PADDY-WADDY PINWHEELS
Lucky Little Leprechaun
PADDY- WADDY PINWHEELS
So, since I’ve already confessed to my addiction with the basic dough that I can’t seem to stop making, I’ll not mention it again on this post! I wanted to make something cute for our darling grandson for St. Patrick’s Day. He’s not quite two years old yet, so I thought he’d get a kick out of the little pinwheels; you know, for Spring (hopefully) being on its way and mostly, because pinwheels are fun!! Of course, I had to add the green sugar for “St. Paddy’s” Day. Of course.
**a little side note: did you know you can make your own colored sugar? when i saw the price for the green sugar the other day, i actually found that i drew my hand away so quickly it looked like the sugar container was boiling hot! so, that little leprechaun is guarding the sugar i made myself. just squirt a bit of food coloring into your plain white sugar, stir it up with a fork until you get the color you want, put it through a sieve to remove any lumps that may have formed, and there ya go!
** * another side note: do you ever add a little colored sugar to your regular white sugar for the different holidays? (ex. – red & green for Christmas, red for Valentine’s Day, and green for St. Patrick’s Day). you just need one or two big pinches to make the sugar you serve with your coffee or tea look so festive.
Ingredients:
basic dough (*see recipe under “Pizza My Heart”, or “Extraordinary Pizza” from this site)
about 1/4 cup honey (optional)
about 1/4 cup ground pecans ( any ground nuts can be used ) ( this is also optional)
1/2 to 1 cup green sugar ( depending how heavy-handed you are!)
chocolate chips for garnish ( or M&M’s)
about 2 or 3 TBSP. milk
Method:
Cut the dough into rectangles, approximately 6″ x 3″. Roll out to twice the length, doing your best to keep the 3″ wide part to that measurement. You will need to cut this rectangle into squares. The best is a 3″ x 3″ square, but some of mine were not so exact and still came out fine.
I made half the pinwheels with just the green sugar and the other half with the honey and nuts. We liked both, so you’ll need to decide for yourself which you prefer.
For the simply sugared ones; brush a little milk on the squares and sprinkle with the green sugar.
For the “honeyed” ones; put a little honey on the square and carefully spread it out as best as you can with a small butter knife. Then, sprinkle the nuts on top.
Now, using a sharp knife, make 4 slits on each rectangle from the center to each tip (corner). Just be careful to leave about 1/2″ of the center uncut. Take every other corner and press the tip of it into the center of the rectangle. Place a chocolate chip or M&M in the center. Sprinkle the top of the “honeyed” ones with green sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes, until golden.
Enjoy with a lovely cup of Irish tea and shout, “Erin Go Bragh!” and may theLuck o’ the Irish be with you always!
