Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels

I hope everyone in the northeast is surviving the snow. It was a crazy storm, that's for sure! If you were snowed in, hopefully you had plenty of good food! And speaking of good food, I have an excellent appetizer recipe to share with you today - pepperoni pizza pinwheels! I've made these twice in the past few weeks for two different occasions (and the pictures in this post are from the two different times I made them). These pinwheels are awesome! And they're so easy too. Definitely keep them in mind for the next time you need an easy, delicious appetizer or snack!

The recipe starts with Pillsbury crescent rolls, and that's a large part of why this recipe is so easy. Of course, you could make your own dough, but for something easy, Pillsbury is definitely the way to go. I adapted this recipe from Recipe Girl's Pizza Pinwheels recipe. Lori (a.k.a., Recipe Girl) actually does make her own dough from scratch (and it looks fairly simple!), so if you're so inclined, check out how she made her dough. 

If you're looking for exact measurements for this recipe for the various ingredients, definitely read the post on Recipe Girl. I didn't measure as I made these; I just went through the motions and eye-balled everything! And they came out great. Exact measurements aren't totally necessary with this one. :) And I've made them two ways too, with either tomato sauce or bbq sauce. Use whichever you prefer!

Ingredients:

-1 package Pillsbury crescent roll dough

-bbq sauce or tomato sauce

-chopped pepperoni

-shredded mozzarella cheese (or an Italian blend or any favorite cheese!)

-dried herbs (e.g., herbs de provence, rosemary, etc.)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Roll out the crescent dough on a flat surface, and pinch the dough together at the seams. Spread your bbq sauce (or tomato sauce) to the edges of the dough, and then spread the chopped pepperoni evenly over top of the sauce. Next, sprinkle with a generous amount of  shredded cheese, as well as dried herbs.

Starting from the long end of the rectangle, carefully roll the dough into a log. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 1/2 to 3/4-inch slices (the dough is soft; don't worry if it presses down a little when you're cutting it). Arrange each slice on the parchment paper, and top each with more shredded cheese (and more herbs, if desired). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crescent dough is lightly golden brown.

Makes 12 to 16 pinwheels, depending on how wide you slice them.

See that cool looking "knife"? It's an Ulu knife, and it's fabulous! I used it to chop the pepperoni. It's also great for chopping fresh herbs.

I forgot to use parchment paper the first time I made these, but they still turned out just fine and didn't stick to the cookie sheet.

I really enjoyed both versions of these pinwheels - with the bbq sauce and the tomato sauce. However, if I had to choose, I'd say the bbq sauce is my favorite! Mike and I often put bbq sauce on our pizza, which was the inspiration behind using bbq sauce for these pizza pinwheels.

Now, if pepperoni isn't your thing but you do like meat, shredded chicken would work great instead. And for a vegetarian option, I was thinking that a mixture of sauteed onions and mushrooms might be wonderful...or whichever veggie(s) you choose!

Eating these was like eating a slice of pizza in a different, fun form - a pinwheel! The crescent dough was light and fully, and the ingredients inside are very reminiscent of pizza (as you'd expect :)). And of course, the fact that they are a finger food automatically makes them more fun!

I loved this recipe and will likely be making these pinwheels many more times in the future! I can't wait to make them with different combinations of ingredients too. What ingredients would you try if you made these? I'd love to hear your ideas!