How to Make Cheesy Pinwheels with Handmade Pastry

We have used this type of pastry in the past for making pain aux raisins and pain au chocolate. Both of those are super delicious flaky and sweet. This time I wanted to try this dough in a savoury application. Cheese is always a great option when it comes to making pastries. But I wanted to create something even tastier, so I added smoked ham, mustard, and dill. All the elements of this pastry work together in creating a super delicious little savoury treat.

You can customize it to your liking. Use any cheese that you prefer, swap the ham for something else, use different herbs for the filling, and different seeds for topping. This pastry makes a great vessel for your favourite flavours.

This recipe makes 8 pastries.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the pastry –

250g (8.8oz) white bread flour

3g (0.1oz) instant dry yeast or 3.6g (0.13oz) active dry yeast or 9g (0.32oz) fresh yeast

4g (0.14oz) salt

20g (0.7oz) soft butter

150g (5.3oz) water

For the layers –

2 x 100g (3.5oz) frozen butter sticks

For the filling –

100g (3.5oz) grated gouda

100g (3.5oz) chopped smoked ham

15g (0.5oz) dill

30g (1oz) grated parmesan

Mild mustard for spreading

To top –

1 egg for glazing

Caraway seeds to sprinkle

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

Method

1. Make the dough. Combine the water, yeast, salt, and butter. Mix well to dissolve the salt and yeast. Add the flour and mix to a dough. Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F).
2. Cover and ferment for 20 minutes.
3. Fold #1.
4. Ferment for 20 minutes.
5. Fold #2.
6. Ferment for 20 minutes.
7. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Grate one of the butter pieces evenly over 2/3 of the surface. Fold the dough into three layers.
8. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
9. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle once again. Grate the second piece of butter and repeat the same fold as previously. Repeat the rolling and folding two more times.
10. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I left mine in the fridge overnight.
11. Shape the pinwheels. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle once again. Place it vertically in front of you.
12. Spread the mustard in an even layer. Sprinkle with parmesan, ham, dill, and grated gouda. Roll up and seal.
13. Slice the log into 8 equal pieces. Place on a non-stick paper lined baking tray with plenty of space in between.
14. Cover and proof for 1.5 hours.
15. Brush with egg and sprinkle with caraway seeds.
16. Bake at 180C (355F) fan on or 200C (390F) fan off for 25 minutes.

Leave to cool down and tuck in!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.