Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Blueberry Pinwheels

I love a good dessert that looks fancy and sophisticated but is secretly easy enough to do on a lazy Sunday morning.  Pinwheels are that dessert.  Don't be deceived by their adorable playful shape.  They're dead simple and *gasp* I even used store-bought pie dough.  

Go ahead and judge me.  


I will make no apologies for using store bought dough.  Of course, you could use homemade dough, and some days I'm in the mood for just that.  There are afternoons where I haven't got a thing on the agenda and I want to take the time to cut butter into flour, form the dough, chill the dough, and roll-out the dough.  But this just wasn't one of those days.

And that's ok, my friends.  No one knows the difference when your cookies are stuffed with fresh blueberry sauce.
I used my trusty Easy Blueberry Sauce recipe.  I just like to keep that sauce tucked in my back pocket for times such as these.  Not literally in my back pocket though.  What a mess.

It's great because you can easily use frozen berries, which I like to regularly keep in my freezer, if you don't have any fresh berries on hand.  You're just gonna mash 'em up with sugar in the end anyway.
And isn't that how most things should end?  Mashed in sugar?  

Here's the recipe!  

Blueberry Pinwheels
makes approximately 18 pinwheels

Ingredients
  • 1 batch of easy blueberry sauce (you won't use the whole batch)
  • (2) 9" rounds of prepared pie dough 
  • 1 egg white, beaten 
  • powdered sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicon mat.  Set aside.  
2.  On the baking sheet, roll out one 9" round.  Trim the circle to a square by removing a few inches of dough from the top, bottom and each side.  Use a ruler to get a straight edge, if needed.  When you have a rough square, slice the square into equal thirds horizontally and then vertically.  You should be creating a 9-square grid, each square about 2 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches.  Repeat with the other pie round on the other baking sheet. 
3.  Gently separate the squares to allow room for baking.  Using a paring knife, slice a thin line from the tip of each corner inward, towards the center of the square but stopping just short.  See pictures above.  When all squares are sliced, add a small dollop of blueberry sauce to the center of each square, about a teaspoon or so.  Try not to overfill.  
4.  To assemble the pinwheels, begin lifting every other corner of the square (there should now be 8 total after making the slices) into the center of the square, totaling 4 tips touching the center and 4 tips left open.  Every other corner should overlap in the center and you can pinch them gently to keep the pinwheel in place.  Lightly brush each pinwheel with the beaten egg white.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until pastry is golden brown and blueberry sauce is bubbling.  Cool the baking sheet on a wire rack completely before dusting lightly with powdered sugar.  

Enjoy!  
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2 comments:

  1. With the busy schedules we all have today, I often use store-bought crusts! Delighted to see how easy these fabulous pinwheels are!

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