As the holidays are coming to a close, I’m not looking forward to the early morning hassle of getting my kids out of bed on chilly winter mornings and ready for school. They are 15 and 17 now, but they might as well be 5 and 7 as far as our morning routine goes. We pray nightly for the 6 o’clock AM phone call announcing a 2-hour delay.
I’m not exactly a morning person and my kids seem to have inherited that gene. It is painful for me to get up before seven (yes, I am really a wimp). I have to remind myself that it only hurts for a minute. They do not buy this philosophy however and inevitably drag out putting their feet on the floor for a good five to twenty-five minutes. Then they can’t find their clothes because are still on the bathroom floor, having failed to magically levitate down to the laundry and wash, dry and fold themselves. Don’t get me started on the socks.
All of these shenanigans do not leave a lot of time for breakfast. And yes, I know that they are making their problem my problem. I generally have much better boundaries, but when it comes to a filling school morning breakfast with sufficient protein, I just can’t let it go. I need something that needs little tending, is tempting hot or at room temp, and can be eaten in the car if needed.
I grew up eating these sausage pinwheels and still love them. Fortunately, my boys do as well. They are super easy — make ahead, freeze and throw in the oven to bake as needed. Warren Buffet is now in charge of making them after repeatedly depleting the supply in our freezer.
Fast and Easy Sausage Pinwheels
Ingredients:
- Scant tablespoon of all-purpose flour
- 1 pound package Jimmy Dean Sausage (hot or mild but not low fat)
- 1 package Pillsbury Crescent sheets
Directions:
- Dust a pastry or large cutting board with the flour.
- Unroll the Crescent sheet, gently give it a few turns of a rolling pin, then use your fingers to square it up.
- Break the raw sausage up and sprinkle it over the pastry sheet.
- Use your hands to press the sausage into a thin layer that almost completely covers the pastry sheet. Leave only a half-inch on the edge closest to you uncovered. The sausage should be spread all the way to the other three edges.
- Roll it up length-wise starting with the edge closest to you. Roll it as tightly as possible so there will not be gaps between the sausage and dough.
- Put the log on a cookie sheet and freeze for approximately 30-45 minutes until it is hard enough to cut through without the log losing its shape. Check it at 30 minutes, then every 5-10 minutes. Do not freeze it solid or you will have to wait for it to thaw out a bit.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 1/3 inch slices. One log should make about 35 slices.
- Place the slices back onto the cookie sheet and freeze solid.
- Store the frozen slices in a freezer bag until ready to serve.
- To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the frozen slices on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until the sausage is cooked and the pastry is golden brown.
Yield: Approximately 3 dozen
Prep time: 30 minutes + 30-45 minutes in the freezer
Cook time: 15-20 minutes
These tasty pastries also make a perfect knosh to go with your Bloody Marys at brunch or a quick appetizer to serve with cocktails. It is not too late to make a batch for New Year’s Day!
Carolina Bon Vivant 