Pizza Pinwheels are made from a soft, homemade dough with delicious toppings inside and melted cheese on top, they are an amazing weeknight meal or favorite appetizer!
Pizza Pinwheels are my favorite quick weeknight dinner to whip up. They are so easy to make, they are much better than cheap frozen pizzas and I get absolutely no complaints from the kids about what is for dinner! They are always a win!
My kids adore pizza and we eat it often at our house. I had the idea to turn pizza dough into pizza rolls- think cinnamon rolls, pizza style. I am thrilled with how well they turned out! Not only did they taste great but my kids went crazy. Not only are these a fantastic weeknight meal but they’d be perfect for an appetizer tray at a holiday party too. Making pizza is a family affair at our house. My kids love helping mix and knead the dough.
Pizza Pinwheels recipe ingredients
Here’s what you need to make our pizza pinwheels. Note, this recipe makes 13-15 pinwheels, which is about 4-6 servings as a meal. It serves more as an appetizer.
–warm water
–yeast
–sugar
–oil
–salt
— all-purpose or bread flour
— pizza sauce or any variety of traditional marinara sauce
–shredded mozzarella cheese
–pizza toppings- mini pepperoni, diced ham, sliced olives, and pineapple tidbits, etc.
How to make Pizza Pinwheels Appetizer
Making these pizza pinwheels is easy!
Proof the dough
Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl and let sit for abou
t 3-4 minutes, until yeast is bubbling up.
Mix the dough
Add in oil, salt and flour. Start with 2 1/2 cups of flour, then add more until the dough cleans the sides of the mixing bowl. (I use a mixer for this part as it makes it just so much easier!) Continue mixing for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Let the dough rise
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for 15 minutes. In cold weather, I like to turn my oven on for about 3 or 4 minutes, then turn it off and let my dough rest in the oven.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll the Pinwheels
Spray counter top with non-stick cooking spray and roll dough out into a large rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Top with Ragu® Pasta Sauce and spread to coat dough. sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Add pizza toppings- I did a section of dough for pepperoni pinwheels, another section with just cheese and a third with ham and pineapple. Top with another 1 cup of cheese.
Starting with one of the long sides of the rectangle, roll dough up tightly, pinching the seams to close at the end. Use a sharp, thin knife to cut 1 1/2″ sections of dough from the large roll. This will result in about 15 pinwheels.
Bake for 12-14 minutes
Set pinwheels on a large greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Return to oven for an additional 1-2 minutes, until cheese is melted and rolls are just beginning to turn golden brown.
Serve hot with additional pizza sauce on the side, for dipping!
Need more appetizer recipes? You’ve got to try these:
-
- The Best Chicken Tenders appetizer
- Bacon Avocado Deviled Eggs appetizer
- Cheesy Meatball Bites appetizer
- Pizza Pinwheels appetizer
- Ranch Chicken Bacon Kabob appetizer
- Best Meatball and Lil Smokies appetizer
- Quick & Easy Chicken Salad appetizer recipe
- Baked Bacon Meatball appetizer
- Best cheese Fondue appetizer
- Ranch Sausage Rolls appetizer
- Homemade Nacho Cheese recipe
- Best Texas Caviar appetizer recipe
PIZZA PINWHEELS
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 TBSP yeast
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 1 TBSP oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce or traditional marinara sauce
- 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups total pizza toppings- mini pepperoni diced ham, sliced olives, and pineapple tidbits, etc.
Instructions
- Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl and let sit for about 3-4 minutes, until yeast is bubbling up.
- Add in oil, salt and flour. Start with 2 1/2 cups of flour, then add more until the dough cleans the sides of the mixing bowl. (I use a mixer for this part as it makes it just so much easier!) Continue mixing for an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for 15 minutes. In cold weather, I like to turn my oven on for about 3 or 4 minutes, then turn it off and let my dough rest in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray counter top with non-stick cooking spray and roll dough out into a large rectangle about 1/4" thick.
- Top with pizza sauce and spread to coat dough. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Add pizza toppings- I did a section of dough for pepperoni pinwheels, another section with just cheese and a third with ham and pineapple. Top with another 1 cup of cheese.
- Starting with one of the long sides of the rectangle, roll dough up tightly, pinching the seams to close at the end. Use a sharp, thin knife to cut 1 1/2" sections of dough from the large roll. This will result in about 15 pinwheels.
- Set pinwheels on a large greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Return to oven for an additional 1-2 minutes, until cheese is melted and rolls are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Serve hot with warmed pizza sauce to dip on the side.
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Pizza Pinwheels are made from a soft, homemade dough with delicious toppings inside and melted cheese on top, they are an amazing weeknight meal or favorite appetizer!
Christina Aleman says
Making pizza with a twist. I love this idea.
Rossana Rita says
There look delicious??. How do I proceed with the dough if I want to make them in advance?
Kim says
I’ve made these a couple of times and the kids love them but I can’t keep them from sticking to the pan! The cooking time is a little long for my oven and they get dark on bottom so I’m going to go with 10 minutes next time. Great recipe though and it’s great for freezing and popping in lunch boxes!
Jessica says
The baking time will also depend on how large each individual pinwheel ends up being. Have you tried baking them on a piece of parchment paper? That should help with the stickiness! 😉 Glad you like them though!
Jaclyn says
I have made a ham and cheese roll by using a French loaf by Pillsbury. I just unroll it and add in my ingredients and then roll it back up and make like 3 cuts in it. I am thinking of doing your recipe with the French roll by Pillsbury instead! We’ll see how it turns out 🙂
Jessica says
Great idea let me know how it turns out!
CT says
Can you freeze these at any point? Would you do it before cooking?
Jessica says
I think you can either freeze the dough (instead of letting it sit, just put it in a container and freeze) or you can freeze after the pinwheels are baked. Either way would work! Just thaw the dough when you’re ready to make them, then proceed through the recipe. For frozen rolls, I’d thaw them on a pan, then once they’re soft, pop them in the oven for 5-8 minutes until warm. You could probably even microwave them!
Dena says
These look absolutely amazing and easy. Can’t wait to try. Might just brush with butter and sprinkle some parmesan before cutting. Oh the possibilities!
Jessica says
Great ideas! They are really versatile. 🙂
Crystle Sandridge says
Made these for my son’s 10th Birthday party and they were a hit! One with pepperoni and the other with just cheese (he’s a vegetarian). The next tI’ve I will put the rolled mixture in the fridge for a few minutes to make it easier to cut. Next: taco pinwheels!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Jessica says
So glad you enjoyed it! I love your ideas!
Alysha says
I don’t usually comment on these type of things but I just had too for these, omg they are great! And super easy to make as well compared to some other recipes. Ours came out super big because I didn’t read properly and we ended up with 7 massive ones which my 2 kids whooped down in no time! Thank you very much, I’ll be making more for the new school term next week!
Jessica says
I’m so glad you liked them! LOL about making massive ones! That actually sounds fun for dinner, you know?! My kids would love them too!
Jasmine Michael says
Can you make these the night before and refrigerate the dough( finished product ) and then cook the day of? I’m making quite a big batch among many other items and I just don’t have the time to do it all in one day!
Jessica says
I think refrigerating the finished dough would work just fine!
Leanna says
I’m trying these right now! Hopefully my daughter will enjoy her lunch tomorrow!!! ♡
Jessica says
I hope she did as well!!