Even though fall is one of my favorite baking seasons, I am still not ready for summer to be over so soon. Especially since I can’t seem to get enough of summer fruit and produce.
I’ve already started to see a lot of pumpkin and fall recipes showing up which I totally love too but I thought I would try to sneak in one more summer one while we are still in August.
I had a craving to make a pie a few weeks ago when my mom gave me a couple of rhubarb stalks from her garden. At the time, I was also swimming in cherries from our cherry picking adventures so off I started to make the pie crust.
For some reason that day the pie gods just didn’t want to cooperate with me for the lattice crust that I had in mind which was kind of a bummer.
Refusing to give up in defeat, I gathered up the dough and these pinwheels were born after I spotted these gorgeous ones from Kelly and Amy.
Mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty or puffy as theirs since I used pie dough crust instead of pastry dough like they did – but they sure were fun to make! Plus, they would be awesome to bring to a summer bbq or party.
You can make these even easier with prepared pie crust dough or if you don’t feel like making pinwheels – just scoop the filling up and bake them into mini ramekins with the crust.
My favorite part was definitely the cherry and rhubarb pie filling. And if you’ve still got leftover filling after making the pinwheels, go ahead and eat it by the spoonful. I promise – no judging here 🙂
- Your favorite pie dough recipe, or ready make refrigerated pie crust, or the recipe below
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled and cubed
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening chilled
- 1/3 cup ice water
- 2 cups fresh cherries pitted
- 1 cup fresh rhubarb chopped into 1" pieces
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- egg wash
- fresh whipped cream
- whole cherry from the filling
- powdered sugar
- In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together.
- Add cold shortening and cold unsalted butter.
- Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut the butter and shortening until the mixture resembled coarse meal (pea-sized bits with a few larger bits of fat is OK).
- Measure 2/3 cup of water. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure 2/3 cup of water (since the ice has melted a bit). Slowly drizzle in the very cold water, stirring with a large spatula after every Tablespoon of water that you add. Do not add any more water than you need to. Stop adding water when the dough begins to clump.
- Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky.
- Form the dough into a ball and flatten each into a disc using your hands.
- Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cherries, rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Stir in almond extract. Cool slightly before using as a topping. Reserve some whole cherries for the garnish if desired.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat.
- Remove dough from fridge and use a rolling pin to roll out one half into a square on a lightly floured board; cut into squares measuring 3x3 inches.
- Place 1/2 tablespoon of the filling into the center of each square.
- Using a knife, make a diagonal cut of 3/4 - 1 inch in all the four corners of the square sheet.
- Fold every other tip in toward the center and seal.
- Transfer to baking sheets using a spatula.
- Brush beaten egg wash lightly over pastries using a pastry brush.
- Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes rotating halfway through baking time until crust goldens. Transfer pastries to prepared wire racks to cool completely.
- Dollop with fresh whipped cream and add a whole cherry from the filling.
- Dust with powdered sugar.
Pinwheels Inspiration: Just A Taste and Fearless Homemaker
Pie Dough slightly adapted from: All Recipes
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shashi @ runninsrilankan -
You wanna know what would be more fun for me than making them? – Eating them!
Your pie crust pastry looks puffy and gorgeous to me – and love the almond extract in the filling!
Kelly -
Hahaha you always know how to make me smile, thanks sweet lady 🙂
Monica -
These are so adorable, Kelly! I love the sound of pie dough with the filling in these fun pinwheel shapes! I have never ever cooked with rhubarb and I have to admit I’m very curious. I bet your pinwheels were snapped up quick!
Kelly -
Thanks Monica 🙂 My mom has two rhubarb plants in her backyard so we are always finding ways to use it up. The texture is kind of like celery and the taste sort of reminds me of cranberries. They are slightly tart but when you cook them down, they have a wonderful flavor when paired with complementing sweet flavors and warm spices 🙂
Chris @ Shared Appetite -
I’m totally not ready for for summer to be over yet, either! Loving these pinwheels. They are beautiful!
Kelly -
Thanks Chris, wish we could hang on to summer a little while longer.
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen -
What a pretty sweet treat Kelly! I love the rhubarb-cherry filling. I’m not quite ready for summer to be over either. It went by so fast!
Kelly -
Thanks Christin 🙂 Summer did seem to zoom by too fast this year.
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen -
Oh my gosh Kelly! I think these are the cutest pinwheels EVER! I absolutely want to grab one off that plate and sink my teeth right into it. Then, I’d grab another and it would be rinse and repeat all day long until they were gone. And hey, I know what you mean about the lattice top of the pie. I swear pie dough hates me 🙂 I can’t make a great crust if I try. I love pie, so of course, I’m going to keep trying, but it’s so tempermental! By the way, I am PINNING these darlings all over the place. And I am LOVING your new site design. Gorgeous!
Kelly -
Haha aaw, thanks so much sweet friend 🙂