Whole Wheat Spinach Pizza Pinwheels

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Whole Wheat Spinach Pizza Pinwheels is a quick, easy, freezer , kid and toddler friendly recipe with the goodness of spinach loaded into a pizza dough. The Pizza pinwheels is an ideal snack for kids evening hunger pangs, their parties and their lunch box. They can be done well ahead of time and are even freezer friendly.

Pizza Pizza Pizza…

Kids love pizza and so do elders but it is not a good to have this almost daily or every week. My kids are no different. My elder one never liked pizza for the first 4-5 years but now he is crazy. He even wants it in his lunch box, yes I am not sure how he eats cold, but the craze. Definitely I cannot give this treat to him frequently and at the same time I have to find ways so that I can incorporate it into my kids diet in a healthier way.

Lunch Box / Finger Food / Freezer Friendly

I wanted to make something which can easily fit in the lunch box and something easier to grab and eat. Something like finger food. Secondly I wanted it freezer friendly as I cannot make a dough ready at 7:00 am in the morning. I generally make whole wheat pizza dough at home and when in excess I roll it and freeze the base. It becomes handy for urgent demands or when you are in mood too cook.

If you are a follower of my blog, you would definitely understand that there would be some twist to any regular recipe or sneaking in of vegetables to make it healthy. So this time it was the turn of the spinach to be incorporated into a yummy treat for my kids.

Actually I tried this recipe earlier for the Naturally Colourful theme, but I could not get the pics right, so had to skip it. So this time when Preethi from Preethi’s Cuisine announced the theme, #PizzaMania, I was determined to make this again. Preethi has a wonderful collection of recipes on her blog and I have to try her Tofu Roast recipe.

Guess what I had a disaster again. My whole tray fall down after the initial rise and shape and I was like now what. For a moment I thought is it that this one has to never go on the blog? However I quickly rescued whatever I can and managed to bake and post it for today.

Tasting Time

And when you experiment with favourite foods of kids you definitely wait for their reaction. My son at times go mad at me. He knows I sneak in vegetables in cakes too, like in this Zucchini chocolate Wholewheat Cake/Bread, though he cannot taste it, but he saw me once doing this.

So when it was tasting time, he had the first with full doubt. After 10 minutes, 4-5 pinwheels were gone in no time and the next question was can I have this for lunchbox, yes son why not 🙂 . Even my 3 year daughter enjoyed this yesterday heartily and was thrilled when I served him 2 more pinwheels. So all in all it was a successful experiment.

What goes in Whole Wheat Spinach Pizza Pinwheels

I have kept the filling simple with only vegetable tomato sauce and cheese. Yes my tomato sauce already has some veggies in it so did not want to over do it. But you can add any favourite filling of yours of veggies or meat. I have earlier added some peppers, onion. Secondly I have used 1 teaspoon of yeast which I feel is enough as I tend to add a bit less. One can even puree the spinach instead of chopping it.

Freezing Whole Wheat Spinach Pizza Pinwheels

One can freeze the individual cut pinwheels. Simply assemble everything, and cut the pinwheels. Line them on a tray and freeze. After 2-3 hours, remove and store them in a zip lock or a freezer friendly bag. You can directly bake from frozen in a preheated oven for 25 minutes.

So here comes the recipe for Whole wheat spinach pizza pinwheels is,

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 Cup chopped Spinach (Palak)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1.5 Cups of Lukewarm Milk (More or less might be required)
• 1 tsp Instant Dry Yeast
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Lukewarm Water
• 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter melted and at room temperature
• 1/4 Cup of Dry flour for rolling.

For the Filling

• Pizza /Tomato Sauce as needed
• Mozzarella Cheese as needed
• Cheddar Cheese as needed (Optional)

Preparation

For the Dough

• In a bowl add in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and sugar and dissolve.
• The water should be just warm. You should be able to dip your finger in it. If too hot it will kill the yeast.
• Now add in the yeast, mix and let it bloom for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, if your yeast mixture has not bloomed you would need to discard and start again.
• Now in a large bowl or a stand mixer add in the flour, salt and chopped spinach.
• Give everything a quick mix.
• Add in the bloomed yeast mixture and mix.
• Slowly add the milk and make a semi soft but still firm dough.
• Knead the dough well with the heel of your hand incorporating butter as you go.
• After 5-10 minutes the dough would be nice and elastic.
• Cover it lightly with a cloth and let it sit in rise for 1.5 hours.

Making of the Pizza Pinwheels

• After 1.5 hours you would see the dough has risen well. See the pic below, My dough was more than double in size.
• Punch in the dough to deflate all the air and give it a gentle knead one more time.
• Divide the dough into equal portions.
• Using some dry flour, Roll out each into 5-6 inch square or circle.
• I was able to get roughly 7 equal size balls. I kept the size small so that it is easier to assemble.
• Spread some pizza sauce on it leaving 1-2 cm of the edges.
• Spread the cheese and filling of your choice.
• Now lift one edge and roll it up as tightly as possible.
• Seal the edges when you are done.
• Keep this on a tray lined with parchment paper.
• Similarly repeat for the rest and line them on the tray by keeping some distance.
• Let this rise again for at least 1 hour or you can let it slow rise in the fridge for 4-5 hours.
• Once you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 200 Deg C.
• Using a sharp knife cut the pinwheel at least 1.5-2 cm thick.
• Line them on tray and brush or spray with milk.
• Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the top is nice golden brown.

Notes

• 1 tsp = 5 ml, 1 Cup=235 ml
• The dough should not be very soft and very tight. Too soft dough and you will not be able to make proper pinwheels.
• For the second rise, If you are keeping it on the counter to rise, it is a good idea to keep the rolled dough in the fridge for the last 30 minutes, as it helps in even cutting of the pinwheels.
• One can even puree the spinach instead of chopping it.
• If you are dough is stiff add more milk and if it goes too soft add a bit of flour before the rise. Do not panic.
• Stuffing of your choice can be added.
• Individual cut unbaked pinwheels can be frozen. Read above on how to.
• The dough can be frozen completely and used as required.

If you tried this recipe, please comment and rate the recipe. Tag me at @cookwithrenu_ad on Instagram.

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