Seven ingredients and forty minutes for twelve pinwheels, on a bought pizza dough.
Nothing about the garlic butter happens in the oven. It is mixed while the rolls bake and brushed on the moment they come out.
Why This Recipe Works
- A tight roll from the long side gives twelve pinwheels with a clear spiral.
- Cut-side up exposes the spiral so the cheese browns at the top.
- Baking at 400°F colours the dough without drying the sauce out.
- Grated garlic disperses through melted butter instead of catching in pieces.
- Brushing hot rolls lets the butter soak in rather than sitting on the surface.
Ingredient Notes
- Prepared pizza dough
- A pound, standard wheat dough. This is an assembly recipe on a bought base rather than a dough recipe.
- Pizza sauce
- Half a cup. The title names no sauce, but the red spiral through every pinwheel is one of the clearest things about them.
- Butter with finely grated garlic
- Three tablespoons melted with two cloves. Grated rather than chopped so it disperses through the butter evenly.
- Dried Italian herb blend and chopped parsley
- A teaspoon in the butter and two tablespoons over the top. Both are visible on the finished rolls and the title names neither.
How to Make It
Oven to 400°F, a baking pan lined
Heat oven to 400°F and line a baking pan.
Dough rolled into a rectangle, sauced and covered with mozzarella
Roll dough into a rectangle, spread with tomato sauce, and cover with mozzarella.
Rolled tightly from the long side, cut into twelve
Roll up tightly from the long side and cut into 12 pinwheels.
Baked cut-side up sixteen to twenty minutes until browned at the tops
Arrange cut-side up and bake 16 to 20 minutes until golden and browned at the tops.
Garlic butter mixed and brushed over the hot rolls, then parsley
Mix melted butter with garlic and dried herbs; brush over the hot rolls and finish with parsley.
Five Moves, and the Last One Is Not in the Oven
What makes these spiral pizza rolls is narrow and specific: a standard wheat dough, and a garlic butter that arrives after the baking is over. The steps below are in the order that produces both.
A RECTANGLE, and the sauce goes on thinAn even thin red layer with cheese over it, edges left bare
1 lb of dough rolled into a rectangle, spread with 1/2 cup of PIZZA SAUCE and covered with 1 1/2 cups of MOZZARELLA. Half a cup across a whole rectangle is a deliberately thin layer - sauce is wet, and a generous spread turns the inside of the spiral to paste and stops the layers sticking to each other. The red spiral it leaves is a component the title never names.
Rolled TIGHTLY, and from the LONG sideA firm even log with no visible gaps at the ends
Both halves matter. From the LONG side, because that is what yields 12 pinwheels rather than a handful of fat ones. TIGHTLY, because a loose roll has air between its layers, and air expands in a 400F oven and unwinds the spiral as it bakes. Roll it under gentle tension the whole way.
Cut into 12, and set CUT-SIDE UPTwelve rounds with a visible spiral, all facing upward
Cut-side up is what makes these pinwheels rather than rolls: it exposes the spiral face to the oven, which is how the cheese at the top browns while the dough stays pale. Cut with a very sharp knife or with floss slid under and crossed over - pressing down with a blunt blade flattens the round into an oval and squeezes the sauce out of the middle.
16 to 20 minutes at 400°FPale golden dough with browned cheese on the cut faces
Baked UNTIL GOLDEN AND BROWNED AT THE TOPS. 400F rather than a pizza temperature: these are thicker than a pizza base and need time for the dough at the centre of each spiral to cook through, which a fiercer oven would not allow before the exposed cheese burnt.
The garlic butter - mixed now, brushed on HOTA glossy surface with dried herb and fresh parsley visible on it
3 tbsp of MELTED BUTTER with 2 cloves of FINELY GRATED GARLIC and 1 tsp of DRIED ITALIAN HERBS, brushed OVER THE HOT ROLLS. The timing is the point: the butter never goes into the oven at all. Raw garlic through a 20-minute bake would scorch bitter, and butter brushed on cold rolls sits on the surface as grease. Onto hot dough it soaks in. Grated rather than chopped so it disperses evenly through the butter. Then 2 tbsp of chopped PARSLEY - the second herb, and the finished rolls carry both.
Success Tips
- Roll tightly from the long side or the spirals unwind as they bake.
- Use a sharp knife or floss to cut, so the pinwheels keep their round shape.
- Brush the butter on while the rolls are genuinely hot; it soaks in then.
Serving Ideas
Twelve round pinwheels of pale baked dough, each showing a spiral of red sauce and melted cheese browned at the top, glossy with garlic butter and scattered with dried herb and chopped parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the garlic butter go on?
After the bake. Melted butter is mixed with grated garlic and dried herbs and brushed over the rolls while they are still hot — it is a finish rather than a filling or a dip.
Is there pepperoni inside?
No. The spirals are tomato sauce and mozzarella only — there is no pepperoni or any other meat in this recipe.
How do I cut them without squashing them?
A very sharp knife, or a length of dental floss slid under the roll and crossed over. A blunt knife presses the spiral flat.
