Holiday season is party season, and party season means it’s time to go all out with your appetizer spread! Whether you’re having a big party or a casual neighborhood cocktail hour, this easy caramelized onion-and-cheese puff pastry pinwheel recipe deserves a spot on your table! Warm from the oven, with the buttery layers of puff pastry (store bought, of course) and melty cheese, they’re heavenly. For a big party spread, serve them alongside all of our favorite Christmas Appetizers! Our go-to party appetizers are the ones like these puff pastry pinwheels that you can make ahead of time (gotta use that last hour before the party to get glammed up!) like Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, easy Spinach Dip, and our vintage Cheddar & Onion Cheese Ball.
How To Work With Puff Pastry
You’ll only use one of the two sheets of puff pastry that are usually in a package. You can double this recipe if you’re having a big party and use both, or keep the other sheet frozen for another day.
When it’s time to roll out the puff pastry, work on a lightly floured surface.
Roll the puff pastry sheet out into an 11 x 14-inch rectangle. You don’t have to be fussy about it, but if you’ve got a measuring tape handy, it might be really satisfying to see that you’ve hit that exact dimension (and therefore, the correct level of thinness).
When you spread the filling inside of the puff pastry, take care to leave a roughly 1-inch border around the edges of the rectangle. This way, the filling won’t spill out as you roll the puff pastry.
When you’re done rolling the filling into the pastry, you’ll use a splash of water to seal the pinwheel roll shut. The easiest way to do this is to already have a little bowl of water nearby as you roll the pastry, and dab your finger into the bowl after you’ve rolled the pastry. Then, run your damp finger along the 1-inch area of pastry that doesn’t have any filling on it, fold the damp pastry to seal the roll shut and keep all that delicious filling inside of the pastry.
The Best Puff Pastry Pinwheel Filling Ingredients
Cream cheese: You’ll almost make a frosting out of cream cheese and mustard that’ll form the creamy base for our delicious filling.
Dijon mustard: With the sweet onions and creamy cheeses, this recipe really needs the slight kick of Dijon. Yum!
Caramelized onions: Caramelized Onions take time, but can be made up to a week ahead of time!
Swiss cheese: Don’t use pre-shredded — for the best melty, cheesy party pinwheel filling, use a box grater or grating attachment to grate the cheese yourself.
How To Make Puff Pastry Pinwheels, Step-By-Step
Make caramelized onions with thyme. This takes about an hour, and you could easily do it up to a week ahead of time and store the caramelized onions in the fridge until you’re ready to use them.
Whip cream cheese and Dijon mustard until smooth. You can do this by hand, or with a stand mixer.
Fill the puff pastry! First, a layer of the cream cheese-mustard mixture, then caramelized onions, and finally the Swiss cheese.
Carefully roll the puff pastry over the filling, just as you would roll up a cinnamon roll.
When you’re ready to bake the pinwheels, slice the roll into ½-inch-thick rounds.
Bake! They take about 15- 20 minutes.
Make Ahead Appetizers FTW
Yes you can prep puff pastry pinwheels ahead of time! Always a key feature for party appetizers — you need that last hour before the party to get yourself ready, not to be fussing around in the kitchen. To make these ahead of time:
Tightly roll the caramelized onion and cheese filling into the puff pastry.
Instead of slicing and baking it immediately, pop the rolled, filled puff pastry in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to bake and serve the pinwheels — 20 minutes before you’d want to serve them — preheat the oven, slice the pinwheels and bake!
More Holiday Party Appetizer Ideas
Build A Whole Party Spread!
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