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Try these easy Pizza Swirls: A healthier puff pastry baked with cheese and tomato sauce, sliced into pinwheels. These are so good for lunchboxes and afternoon snacks, let the kids loose on these yummy little cheesy snacks!
Pizza Swirls
Pastry, cheese and a tomatoey sauce, oven baked until the cheese is melted and crisp on the outside. Pizza pinwheels are popular little things: I’ve made these plain and simple but you could really add in anything you’d normally add onto a pizza, I’ve added some ideas for you below.
There are two types of dough or pizza dough if you like, you can use to make these. I’ve used my healthier puff pastry recipe as I’ve generally always used this to make these. Both are yeast free meaning you can get these started, made, bake them and have them on the table in super fast time.
The pastry will give you a more crumbly pizza swirl, my regular pizza dough will be more ‘pizza-ry’! The prep time for both is minimal, more so for the pizza dough, so take your pick!
More Lunchbox Recipes
- Mini lunchbox meatloaf
- Cheesy zucchini slice
- Savoury tuna muffins
- Cheese and carrot muffins
- The yummiest savoury muffins
- Potato and spinach quiche
Healthier Puff Pastry
This puff pastry is really easy to work with. It’s not a traditional puff pastry in the sense that there is no folding over and over and over (you get it…!), you can simply make this up and although it needs chilling in the fridge for 10 minutes or so before you roll it out, it’s quick and easy and if you’re planning these ahead of time you can make the pastry, wrap it and let it sit in the fridge until you need it.
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I used to do this when the kids were smaller, I’d get the pastry ready and then let the kids roll it out into a big rectangle and top it before they were baked.
2 Ingredient Pizza Dough
Just as yummy is this 2 ingredient pizza dough. You can make and use this straight away, it’s about as simple as you can get and still even after all this time of making it, amazes me with the way it works so well!
Pizza Swirls: Hot Or Cold?
You can eat these straight from the oven hot, leave them out and eat them warm or eat them totally cold. It’s entirely up to what way your kids prefer these.
Personally, my kids will eat these any which way at all and that’s really the way it goes for most things cheesy :)
I usually try and keep a few of these back for lunchboxes if we’ve made them at the weekend. They’re great finger foods for lunches and you can really make these as big or as little as you want, just adjust the cooking time to reflect the size of your swirls.
If you want to reheat these after they’ve cooled down you can pop them into the microwave for 30-60 seconds until you see the cheese start to melt, or put them onto a baking tray if your ovens already hot and give them 5 minutes in there.
How To Cut Pizza Swirls
The swirls are made by rolling up your rectangle of pastry and using a very sharp knife (so you don’t push down on the pastry and crush it too much!) cutting the roll into 12 pinwheels.
Do this on a floured surface you your swirls don’t get stuck, and always have a little extra flour on hand to sprinkle about for easy un-sticky swirls!
Additions
Any of your kids favorite pizza toppings can be added into this recipe, some we’ve included before include:
- Olives
- Bell peppers
- Sausage
- Onions
- Chicken
- Mushrooms
- Pesto
- Pepperoni
- Fresh basil
You can also change the cheese, I’ve used cheddar cheese, to mozzarella cheese or even have two cheese, perhaps use half cheddar and half mozzarella or add in a little parmesan cheese for a stronger cheese flavor.
Can You Make Pizza Pinwheels In Advance?
You certainly can make these in advance. You can make the pastry in advance and keep that in the fridge until you want to make these or you can make the whole things and have them ready for hungry kids!
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I keep these pinwheels for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. These are a grab and go kinda snack and so they’re not usually about for anywhere 3 days but if you’re saving them then 3 days would be the max I’d keep them for.
I haven’t tried freezing these but can’t see why you couldn’t. Wait for them to be fully cold after baking if you want to pop them into the freezer and then let me know how they are when you defrost them!
If you’re going to try freezing these I’d suggest allowing them to thaw overnight in the fridge and then putting them back into a hot oven on a baking sheet for 5 minutes to crisp up the pastry and cheese again.
How To Make Pizza Swirls
Ingredients
- 1 Batch Healthier puff pastry See post for recipe link
- ½ Cup Cheddar cheese Shredded
- ¼ Cup Tomato puree 100% tomato, no added flavors
- 1 Egg Whisked
- ¼ tsp Dried Oregano
- Tiny Pinch Garlic powder Optional
Instructions
- Heat your oven to either 190c or 375f depending on your oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Take your pastry out of the fridge and flour a large work surface area ready to roll the pizza swirl pastry on
- Roll out the pastry until you have a rectangle roughly 3mm thick. The rectangle doesn’t have to be perfect, you can always cut the edges!
- In a bowl add the tomato paste, salt and oregano (and garlic powder if you’re using it) and mix well and then in 3 lots add it to the top of the pastry and using the back of a spoon, push it around so it’s a fairly even layer keeping an inch tomato free on one of the long ends. Only use as much sauce as you need
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the tomato sauce
- Starting at the long edge of the pastry with the tomato sauce, roll it up fairly tightly into a ‘roll’ leaving 1 inch unrolled. Brush this edge with the whisked egg and then finish the roll, the egg will seal the end of the roll and stop it coming unstuck
- Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 swirls and lay them onto your baking tray, giving them at least an inch between each
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until the pastry has turned golden and the cheese is melted, golden in color and has crisped up
- Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving
Pizza Swirls Recipe
PIzza Swirls
Ingredients
- 1 Batch Healthier puff pastry See post for recipe link
- ½ Cup Cheddar cheese Shredded
- ¼ Cup Tomato puree 100% tomato, no added flavors
- 1 Egg Whisked
- ¼ tsp Dried Oregano
- Tiny Pinch Garlic powder Optional
- Pinch Salt
Instructions
- Heat your oven to either 190c or 375f depending on your oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Take your pastry out of the fridge and flour a large work surface area ready to roll the pizza swirl pastry on
- Roll out the pastry until you have a rectangle roughly 3mm thick. The rectangle doesn't have to be perfect, you can always cut the edges!
- In a bowl add the tomato paste, salt and oregano (and garlic powder if you're using it) and mix well and then in 3 lots add it to the top of the pastry and using the back of a spoon, push it around so it's a fairly even layer keeping an inch tomato free on one of the long ends. Only use as much sauce as you need
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the tomato sauce
- Starting at the long edge of the pastry with the tomato sauce, roll it up fairly tightly into a 'roll' leaving 1 inch unrolled. Brush this edge with the whisked egg and then finish the roll, the egg will seal the end of the roll and stop it coming unstuck
- Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 swirls and lay them onto your baking tray, giving them at least an inch between each
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until the pastry has turned golden and the cheese is melted, golden in color and has crisped up
- Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving
