Cranberry and Walnut Pinwheels

by: Katerina Petrovskapublished: Jan 31, 2013updated: Jun 11, 2020

These Cranberry and Walnut Pinwheels are my most asked for and loved Christmas cookie-dessert! Pie dough wrapped around a rich cranberry & walnut filling. These easy cookies are fun to make and eat!

AN EASY COOKIE RECIPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Welcome your guests with this delicious take on dessert pinwheels filled with cranberries and nuts. Friends, this is one impressive and very easy to make holiday dessert.

Side note; my car thermometer reads 15F degrees. People, it’s 15 degrees! That’s without the windchill! I don’t want to go anywhere. Why must I have responsibilities outside my home?

Which brings me to my next point.

Stay at Home Moms should be just that – stay at home Moms. That means; others should pick up the groceries, others should drive the kids to preschool, others should clean the driveway, etc… Catch my drift? (I hope my husband is reading this)

Holding onto my hot coffee mug all day long would be seriously ideal. I would switch it up around 3:00 and pour some hot tea. Green, chamomille, lemon…whatever I can find. I just want to stay warm.

But, looking on the bright side, the day is getting longer, and with every day that passes, summer gets closer! YES! Then I will be crying to you about how hot it is out there, and how I don’t want to go outside because I am going to melt. 😛

I pulled this cranberry and walnut pinwheels dessert recipe out of my Recipe Archive that I have saved on my desktop computer. (Yes, I still have one of those computers. No, I don’t use it… it just sits there, collecting dust. And recipes.)

These little pinwheels made their appearance months ago during a holiday event for a dear friend of ours; we loved them, we ate them, and then I never made them again. I do that quite often, especially since I started blogging. When you have a blog, you can’t make the same thing twice. There’s always something new being added to your table because you need new material for your blog.

I was glad to see that I had never posted a recipe for these little treats because I really wanted to eat a few of them, again.

HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY AND WALNUT PINWHEELS

My Cranberry Walnut Pinwheels are incredibly easy to make. They come together in minutes, and they are kid-friendly. If you have little hands that want to help, by all means, let them. It’s good practice for later on when you want to kick up your feet and make your kids put dinner together and wash the dishes… 😉

I also have to tell you that this is probably the only time that I will reach for the store bought pie crust, but that is only because the two homemade pie crusts I tried in this recipe, did not work out. The dough was too crumbly and my pinwheels looked like blooming flowers. They were cute, but crumbly.

I used cranberries and walnuts for this recipe, but you can obviously use whatever filling you want. I was thinking of doing a blueberry/lemon/pecan filling next time… that sounds really good, doesn’t it? Or a hazelnut, chocolate chip, apricot filling? That sounds even better!

SIMILAR RECIPES:

CRANBERRY BLISS SALTINE TOFFEE

ORANGE AND CRANBERRY CHEX MIX

ENJOY!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY WALNUT PINWHEELS

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Cranberry and Walnut Pinwheels

7 7 7

WW Freestyle: 8

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

These Cranberry and Walnut Pinwheels are my most asked for and loved Christmas cookie-dessert! Pie dough wrapped around a rich cranberry & walnut filling. These easy cookies are fun to make and eat!

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Servings: 20

Calories: 167

Author: Katerina | Diethood

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• ▢ 1 cup chopped walnuts
• ▢ 1/2 cup sugar
• ▢ zest of 1 orange
• ▢ 2 refrigerated pie crusts (I use Pillsbury Pie Crust)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter , melted
• ▢ 1 whole egg
• ▢ 2 tablespoons water
• ▢ honey

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Place the cranberries, walnuts, sugar, and zest in a mixing bowl; mix until thoroughly combined.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out the pie crusts into two squares.
• Generously brush the pie crusts with the melted butter.
• Spread the cranberry filling on top of the pie crusts.
• Roll each pie crust into a log.
• Pinch the edges to seal.
• Combine the egg and water in a small bowl and beat until well blended.
• Brush each log with the egg mixture.
• Carefully cut each log into 10 slices. NOTE: If you're having issues with slicing the log because the dough is too soft, put it in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.
• Place the slices, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet, 1 inch apart.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Place pinwheels on a cooling rack.
• Spread a teaspoon, or more, of the honey on each pinwheel.
• Let cool before serving.

Notes

If you're having issues with slicing the log because the dough is too soft, put it in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes before cutting. Adapted from Pillsbury.

 

Nutrition Facts

Cranberry and Walnut Pinwheels

Amount Per Serving

Calories 167 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Fat 9g14%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Cholesterol 11mg4%

Sodium 83mg3%

Potassium 47mg1%

Carbohydrates 19g6%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 45IU1%

Vitamin C 0.1mg0%

Calcium 11mg1%

Iron 0.7mg4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keywords: easy christmas cookies, holiday cookie recipe, pinwheel cookies