Every time I bring these Ham and Cheese Pinwheels to a party, the pan comes home empty and someone asks for the recipe. The answer is embarrassing: a tube of pizza dough, deli ham, a block of cheddar and a smear of mayo and Dijon. Nothing crazy, but the combination is irresistible.
Ham and cheese pinwheels take about 10 minutes to put together and 24 minutes in the oven. Roll, slice, bake, done — crispy at the edges, gooey in the middle, and sturdy enough to sit on a platter for an hour without getting sad. The reason I keep making them instead of something fancier is the timing. You can assemble the whole pan the night before, keep it covered in the fridge, and slide it into the oven when people start arriving!
If you want to try another delicious pinwheel appetizer, make these pizza pinwheels for your next party!
35 minutes
perfect party Appetizer
Quick Look: Ham and Cheese Pinwheels
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 👩🍳 Cook Time: 24 minutes
- 🕖 Total Time: 34 minutes
- 🧀 Servings: 9 servings of 1 pinwheel per serving
- ⚡️ Calories: 312 calories per serving (based on nutrition panel)
- 🔥 Cooking Method: Roll, slice and bake in oven
- 🛒 Main Ingredients: Pizza dough, ham, cheddar cheese and dijon mustard.
- ⭐️ Difficulty: Easy! Just take care rolling and slicing the pinwheels
Sam left this 5 star review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“I made these for a housewarming and got rave reviews!”
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Best party appetizer – These pinwheels take ham and cheese sandwiches to the next level. They are the perfect snack for a football game.
- Easy to make – You just need a few ingredients to put these pinwheels together. Add everything to the dough, roll it up, bake and enjoy.
- Make ahead – You can assemble these pinwheels in the morning, then bake it when you’re ready. They are also delicious at room temperature if you want to bake them and have them ready to go.
Ingredients You’ll Need
These are some of the ingredients you will need to make decadent ham and cheese pinwheels. You can find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card.
- Pizza dough – I use the refrigerated dough in the tube but you can use regular pizza dough. be sure to allow regular pizza dough to come to room temperature so it is easy to shape into a rectangle. To make the crust crispier you can use crescent roll dough or even puff pastry.
- Mayonnaise – mayo mixes with the mustard to make the perfect creamy sauce for the pinwheels. You can use whipped cream cheese instead of mayo to really up the cheesy flavor.
- Dijon mustard – dijon is my favorite mustard to pair with these pinwheels. If you aren’t a mustard fan, you can always skip it and double the mayonnaise.
- Garlic – mince your garlic finely to add to your sauce. I like to use pre-grated garlic in a squeeze tube to save time. You can also use garlic powder if you do not have fresh garlic.
- Ground black pepper – I like to add a bit of pepper to the mustard and mayo mixture for more flavor. If you want to add a bit more spice you can use just a bit cayenne pepper powder in addition to the black pepper.
- Sharp cheddar cheese – I like freshly grated best for this recipe because it gets extra melty, but you can also use pre-shredded. You can swap the cheese for something like provolone cheese, swiss cheese, gruyere cheese or even a blend of the two.
- Deli ham – get your favorite deli slices of ham to use for your pinwheels. Swap out the ham for any of your favorite deli meats like turkey, roast beef, or even salami.
- Melted butter and parmesan cheese – these are optional, but they take the pinwheels to the next level!! Brush the warm baked pinwheels with the melted butter and top with a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Add some extra veggies to this recipe by rolling some sliced tomato or thinly sliced bell pepper into the delicious pinwheels.
Which Dough Should You Use?
I make these with refrigerated pizza dough from a tube because it rolls out into a neat rectangle, holds a tight spiral, and bakes up crisp at the edges with a soft, chewy middle. But crescent dough and puff pastry both work, and they give you genuinely different pinwheels — so it’s worth knowing what you’re choosing between.
| Dough | What it tastes like | Oven | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerated pizza dough (what I use) | Chewy and bready, crisp at the edges, holds its spiral cleanly | 400°F, 24 min | A sturdy, filling appetizer that holds up on a platter for an hour |
| Crescent roll dough | Soft, buttery, slightly sweet, a more tender crumb | 375°F, about 20 min | A crowd-pleaser, especially with kids, and the easiest to roll |
| Puff pastry | Flaky, crisp, shattery layers, the most “bakery” of the three | 400°F, about 20 min | Making these feel fancier — a holiday or shower appetizer |
| Homemade pizza dough | Chewiest of all, best flavor, needs resting before it rolls | 400°F, 24 min | When you have time and want them to taste made from scratch |
If you’re looking for another hearty appetizer recipe, try these Italian hoagie sliders or cheesesteak slider recipe.
How Many Pinwheels Per Person? (Party Math)
One 18 oz tube of pizza dough makes exactly 9 pinwheels in an 8×8 pan. Here’s how that scales, because “how many do I buy” is the question nobody answers until you’re standing in the refrigerated aisle.
Plan on 2 to 3 pinwheels per person if they’re part of a spread with dips, chips and a few other appetizers. Plan on 4 to 5 per person if the pinwheels are the main thing people are eating — a lunch, a shower, a movie night.
If you’re building a whole spread around these, my 30 crowd-pleasing Super Bowl appetizers has everything else you need to feed your party guests!
How to make Easy Ham and Cheese Pinwheels with Pizza Dough
Step 1: Combine dijon mustard, mayo and pepper and spread evenly over a sheet of pizza dough.
Step 2: Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over the sauce. Layer slices of ham over the shredded cheese.
Step 3: Roll the pizza dough into a log starting from the long side. Cut into 9 even slices like you’re making cinnamon rolls.
Step 4: Place the rolls into a greased 8×8 baking pan and bake in the oven until golden brown.
Step 5: After baking, brush the pinwheels with melted butter and top with parmesan cheese. Serve warm!
If you love the idea of this easy recipe made with pizza dough, then you’ll love this sheet pan pizza or cast iron skillet pizza.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make ham and cheese pinwheels ahead of time?
Yes, and this is the main reason I make them for parties. Assemble and slice the pinwheels, arrange them in the pan, cover tightly, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Bake them straight from the fridge and add 3 to 5 minutes to the bake time. Everything that makes a mess happens the day before.
Can you freeze them?
Freeze them unbaked. Assemble and slice, then wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month. Bake from frozen at 400°F, adding about 10 minutes and checking that the centers are hot. Baked pinwheels can be frozen too, but the dough softens on reheating and they’re never quite as good as the first day.
How do I cut them without squishing them?
Use unflavored dental floss. Slide a length under the log, cross the ends over the top, and pull — it cuts straight through without dragging the filling sideways the way a knife does. If you’re using a knife, make it a sharp serrated one and saw gently rather than pressing down.
Can I make these in a slow cooker?
I wouldn’t. A reader asked me this, and while I haven’t tested it, a slow cooker traps steam instead of driving it off — you’d get pale, soft pinwheels with no crisp edges, which is the best part. If you need them to travel, bake them at home and reheat them in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes at the other end.
Storage and reheating
Store your leftovers of ham and cheese pinwheels in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To freeze, wrap the unbaked pinwheels in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month. To reheat, place on a baking sheet and heat in the oven or toaster oven at 350F until warmed through.
Check out these Other Party Appetizer Recipes!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Ham and Cheese Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 18 oz roll of pizza dough refrigerated in tube – can use regular pizza dough
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp finely minced garlic
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese – I like freshly grated best for this recipe
- 6 oz sliced ham
- Optional: melted butter and parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Remove pizza dough from the fridge about 30 minutes before assembly. Preheat oven to 400F and grease or line an 8×8 baking dish.
- Mix the mayo, mustard, garlic and black pepper in a small mixing bowl.
- Lightly flour a large cutting board or counter. Roll the pizza dough into an 11 in x 14 in rectangle.
- Brush the surface of the pizza dough with a generous layer of the mayo and mustard mixture.
- Sprinkle the cheese all over the dough – be sure to cover all the way to the edges.
- Starting on the long side, layer the ham over the dough covering all the way along the long length, but only ⅔ of the short length
- Roll the dough up into a tube starting from the ham covered portion of the long side.
- Use a sharp knife or unscented dental floss to cut the tube into 9 evenly size rolls.
- Arrange in an even layer in the baking pan and bake at 400F for 24 minutes
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Allow to cool slightly before serving!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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