Our Favourite Puff Pastry Swirl Recipes
Finding new ways to reinvent the pastry wheel is one of our favourite challenges, especially when every single swirl we create is slimming friendly too. Easy to make and always satisfyingly crispy, we love that they pair like a dream with a cuppa – whether they’re sweet or savoury!
From melty, cheesy fillings to sumptuous Biscoff, there’s a swirl for everyone in our roundup. The pastry pinwheels we create are all about delivering big flavours in a convenient, golden package, so you won’t find any that take longer than 40 minutes to make.
Did we forget to mention most of our swirls are less than 100 calories each? You’ll want to keep scrolling to find out which recipe is the most slimming friendly (we’ll give you a clue, the swirls we’re talking about are only 34 calories per serving!).
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Savoury Puff Pastry Swirls
For light lunches, picnics or grab-and-go snacks, you can’t go wrong with a savoury puff pastry swirl. We’re in no doubt that scrolling through these ideas will make you peckish, so this is your cue to pop the kettle on and grab your Family Meal Planner (if you don’t have a copy yet, you can grab yours here!).
Our Ham and Cheese Spinach Swirls won’t take up too much space on one of your planer’s cut-out shopping lists, since you only need four ingredients!
Ham and cheese has always been a match made in heaven, so we knew pairing lean ham with low-fat cream cheese would be a surefire slimming-friendly winner. We’ve added spinach too, for a burst of leafy nutrition.
Delicious hot or cold, you’ll find the full recipe in our fourth cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food.
When it comes to making puff pastry swirls, a roll of non-stick baking paper is your best friend. It makes handling and rolling your swirls ten times easier, and avoids any sticky mess when it comes to removing your spiral creations from the oven.
Some brands of ready-rolled puff pastry come with a non-stick baking paper packaging that you can use for rolling.
Whether distinctive, salty Marmite flavours are up your street or not, it’s hard not to love them when they’re all wrapped up with cheese and pastry in our Cheese and Marmite Swirls.
By following the recipe on pages 210-211 of our newest cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Enjoy, you can have 16 swirls ready in under half an hour.
To keep the calories lower in all of our swirl recipes, we use ready-rolled light puff pastry sheets. If you find that your light puff pastry sheet is tricky to slice, roll it in non-stick baking paper and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes (it’ll give your pastry sheets some time to firm up and they’ll be much easier to work with!).
The beauty of savoury swirls is that you can use them to satisfy snack-time cravings, or pair them with a fresh, mixed salad for lunch with a crunch. Our Pizza Swirls are extremely tupperware-friendly and just as delicious whether you serve them fresh from the oven, gently reheated from the microwave or chilled.
We wouldn’t want to stick to the same pizza toppings forever, and there’s no need to stick to the same filling every time with our pizza-style swirls. Why not swap out the ham for a pizza-inspired topping like bacon or chicken? Just be sure to count any additional calories, if you’re keeping track.
You can always take stock of what’s in the fridge and see if any stray veggies could be repurposed in your filling. Swirls are most enjoyable with a personal touch, so have some fun and find what works for you!
Sweet Puff Pastry Swirls
Nothing makes us want to settle down with a cuppa more than a sweet, flaky puff pastry swirl. If you’ve never made pastry swirls before, our Chocolate Swirls are an easy-peasy place to start. You can rustle them up with just two ingredients (yes, really!), so there’s really no excuse not to give them a whirl.
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot (in ‘Hot Chocolate’ flavour) is the magic ingredient that keeps our swirls’ filling lighter in calories without skimping on chocolatey goodness. It’s great for swirls, desserts and even your morning porridge; you should be able to find it with the jams and spreads at the supermarket, or it’s available via Amazon.
We’ll take any opportunity to bake with Biscoff, and the proof is in the pudding with our Biscoff Swirls. While it’s tough to make Biscoff’s signature spiced caramel flavours even dreamier, our light puff pastry’s crispiness definitely takes things up a notch.
There’s nothing to stop you rustling up a batch to take to work the next day. When the mid-afternoon lull hits, scrumptious swirls are the perfect pick-me-up!
Filled with a cinnamon-infused apple puree (inspired by Bonfire Night flavours), our Toffee Apple Swirls hit the spot year-round with a cup of tea. So that they’re crunchy, sticky, sweet and slimming friendly, we’ve combined our apple puree with melted sugar-free Werther’s Original toffees. You’d never guess there’s not a hint of caramel in sight!
When it comes to slicing any swirl recipe, a sharp, serrated knife works best. Carefully wipe the knife clean between slices – it’ll help prevent the blade sticking to your delicate spirals and keep them tightly rolled.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that a super low-calorie swirl can’t be one of the sweetest treats out there, and yet our Cinnamon Swirls beg to differ. Coming in at just 34 calories each (they’re officially our lowest-calorie swirls!), you only need light puff pastry, cinnamon, sweetener, skimmed milk and a tiny teaspoon of water to try this moreish snack.
Just as yummy as a bakery-bought version, they’re too good to say goodbye to straight away. It’s good to know that they’re a freezer-friendly wonder!
Our recipe keeps the cinnamon spices mild, but there’s no reason to be shy with the amount if you’re a cinnamon fanatic.
It’s no secret by now that we love getting creative with swirls, and we’ve outdone ourselves with our Apple Cinnamon Swirl Pudding recipe. Instead of a more traditional crumble or pastry-lid topping, we’ve used delicately-swirled bundles of cinnamon as the crispy top for our fruit-filled pud.
At just 270 calories per serving, it’s well worth trying on a chilly evening with a glug of Custard! You’ll find the full recipe on pages 142-143 of our Family Meal Planner.
Which is your favourite puff pastry swirl recipe?
We can’t wait to see which recipe you’ll rustle up from our sweet and savoury swirl selection. We’d love to see how it goes over in our Facebook group – we have almost 1 million members waiting to support you on your slimming journey!
You’ll want to stop by our PON Gallery too. It’s chock-full of inspiration for what to make next, thanks to the hints, tips, quotes and photos shared by our incredible community.
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