Sizzling Bacon and Cheese Pinwheels
These sizzling bacon pinwheels are a combination of everything delightful: bread, cheese and bacon. The perfect New Year’s appetizer!
If you’ve stuck around this here blog for long, you may remember the Sugar Rush of last year and the year before.
It just happens to be the time of year to be talking sweetsy treats, right? And I’ve loved doing just that over the last few years.
Well, this year, I’m changing things up a bit.
I figure that since there will be a plethora of mighty delicious sugary sweetness rolling around the blogosphere, I’ll spend the next two weeks sharing my favorite appetizer recipes that might fit in with holiday entertaining (or just personal indulging).
So consider this year to be the year Sugar Rush has been reinvented to fit into the more savory side of things.
Never fear, though! On each tasty, savory post, I’ll be highlighting one of my past Sugar Rush recipes (see the green box below for more evidence). You know, so you can get salty and sweet all in one place. Perfect!
So let’s start.
This appetizer may just be one of my favorite of the season. Seriously. A throwback…a little old school…these sizzling bacon pinwheels are a combination of everything delightful in my book: bread, cheese and bacon. Amen.
Slices of thick bread are rolled thin, spread with a fabulous, lightly spicy creamy cheese mixture and wrapped in bacon. The morsels are broiled to toasty perfection, leaving the flavorful cheesy filling melted and piping hot and the bread and bacon crisp and golden.
I dare you to eat just one!
Sizzling Bacon and Cheese Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 ounces thinly sliced deli salami or ham, chopped fine
- 3 green onions, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce, like Tapatio
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 12 slices hearty white or wheat sandwich bread, crusts removed
- 12 ounces bacon, halved crosswise
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack about 6 inches from the broiler heating element and heat the broiler. Set an oven-proof wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. In a food processor (or with a hand mixer if you don’t have a food processor), mix the cream cheese and cheddar cheese until smooth and well combined. Transfer to a bowl and stir in salami or ham, green onions, hot sauce and mustard. Mix well.
- Working with one slice of bread at a time, roll the bread as thin as possible with a rolling pin (don’t forget to remove the crusts!). Evenly cover the bread with about 2 heaping tablespoons of the cheese mixture. Starting at the short edge, roll the bread into a tight cylinder. Cut each rolled bread log in half crosswise to form 2 smaller rolls and wrap each half in 1 piece of the bacon (that has also been cut in half crosswise), covering the bread completely. The bacon should stick to itself as it is rolled around and stay secure, but if not, feel free to secure with a toothpick. Repeat with the remaining bread, filling and bacon.
- Place the rolls to the wire rack on the baking sheet. Broil until the bacon is crisp, 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway through broiling. Let the pinwheels cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
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Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Country Oct/Nov 2011
Looks delish! I have been looking forward to your sugar rush! (Or should I say savory rush?)
Thanks for the awesome recipes!
I love this idea! I love my sweets, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I get a little too much this time of year!
Totally had appetizers on the brain this morning, looking for something delicious to take to a get-together in a little over a week. Now I’m SUPER excited to know you’ll be offering me plenty of choices to choose from over the next few days .. . although bacon and cheese and cream cheese may be hard to beat!
Oh my! These sound delicious!!
This is a new recipe for me and I think I’ll be making it soon. My son and his new bride will be here for Christmas and I’ve been wondering what sort of snacks I can make besides the usual cookies. This recipe looks perfect.
These look sooooo yummy. I’ll have to try them. I’m making your soft chocolate caramels again this year. I tried them for the first time last year and they were delicious. Everyone loved them! Thanks!
You know I was just considering emailing you asking where Sugar Rush was this year! Is that too stalkerish? 🙂 this sounds like a great idea and one that will be infinitely useful this time of year. Great job as usual 🙂
I’ve been wondering if you would do Sugar Rush this year, but I love this savory version!
I’m definitely going to try this! Reminds me of the bacon wrapped water chestnuts I used to eat at a country club I worked at in college. I’ve got a few opportunities where this might be the thing to fix. Thanks!
These pinwheels look delicious. I know if my husband saw them he would insist on me making them. Thank you for posting.
i had just recently thought the same thing about sugary treats and was trying to come up with some ideas for something non-sweet to take to the neighbors, etc. my original thought was a cheeseball w/ crackers, but now i think an appetizer sampler platter would be totally cool.
These look amazing, love bacon!
I am so excited about these pinwheels. I can’t wait to make them for a little pre-dinner treat THIS week! I don’t think I can wait until Christmas!
Yahoo!! I can make pinwheels for my husband (and me) AND toffee popcorn for me. Your recipes are amazing. Thank you.
Bacon…bacon,bacon, bacon and cheese. These sound great.
Seriously? How can you go wrong with bacon and cheese anything? Looks amazing!
These sound delicious, I hope I have a good excuse to try them out soon!
Drool! These sound amazing!
Yum! This looks decadently delicious. My hubby would LOVE these! Thanks so much for sharing!
This plus a salad equals dinner
These look delicious! Now to make some gluten free bread to make these with!
These look tasty, but my broiler’s broken. Would these work if you just baked them? or do I need to nag my husband more to fix the broiler?
Mel, I think you should have to do Sugar Rush AND Appetizer Rush! Looking forward to recipes.
What a great idea! I love that you are doing appetizers this year since the rest of my family doesn’t eat a ton of sweets. Thanks for the change-up!
Love your idea to post appetizers! I’m always on the lookout for a new one of those 🙂 Can’t wait to try these, they look awesome!
Those look so good! Yum!
How exciting to look forward to some NEW and fresh ideas for appetizers for the holiday get-togethers! These pinwheels look absolutely wonderful and I already know that they will be one of the treats I make-and-take this year. Thanks for coming up with the fantastic idea of gifting your readers with appetizer ideas instead of more sweet treats (not that they aren’t good, mind you)!
Yum! Sounds so yummy!
These look scrumptious! Logged on this am to find some new appetizer inspiration, and as usual, you came through! 🙂
Ok, I can deal with no sweets if it all looks as good as this!
Love that you are posting appetizers!
After the holidays, it will be fun to serve these at game night in the winter months.
Mmmmm….bacon.
Thanks Mel!
I love that you are sharing appetizer ideas this time around. I need some new appetizer recipes. These look delicious. Thanks!
Oh wow, these look so good! I knew it was going to be a good recipe when the first two ingredients were cream cheese and cheddar cheese! 🙂
Those look delicious and easy too! Can’t wait to try them!
Oh, wonderful! I’m pregnant and all sugar is making me sick. Bring on the salt!
Oh wow, these sound amazing! I love that your doing savory this year! I’m always hunting for more recipes, my sweets recipe collection is a bit embarrassing!
Never seen anything like this! Rolled bread sure beats trying to make appetizers based on phyllo…
Mel– you are awesome! How did you know I am focusing on the savory this year, and planning several evenings of yummy appetizers for our fam this year?
Again, awesome! Beginning with bacon was wise!
Yum! Bacon! Cheese! What’s not to love?!
Yay! I think this is a great idea. I love it because you’re right, there are so many sweets recipes but I always feel like I’m missing out on appetizer desserts!
I love you for doing this!!! While I’m all about the sweet stuff (oh, my sweet tooth aches already this year :)) I absolutely LOVE appetizers and look forward to your “countdown!” YAY!
OMGOSH! definitely gonna have to try these!
These look awesome…nothing like crispy bacon and gooey cheese!
It can be so hard to find time (and enough room in my pants!) to make my old favorite desserts, my family’s newer favorites from your site and to continue trying new things you imagine up – so it is with a bittersweet heart I look forward to incorporating more savory dishes into our holiday fare. Thank you Mel for all of your work!
Oh, those sound good.
OOOOH! Those look delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
I have to take appetizers to our first party of the season this weekend, so I’m glad to know you’ll be posting multiple recipes. I confess that I have never been an appetizer gal, but these look pretty darn good.
Oh my gosh, Mel- you had me at bacon! I’ve never heard of this! Where has this been all of my life? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
You read my mind! I was actually wishing for a bunch of appetizer recipes. I’m hosting book club at my house and didn’t realize that almost none of my recipes are savory! These look good.
OMG, these might be the best things I have read about in a long time. Have never had them, but this is getting pinned right away. These would be perfect for New Year’s eve!
I like that you are doing some savory treats. I love seeing all of the sweet stuff, but I love to find stuff like this equally over the holidays:-)