Sourdough Pepperoni Pinwheels

Can I interest you in a warm, soft, cheese and pepperoni-filled sourdough pinwheel? I thought so. Serve a little marinara on the side and you’ve got yourself some pizza pinwheel love!

Let’s get started…

Start by gathering all your ingredients. In my case, that would include a friend who brought her very own homemade sourdough starter, all the way from her Ohio kitchen.

Everyone, please say “Hi” to Chris!

Here we are adding Chris’ amazing sourdough starter to the mixing bowl. It’s fun to see the carbon dioxide bubbles rise to the surface of the water. Oh how I wish you could have smelled that yeasty sourdough starter!

Next we mixed the dough in a stand mixer (Chris reports the dough cycle on her bread machine works as well).

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap.

Next we allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free spot - we used my nifty bread proofing box.

Goodbye bread dough - see you after your cozy 45-minute power nap!

85F was the perfect temperature.

Ooooh, look how lovely the dough is after 45 minutes.

Note: the amount of dough you see in the bowl is a quadruple batch of the printed recipe below.

On an oiled counter top, press the dough into a rectangular shape. Add the shredded mozzarella cheese and sliced pepperoni (leave about an inch along the top long edge of the rectangle free of fillings).

Starting at the bottom long edge of the rectangle, start rolling all the way to the top.

Pinch the seam closed with your fingertips. Use a serrated knife to cut the long roll in half, then in half again. You should now have 4 sections that should be cut into 3 equal pieces for a total of 12 pinwheels.

Place the pinwheels on a silpat-lined half sheet pan and cover with a clean kitchen towel to allow the pinwheels to rise for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Remove the tea towel and brush pinwheels with egg wash and sprinkle with pretzel salt or flaked sea salt. Bake in center of preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Allow to cool on

Allow pinwheels to rest for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool. Serve warm with a side of marinara for dipping, if desired.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• heavy duty stand mixer https://amzn.to/2MFm69q

• bread proofing box https://amzn.to/2BhnJVm

• pretzel salt https://amzn.to/33FiUSd

• flaked sea salt https://amzn.to/33yFuM3

• dry milk powder https://amzn.to/33g6nda

• instant, bread machine, or quick/rapid-rise yeast https://amzn.to/36eaOXj

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/3JmUMbQ

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3swqo82

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Sourdough Pepperoni Pinwheels

makes 12 pinwheels

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons warm water (105F - 110F)

• 1/2 cup chilled sourdough starter (not freshly fed)

• 1 1/2 cups bread flour (or unbleached all-purpose flour)

• 2 tablespoons dry milk powder

• 1 teaspoon instant yeast (or bread machine or instant/rapid-rise)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 6 ounces pepperoni slices

• 8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon water

• pretzel salt of flaked sea salt for sprinkling

Directions

1. Place the first 8 ingredients in the bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook; mix on low speed for a few minutes until no dry ingredients remain.

2. Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic; about 15 minutes.

3. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl; cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until double in size, about 45 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in lower-center position.

5. Gently remove the dough from the oiled bowl and place on an oiled counter top; press into a rectangular shape approximately 7 inches tall by 13 inches wide.

6. Evenly spread mozzarella cheese and sliced pepperoni the dough, leaving about an inch of space along the top long edge of the rectangle (see photo above).

7. Start rolling the rectangle of dough, from the bottom to the top; pinch the seam closed.

8. Use a serrated knife to slice the long roll into 2 equal lengths, then slice each of the 2 sections in half, now slice the 4 equal lengths each into 3 equal portions, for a total of 12 pinwheels.

9. Place each pinwheel on its side on a silpat-lined half sheet pan, spacing evenly; cover with clean kitchen towel and rise for 20-30 minutes

10. Preheat oven to 350F and make sure rack is in center position..

11. Make egg wash by beating egg with 1 tablespoon water; brush each pinwheel.

12. Sprinkle each pinwheel with pretzel salt or flaked sea salt.

13. Bake for 25-30 minutes until brown.

14. Remove from oven and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. If desired, serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Note

• Instant yeast, bread machine yeast, and quick/rapid-rise yeast can be used interchangeably.

recipe adapted from The Kitchen Whisperer

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls w/Honey Butter

This dinner roll recipe was given to me by a very good friend. She got the original recipe from a magazine, but tweaked it a bit to her liking. She said this one recipe alone was worth all the years she paid to subscribe to the magazine - lol. Anyway, I don’t know how she tweaked the recipe, but it’s perfect. The rolls are soft, billowy, and just slightly sweet like a good dinner roll should be. We especially like to eat them while they’re still warm, slathered with homemade honey butter.

Disclaimer: My photos for this post aren’t as sharp as usual. I had been messing with my camera settings one evening and completely forgot to reset them during this shoot the next day. Normally I would reshoot the photos, but I had been promising this recipe to my newsletter subscribers for a couple of months, and now that we’re eating low-carb, I probably won’t make it again until next year so, against my better judgement, I’m posting them as-is because I know many of my blog visitors find step-by-step photos helpful. Thanks for understanding!

This amazing roll recipe starts with old fashioned oats….

As well as salt, butter, and brown sugar.

The oats are cooked in boiling water for a full minute…

I love watching oats plump up as they cook.

Then the oat mixture is removed from the heat so the salt, butter, and brown sugar can be stirred in.

Set the oatmeal mixture aside for now.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water and instant yeast (bread machine or quick/rapid-rise yeast can be substituted).

Add the oatmeal mixture to the bowl…

Stir to combine.

Next add the first portion of all purpose flour.

Using the dough hook, mix until it’s almost fully incorporated.

Add the remaining addition of flour and mix until combined.

After the 2nd mixing, the dough should look like this.

Continue kneading for 6 minutes until the dough looks like this. Place dough in a covered, oiled bowl and allow to rise for 1 hour (this is an excellent time to pull out your bread proofing box - otherwise, place in a warm, draft-free place).

Divide dough into 12 portions and roll each into a dinner roll using a cupped hand (fingers curved down towards your work surface). Place the rolls evenly on an oiled quarter sheet pan; cover with oiled plastic wrap and rise for 45-60 additional minutes, then bake until golden brown. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• pure vanilla bean paste https://amzn.to/3HhfWXZ

• instant yeast https://amzn.to/3GGrZgE

• bread machine yeast https://amzn.to/3gFFSkp

• quick/rapid-rise yeast https://amzn.to/3Jo9PlB

• bread proofing box https://amzn.to/3svSmkc

• instant read thermometer https://amzn.to/2VCVKLG

• stand mixer https://amzn.to/3BleoKv

• quarter sheet pan https://amzn.to/2WentiN

• pastry brush https://amzn.to/2GS8bek

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Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

makes 12 dinner rolls

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup water

• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats

• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon table salt

• 3 tablespoons warm water (105-115F)

• 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (aka bread machine, quick, or rapid rise yeast)

• 2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour

• optional: melted butter

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil; add quick cooking oats and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 full minute, then remove from heat.

2. Stir in butter, brown sugar, and salt; set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 tablespoons warm water, yeast, and oatmeal mixture; stir to combine.

4. Using the dough hook, add 1 1/2 cups of flour and knead on speed 2 stir until combined.

5. Turn off the mixer and add another 1 cup of flour; turn mixer on speed 2 and knead for 6 minutes (dough should clean the sides of the bowl after the flour is fully incorporated - if not, slowly add up to 1/2 cup more flour).

6. Remove bowl from stand mixer and remove dough hook from dough; cover bowl and allow dough to rise until it doubles, about 1 hour.

7. Divide dough into 12 equal portions and shape each into a roll; place rolls on a greased quarter sheet pan, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and rest for 30 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in center position.

9. Bake rolls, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes.

10. Optional: brush tops with melted butter after removing from oven.

Note

• Rolls can be formed and frozen before baking. Thaw/rise on counter for 4 hours, then bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Homemade Honey Butter

makes 12 servings

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

• 4 tablespoons your favorite honey

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)

Directions

1. Place the butter, honey, and vanilla bean paste in a small mixing bowl and whip until combined with a hand mixer.

Notes

• Honey butter can be made ahead and frozen. Wrap well in double layer of plastic wrap for up to 3 months (or in vacuum sealed bag for longer).

• Instant yeast, bread machine yeast, and quick/rapid-rise yeast can be used interchangeably.