Pop open a tube of store-bought crescent roll dough, slather on onion cream cheese and add bits of bacon to make these savory bacon pinwheels.
Appetizers allow you to lean into bold flavors and decadent ingredients—they are, after all, nibbles, not whole entrees. These bacon pinwheels are a snacky, rich, savory and fun treat. They’re super easy to make, the kind of recipe to keep around for hors d’oeuvres emergencies or any time you need a quick bite to serve a crowd.
You’ll start with a tube of store-bought crescent roll dough, slather it with a cream cheese filling and sprinkle on crisp tidbits of cooked bacon. A few minutes in the oven and voila! Serve these bacon cream cheese pinwheels as a holiday treat or make them for a special weekend brunch, but also think beyond the party. Pinwheels would be a gorgeous accompaniment to a veggie omelet with goat cheese or crisp salad.
Ingredients for Bacon Pinwheels
- Cream cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese to make these rich rolls. The tanginess is a perfect counterpoint to the smoky, salty bacon.
- Onion: Minced onion adds zing to the filling. You could use either yellow or red onion in this appetizer.
- Milk: Stirring in a bit of milk makes the filling extra-spreadable. The recipe calls for 2%, but you can use any type of milk you want.
- Crescent roll dough: This classic grocery store ingredient makes it easy to create stunning sweet and savory treats. If you’re more of a DIY cook, make our best ever crescent rolls to use instead.
- Bacon: Learn how to bake bacon for this recipe, or give the strips a sizzle in a pan. Either way, you’ll want the meat finely chopped before sprinkling it over your pinwheels.
Directions
Step 1: Prep the filling and dough
Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, onion and milk until blended.
On a lightly floured surface, unroll the crescent dough into a long rectangle, and press on the perforations to seal.
Editor’s Tip: Why press the dough? It comes scored so that you can tear off pieces to form individual crescent rolls, but since you’ll be rolling the whole thing into a jelly roll, you can just smooth out those tear marks.
Step 2: Make the rolls
Spread the dough with the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with bacon.
Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side, and pinch the seam to seal.
Using a serrated knife, cut the roll crosswise into twenty-four 1/2-inch slices.
Step 3: Bake the rolls
Place on ungreased baking sheets, flat side down.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Bacon Pinwheel Variations
- Use another allium: In place of the minced onion, you could use scallions for a bit of color or use chives. You could also stir grated or minced garlic into the cream cheese mixture.
- Try other meats: Use any flavor of sausage that you enjoy in place of the bacon, or try bits of smoked turkey or ham.
- Add more cheese: Sprinkle on some grated cheddar, Parmesan, smoked Gouda or crumbled blue cheese along with the bacon.
- Spice up the filling: To add a hint of heat, mix some cayenne, chipotle or chili powder into the filling. You could also use a bit of homemade spicy hot sauce. For the easiest possible upgrade, start with flavored cream cheese.
How to Store Bacon Pinwheels
Store bacon cream cheese pinwheels in an airtight container. They’ll last up to four days in the refrigerator. Reheat them in a warm oven for a few minutes before serving.
Can you make bacon pinwheels ahead of time?
You can prepare the rolled pinwheel dough, slice it and freeze the pieces on a parchment-lined sheet pan. When solid, transfer to a zip-top freezer bag. These will keep for up to two months. You can bake the pinwheels straight out of the freezer, but add an extra two to three minutes to the cooking time.
Bacon Pinwheel Tips
How do you slice the pinwheels without making them flat?
To keep that nice round pinwheel shape when cutting them, use a sharp serrated knife and a gentle back-and-forth sawing motion to make the cuts. Clean the knife between slices by wiping it with warm water. If the dough is too soft, refrigerate the log to firm it up before slicing. You can also cut the wheels with a piece of unflavored waxed dental floss. Learn more about how to do this from our cinnamon rolls recipe.
How should you serve bacon cream cheese crescent rolls?
Include bacon pinwheels as a Thanksgiving appetizer or on a Christmas buffet. Consider variations geared toward using up leftovers (yes, you could fill ’em with roasted turkey and cranberry jelly). They would be great as a New Year’s Eve snack—they’re particularly good with a glass of bubbly. Holidays aside, take a plate of bacon cream cheese crescent rolls to pretty much any party and they’ll be a hit.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon 2% milk
- 1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
- 5 bacon strips, cooked and finely chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, onion and milk until blended. On a lightly floured surface, unroll crescent dough into 1 long rectangle; press perforations to seal.
- Spread with cream cheese mixture; sprinkle with bacon. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Using a serrated knife, cut roll crosswise into twenty-four 1/2-inch slices. Place on ungreased baking sheets, cut side down.
- Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate leftovers.
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It's hard to resist a crescent roll, bacon and cream cheese in one bite! Kids, friends, everyone will scarf down these cream cheese pinwheels. Now I bake a double batch whenever we have a get-together. —Krista Munson, Sharpsburg, Kentucky
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