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The children absolutely love making Pizza Pinwheels with me. They are so simple to make, taste great and are lovely to look at as well. We have them for a simple lunch, as part of a buffet, as a party treat or even when we’re making a picnic and they’re pretty much one of the kids’ favourite foods.
How easy are Pizza Pinwheels to make?
These easy Cheese and Tomato Pinwheels – or Pizza Swirls as we call them too – are one of the simplest things to make in the kitchen. You can adapt the puff pastry swirls recipe to make any flavour pinwheels you like and this recipe will give you a basic cheese and tomato recipe that you really can’t go wrong with.
Can you vary the Pizza Rolls recipe?
You can add herbs to the tomato cheese swirls like fresh basil leaves or mixed herbs – although the children prefer them plain – and you could add things like pepperoni, ham, sundried tomatoes or any vegetables cut up small so they will roll nicely with the pastry and marinara sauce. If you do use sun dried tomatoes, make sure you cut them up into little pieces first. Fresh spinach works well too if your children don’t mind green things!
We love using cheddar cheese for these cheese and tomato swirls but mozzarella cheese or cream cheese also works really well in the cheese pinwheels. We’ve also used parmesan cheese in the past but we’ve learnt a little goes a long way! We basically use whatever we have in the fridge at the time and the pastry pinwheels always turn out perfectly.
If you’re looking for something delicious to enjoy in a lunchbox, as part of a party food buffet, out and about on a picnic or on a long journey in the car then these are a really great finger food option. just make sure you store them in an airtight container and they’ll last well for a few days. They are a fantastic comfort food.
Who doesn’t love pizza? Any variation on an easy pizza recipe will always be a winner with the whole family and it’s great to find something that they children don’t just love to eat but love to help make too. They both volunteer to make these puff pastry pinwheels regularly and even ask to make them sometimes too. Pizza pinwheels are a sure fire hit with children.
Instead of using shop bought puff pastry, you can make this with a sheet of pizza dough if you want a real authentic homemade pizza taste to the pinwheel pizzas. Just follow the instructions, roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface, top with the pizza sauce and toppings and adjust the cooking times as appropriate. Slice and serve!
Can you make these pinwheel roll ups in the airfryer?
I don’t own an air fryer but my lovely friend Katy has made Airfryer pizza rolls and she’s also created a dairy free cheese tomato pinwheels recipe that you might also like to try although that one is in the oven not the air fryer.
If you’re looking for other recipes to try here’s our Nutella Pinwheels, Easy Chocolate Biscuits and Chocolate Chip Fairy Cakes recipes. You can see all our recipes to date here.
So here’s our Pizza Pinwheels recipe – happy baking!
Ingredients
- a sheet of ready made puff pastry
- a tube of tomato puree or pizza sauce
- two tablespoons of olive oil
- 200 g grated cheese – grated cheddar, shredded mozzarella.. Any cheese!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 7
- Make sure the pastry is at room temperature and unroll
- Mix the tomato puree and olive oil together to make a paste and spread over the puff pastry sheet
- Sprinkle with the cheese
- Tightly roll the pastry up along the longest side, making it as tight as you can whilst keeping all the cheese inside
- Cut into rounds and place on a greased baking sheet
- Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown
If you’d like to print or pin the Pizza Pinwheels recipe for later you can do so below. Enjoy!
Pizza Pinwheels Recipe
Ingredients
- a sheet of ready made puff pastry
- a tube of tomato puree
- two tablespoons of olive oil
- 200 g cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 7
- Make sure the pastry is at room temperature and unroll
- Mix the tomato puree and olive oil together to make a paste and spread over the pastry
- Sprinkle with the cheese
- Roll the pastry up along the longest side, making it as tight as you can whilst keeping all the cheese inside
- Cut into rounds and place on a greased baking sheet
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown
*Note: Nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published.
Kim Carberry says
My girls love these. I tend to make them in the summer for them to snack on. They love them with pepperoni in x
Plutonium Sox says
Ooh they look delicious! A nice one for children to help with too.
Nat.x
Susan Mann says
My kids love these too, not made them for a while, thanks for the reminder and recipe xx