast. I’ll look at Whole Foods for my next Puff Pastry purchase, but these were yummy anyways! Thank you for sharing!
Glad they were a hit! Fill them with anything =)