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
I’ve been a lurker for quite some time but definitely LOVE the site and all of the fabulous recipes you share. I’m in the process of starting my own food blog and definitely appreciate the time and effort that go into each recipe you post! These sound amazing. 🙂
These look great. I’ve never heard of this brand of hot sauce, but I’m sure I can find a substitution. My dad made homemade bacon last week (so simple by the way and more meatier than store bought) and I can’t wait to try some with this recipe! We had the choc. muffins this morning. . .yum!!!
I have some HUGE bacon lovers at my house. So these will definitely be on the menu soon!
Will make these for New Years Eve for sure!
I was just trying to figure out what appetizer to make for Christmas, so glad you are doing a series on this!
My husband is the world’s biggest bacon fan, seriously. I know lot’s of people like bacon, but he takes it to another level. He’s going to love this one (and I will too, of course)! Thanks for all of the awesome recipes that have seriously changed my life! You are my go-to online recipe resource!
Bacon and Cheese? My most 2 favorite ingredients! I think I found a new addition to my Christmas Eve menu – thanks!
I love appetizers! Thanks for giving them the spotlight! 🙂
I’m pretty sure I would like these!
Hi Mel
This is the kind of recipe you read and want to stop what you are doing and make them immediately ……how could anyone not like these.
Keep up the delicious work!!!
Gail
These look divine!! You had me at sizzling bacon! Thank you for sharing some more savory treats…. I always feel a little overloaded with sweets this time of year!
You are the best!!
These sound so good. I might just have to make them tonight.
These look sooooooooooooo delicious!
Oh my! These look SO good! I will for sure be making these babies in the near future!
Wow, these look so good! Thanks for all the yummy recipes you have posted. I have tried so many and loved them all!
Melanie, thank you for a great idea for this year’s Sugar Rush! I adore appetizers and am so excited to try all! Brilliant, just brilliant!
I wish I had one (or 5) RIGHT NOW!!
Great idea. I get a little overwhelmed with all of the sweet this time of year. I’m a salty girl all the way!
OHHHH! I can’t wait to try this. I’ve been looking forward to this year’s Sugar Rush!
These sound so yummy! I can’t wait to try them.
I love that you’re doing appetizers! And amen to bacon, bread, and cheese!
I love new appetizer recipes! This looks delicious and simple, my favorite.
Anything with bacon and I am so there….looks delicious!
LOVE appetizers! I am always on the search for new ideas…this sounds absolutely delish! I might just need to throw a last minute party after all these yummy ideas come my way 😉
thank you for sharing and for linking to your past sugar rush posts…it’s fun to read those as well!
I love the idea of doing savory things for the holidays, I already have plenty of sugary things to make! These look like something that would go over really well at Christmas!
I love appetizers! My family and I make tons of appetizers on New Years. I am going to make these this year. My little niece Addison Grace loves bacon. She may enjoy these! Thanks for the idea!!
Hmm… Bacon? Cheese? Bread? I’m sold!
I think I need to have an appetizer party! Excited for the reinvented Sugar Rush!
Perfect timing. I have a Christmas party on Friday. Oh and thanks for making my Thanksgiving dinner a success. I made everything from scratch and used almost every recipe from you! Everyone raved about how delicious everything tasted. My first Thanksgiving dinner was definitely a success. Thanks!
These look amazing!! Can’t wait to give them a try 🙂
I don’t have a party to take these to soon enough. Would it be bad to make them for dinner? I would make sure to have lots of vegies to make up for the calories.
Mmm… sounds delicious! I like the appetizer reinvention for this year– I always need new appetizer ideas for Christmas parties!
I just made something very similar to your pinwheels for the first time about a month ago. Super yum! We also made a dipping sauce for them from some thinned down jalapeno/peach jam, and it was a great combo. Best of all, there was recently a sale on bacon here – $2 a pound! – and I got some just to make appetizers for the holiday season! 🙂
Good golly those look delicious! I reallllly want to make some, but they don’t have pre-sliced bacon in Switzerland (that I can find), so I’d have to be up for the challenge of trying to slice it myself thin enough. It could work though. I think I might have to try it. Mmmm, mmm.
These look totally fantastic!
Can I make this for breakfast? Please??
wow, these look PERFECT for a holiday party i have coming up! did i mention i wish you were my next-door neighbor?
You had me at… Bacon-wrapped. Swoon!
Absolutely on board with the idea of savory finger foods around the holidays. Thanks for posting such a perfect recipe.
The pinwheels look delightful! I must make them soon! I’m so excited for the new reinvented Sugar Rush this year! I cant wait!
Yea! Bacon, bacon, Bacon and you and the Fairy Hobmother! What a day!
As if I needed another reason to love your site. You are inspired- the next few weeks are going to be great!
I was looking for a recipe to take to Christmas party this coming Saturday, found it! Thanks Mel!
My husband and I both enjoy your site. These look scrumptious!
Your site is my favorite! These look to die for!
I want one of those right now! Looks sooooo good!
Looks tasty! Thank you Mel! Because of you I enjoy cooking and look forward to your posts!
My husband loves anything with bacon, so making an appetizer that is wrapped in bacon should make him very happy. 🙂
Despite it being 8:30 am I can’t help but thinking that THAT is what I should have had for breakfast. 🙂
I *love* your spin on sugar rush! This looks fantastic and I’m excited to see what else is to come!