Cheater’s Puff Pastry Pinwheels
How can you not love a recipe that starts with this dough is magical? And, in fact it is. This rugelach dough that I found in Kate Zukerman’s The Sweet Life will fool you into thinking that you spent hours bookfolding dough to achieve it’s tender puffy layers… only you will know differently. It’s almost ridiculously easy. The toughest part is having to wait several hours for the dough to chill. But, then it’s just a quick roll and a bake to little pinwheels of soft, tangy goodness.
The first time I tried this dough, I stuck with just a slight variation to Zukerman’s original Walnut and Cinnamon Rugelach recipe, only substituting orange zest in place of the currents in the sweet filling. I’d make these again in a heart beat… but what I also found was that the dough was so light and mild, it would work equally well with savory fillings. So, I reworked a batch, with 1/2 the sugar, and rolled up one log with salmon and cream cheese and another with a simple pesto. It worked brilliantly, perfect for little party appetizers. You can play endlessly with combinations to use with this “magical” dough.
Cheater’s Puff Pastry Pinwheels
The original recipe for this dough used cream cheese, but I substituted in quark, which has even more of a pleasantly sour flavor. If you do use quark, pour off any standing liquid first. If you are filling the pastry with sweet stuff, increase the sugar to 1 t.
4 oz butter, at room temperature
4 oz cream cheese or quark, at room temperature
1 cup flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 t sugar
Sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Set aside.
Cream the butter and soft cheese together on medium until it is light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating until well combined. Increase the speed to medium, and beat for about 15 seconds.
Scrape the dough onto plastic wrap and press into a flat disk. Then, double rap the dough and refrigerate overnight.
To use, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle about 12 x 16 inches. Then, cut into two 6 x 16 pieces. Fill as desired with the long side facing you, and roll up. Wrap the dough in wrap again and chill for 30 minutes. Or, if you want, you can freeze the log to use later in the week.
To cook, slice the log into 1-inch cross sections, and place each little round about 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, or until the dough is a light golden brown. Allow the pinwheels to cool for about 15 minutes before serving. They will keep up to 4 days, depending on your filling.
December 29th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I think I will try these for NYE. Thanks.
December 29th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
What a fantastic “cheaters” recipe. I will have to definitely try this. And thank you for the lovely pictures accompanying this recipe. Happy new year.
December 29th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Oh wow I will definitely have to make those. I love rugelach but hate fussing with the dough so this seems perfect. Thanks for posting the recipe!
December 30th, 2007 at 3:28 am
They do look and sound quite good, but I must admit that I’m a little hesitant about how ‘puffy’ the dough actually is - how well would you say it puffs in comparison to a conventional puff pastry dough?
December 30th, 2007 at 4:12 am
Lovely pictures and looks really yummy! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
December 30th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Hi Ellie - quite close actually, at least when you roll it. I haven’t tried it rolled out as a tart though, so I don’t know if that works.
Thanks all!
December 30th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
What a nice wintery header! Those really would make a great NYE appetizer. Good call peabody.
Happy New Years Everyone-
Erin
December 30th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Wow, thank you for this recipe. I’m usually too lazy to make a puff pastry dough, so this is perfect for me!
Robin
December 31st, 2007 at 9:03 am
Hmmm. I have been looking for an excuse to bake today, though I was thinking savory. I’m wondering, if I should reduce the sugar a bit? Or do you think that would alter the dough too much? Either way, lovely little bites, to be sure. Happiest of New Year’s to you and yours.
December 31st, 2007 at 11:11 am
Hi Tara - The recipe is already adjusted for more savory dishes, so you shouldn’t need to reduce the sugar more… if you wanted to make rugelach, I’d increase the sugar to a full teaspoon. Happy New Year!
January 1st, 2008 at 3:59 am
Hi Lara,
Happy New Year!
I’m here to let you know that you have been nominated to January edition of Inspiring Food Photography:
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=1335
Have a great day, Margot
January 1st, 2008 at 5:47 am
A very happy, sweet, creative and beautiful 2008.
January 1st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
These look amazing - I’ll have to play with this magical dough - Happy New Year!
January 1st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
With such beautiful pictures, I think I shall have to give these a try!
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:25 am
I’ve been pining for rugelach lately; perhaps the best thing I can do with my day off today is to head into the kitchen and start baking…
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Oh Wow I am totally trying these!
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Lovely lovely shots Lara.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I made these for a New Year’s Day party to great acclaim. A detailed post of the fillings I used is on my blog (with full credit to you!). Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe!
January 6th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Okay, I am not afraid to look stupid- what is a quark (food-wise)? I work at a nuclear physics lab and there quarks have nothing to do with food (and they never appear alone)BTW- this recipe sounds delicious!
January 6th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Quark is a soft, unaged cheese… kind of like a moist version of cream cheese but with more tang like yogurt.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
your blog is absolutely beautiful! these look delicious and the photos are stunning. happy new year!
January 8th, 2008 at 8:02 am
I just found your site and I think it’s fantastic!!!! I can’t wait to try out this recipe.
January 8th, 2008 at 11:37 am
My goodness, my apologies for my earlier question. I hadn’t noticed your mention of this dough already being suited for savory - thank you for answering my redundant question!
January 14th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I made these last night and they were delicious. I made the pastry gluten free and filled it with pesto. My very picky 5 year old nephew even liked them!
January 16th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Hi L — I have these on tap for a cocktail party this weekend. Have any idea how many pieces each batch makes? (I’m trying to decide whether a double-batch would be enough)
Thanks!
January 17th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Hi Anita, Each log (the recipe makes 2 logs) makes between 12 and 18 pieces depending on how thick you want them.
-L
March 17th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I have been searching for way to make puff pastry GF. If possible, would you mind sending me your recipe. My husband must eat GF and I am so happy to hear that you were able to make it without the gluten.
Any help would be appreciated. Have a great day.
Melissa
March 17th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Hi Melissa,
I’m sure there are ways to make puff pastry gluten free… but I didn’t do that for this recipe, nor have I even tried. You might just try substituting a gluten free pastry flour for the all-purpose I used… it sounds like one of the other readers did this with good results. Also, I’d highly recommend checking out Shauna’s blog, Gluten Free Girl, for loads of great gluten free recipes.
-L