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Grab and go Pizza Pinwheels! Made with a deliciously rich, red pizza sauce and gooey mozzarella cheese, then stuffed with your favorite toppings, like red peppers, red onion, pepperoni. These are snack perfection.
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Pizza Dough
And, they’re easy to make with store-bought pizza dough.
Yes, of course you can make your own homemade pizza dough, but I love the convenience and flavor of the ones I get at the store.
My grocery store sells ready-made dough in the deli section. I’ve also seen dough at Trader Joe’s and Sprouts. I’m pretty sure most grocery stores will also carry pizza dough in the refrigerator section with the canned biscuits.
Perfect game day grub
These little pizza pinwheels are definitely a hit with my pizza-loving husband.
All of your guests will love them at any game day party! Hop over to see more of the Tailgating Snacks for 2018.
In all actuality, we ate these pinwheels for dinner. They were a total hit as dinner too. I scored some major points for making homemade pizza!
How can I make these a little healthier?
You could make these pizza pinwheels a little healthier by using whole wheat dough, low fat cheese, or even cutting back on the cheese if you want.
You could also use a gluten-free dough for these.
Make them vegetarian or add pepperoni or sausage if desired
I made mine vegetarian (or course), but I made a few with pepperoni inside for the husband. It’s a nice option that you could make some of both (veggie and meaty) for a party. Just be sure to separate them somehow when serving them.
Or, like my husband suggested, on the meaty ones you could simply lay a piece of pepperoni over the top. That would be really clear, and the pepperoni would get those little crispy edges like on a pizza.
Ingredient notes
I definitely recommend making my Easy Pizza Sauce for these babies. It’s so good and so easy. You’ll love it way more than any store-bought stuff.
The pizza dough from my grocery store deli comes in 16 ounce or 1-pound bags. If the pizza dough you find is a little more or a little less, that’s totally fine. The toppings will stay pretty close to these measurements, and of course you can always add a little more or a little less to the pinwheels.
How to make Pinwheels
To make the pinwheels, make sure to read and follow the package directions. Mine said to leave the dough in the package and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before using.
Once the dough has rested, start to roll it out on a floured surface. If the dough won’t roll, and just keeps snapping back, let it rest for a few minutes and come back to it. Maybe go grate some of the cheese, or chop the veggies.
I also find that stretching pizza dough with my hands, pizzeria style, works really well. So, do a combination of rolling and stretching. Have fun with it.
And, if the dough tears a little, no worries, just pinch it back together in that spot.
After the dough is rolled out, spread the toppings out over the top, leaving about an inch at the edges. That’s so you can roll it without losing too many toppings.
Roll it up, like you would cinnamon rolls.
Starting on the long edge, fold the first inch of the dough up over the toppings (as shown in the picture below), and carefully roll up the pinwheel until you have a long pizza log.
Here’s a video we made many years ago on rolling cinnamon rolls if you want to take a quick look.
For cutting the pizza pinwheels, I tried the handy dental floss trick, but didn’t think it worked as well as a sharp knife. So stick with the knife for these.
Kitchen tools you may need
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Rolling pin
Baking sheets
Parchment paper
Silpat baking mats
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Recipe
Pizza Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 16 ounces ready made pizza dough
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup chopped jarred red pepper
- ¼ cup chopped red onion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° F.
- Line 2 baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper, and set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough into a 24×12-inch long rectangle.
- Spread the pizza sauce out over the dough, leaving a 1-inch edge uncovered. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza sauce evenly. Top evenly with red peppers and red onions. Add any additional toppings desired.
- Starting from one of the long edges, fold up one inch of dough over the toppings, and continue to roll the dough up onto itself.
- Cut the dough width-wise into 1-inch rings or pinwheels using a sharp knife.
- Place the pinwheels in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets, and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is browed.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Toni | Boulder Locavore
I definitely need to give this a try! Looks really good!
michle
These sound so good… the crunchy cheese….especially that oozes out make me want to try these asap!
Kathy
What a fun and delicious recipe. The possibilities are endless. My family is going to love this!!!
Sandra
Simple and delicious game day snack for sure! I like Dan’s idea to put a slice of pepperoni on top so it’s clear which ones have meat. .
julie
Oh heavens that melty cheese has me drooling. This is the perfect tailgating food!