Crispy pastry with layers of sweet Nutella and roasted hazelnuts, these Nutella Pinwheels are great as a canape at a party or if you just fancy a sweet treat. 

More than at any other time of year, Christmas is a time when you see family and friends. Well that is what it’s like with my family. Everyone makes more of an effort to meet up and spend some time together over the festive period. This means that you always need to be prepared to whip up something quickly as it is quite possible you will not receive much notice before your guests arrive. Also because it is such a busy time of year, you don’t want to be the person stuck in the kitchen whilst everyone else is having fun.

That is where the idea for these pinwheels came from. I wanted something quick and really easy that was sweet. Pastry always makes me think of Christmas for some reason – probably because of mince pies; and when I needed an idea for a filling, obviously Nutella sprang to mind. 

These pinwheels really are quick and easy to make; especially if you use not only shop bought pastry, but ready rolled pastry too. Now I know this may seem really lazy to some people, but I often buy shop bought pastry because it is so much easier than making it yourself. The ready rolled pastry obviously makes things quicker, but it also means you get a perfect rectangle. Unfortunately my rolling skills are not good enough to achieve a perfect rectangle just yet, so ready rolled is the safest option for me. If you did want to make your own puff pastry or use shop bought pastry in a block and roll it yourself, please do.

Don’t get too carried away with the Nutella. I know as well as anyone that it is easy to add to much but you are really just looking for a layer 1-2mm in thickness so that when you roll it, it doesn’t squidge out of the sides. You also want to make sure you roll the pastry as tightly as possible so you get a nice number of swirls in your pastry. 

For the photos below, I used half a pack of ready rolled pastry for this recipe and the other half for another recipe. You can always cut the pastry in half as it may be easier to roll up as two separate sheets of pastry rather than one large piece. 

These will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days. 

Makes roughly 22 

375g pre-rolled puff pastry
160g Nutella 
4 tbsp hazelnuts, roasted and chopped 
1 tbsp milk or 1 egg
Spray oil 

1. Unroll the pastry and using a rolling pin, roll until it is 2-3mm thick keeping it on the baking paper it comes with 
2. Spread the Nutella evenly over the pastry leaving roughly one centre of pastry uncovered on one of the long sides
3. Scatter the hazelnuts evenly over the Nutella

4. Starting from the long end closest to you, tuck the pastry over as tight as you can. Then using the baking paper roll the rest of the pastry up to create a long roll

5. Leave to chill in the fridge for 10 minutes 
6. Preheat the oven to 190ºC (fan assisted) and spray 2 trays with oil 
7. Take the pastry out of the fridge and slice into rounds around 1cm in thickness 

8. Place the pinwheels on the oiled baking trays and brush with the milk or egg 

9. Bake for 17-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown

10. Allow to cool on a wire rack 

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