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It’s not that I can’t wedge a slice of pizza into Kenya’s LapTop Lunch Box, it’s just that it can be a bit of a challenge. When kids open their school lunch, the first thing they’ll likely judge their food on is it’s appearance, so a piece of pizza that’s been smashed to fit in the box, doesn’t seem like the easiest sell — no matter how much they love it.
That was part of the reason that I came up with these Pizza Pinwheels. If you tune in to weelicious enough, you know that we make a lot of pizza in our house and coming up with new recipes for how to present it besides the everyday slice with tomato and cheese is part of the fun for me.
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These pinwheels are really like a pizza “sandwich” because the filling is savory, kind of like a ham and cheese sandwich, but much cooler looking. They almost dare you not to eat them. It’s also a versatile recipe in that you can substitute your fillings to fit your mood (see the recipe below for suggestions). Whether you decide to replace the ham with turkey or chicken or even go with just traditional red sauce and cheese, these Pizza Pinwheels will have your kids coming home from school asking for more!
Pizza Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough, recipe linked below
- 2 tablespoons dijon or yellow mustard
- 1 cup chopped ham
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Roll out pizza dough until 1/4 inch thick and the shape of a large rectangle (about 18 x 12 inches).
- Evenly spread the mustard on the dough, and sprinkle the ham and cheese on top.*
- Starting with end nearest you (the long end of the rectangle), roll the dough away from you, creating an even cylinder as you go (similar to a jelly roll).
- Lightly sprinkle some flour on top of the roll (so it’s easier to cut) and using a serrated knife, cut the roll into 1 inch discs (pinwheels).
- Place pinwheels on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and lightly press them with the palm of your hand to slightly flatten and bake for 12-15 minutes.
To Freeze: After rolling up the dough, cut the roll in half and freeze for later. When you are ready just take it out and let it thaw to room temperature then cut them into pinwheels and follow the steps 7-8. Or you can just cut the entire roll in pinwheels and place some pinwheels on a baking sheet, freeze for 30 minutes then place them in a ziploc bag, label and freeze. But be sure to always let the pinwheels come to room temperature then bake.- * can also be made subbing the mustard and ham with tomato sauce and favorite pizza topping such as pepperoni, onions, peppers, olives, leftover vegetables and more.
[…] Pizza Pinwheels (from Weelicious) […]
Hmmm I think the tortillas would work!
Hi,
how would you make this without pizza dough? Could you use tortillas? Or thin rolled out bred?
Thank you,
Hannah
Yes, that would be fine!
Just wondering if you can make these the night before and then serve them in the late morning. Trying to plan easy birthday meals.
My kids loved these in their lunches (I used pizza sauce instead of mustard)!
Love this site I came across it through another site. cant wait to order your new cookbook
I usually bake them for dinner and then they get one or two in the next day’s lunch!
Do you bake these in the morning before making a school lunch (and put them in fresh) or the night before?
They don’t get chewy. They are pretty close to the consistency of leftover pizza!
do these stay ok after being in a lunch box for a few hours? not chewy?
These were AMAZING!!
Made these for lunch today, yummy! I love that I could freeze half for later, great time saver. Thanks!
You really need it to reach room temp so the dough cooks thoroughly, take a look at the freezing directions at the bottom of the recipe. You can refrigerate too 🙂
Can you make this ahead, refrigerate it and pop it in the oven later? I don’t have much time at dinnertime, so I’d love to be able to make this in the morning, let it sit in the fridge all day, and take it out at dinnertime and pop it in the oven. Or do I still have to wait for it to reach room temp?
No reason, you can put any ingredients you like 🙂