Jalapeno Pinwheel Poppers

I found this awesome recipe on Pinterest [yeah, I'm sure you've never heard that before]. This recipe, which I will from here out refer to as Jalepeno Pinwheel Poppers, is great for many reasons. It's quick and easy. The ingredients can be bought well in advance and you don't have to worry about them going bad. They can be made [somewhat] in advance and cooked [somewhat] later.

Jalapeno Pinwheel Poppers, professional picture from recipe source

It takes about 15 minutes to get everything thrown together, and about 13 minutes cooking time. I've ever so slightly altered the original recipe to make it better.

Ingredients you'll need: 

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
4 oz jalapenos (to taste)
1 T sugar
1 package (8 oz) Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix diced jalapenos with softened cream cheese. Sprinkle sugar across mixture and combine well.

The crescent rolls can be separated in to two rectangles. Pinch the perforated triangles together until you have a smooth, continuous rectangle. Spread half of the cream cheese mixture evenly across the surface of the dough. Roll along the long edge (as to achieve the most pinwheels when cut). Cut the roll in half, then cut in half again, etc., until you have 16 pinwheels from the one rectangle. You can do this again for the other rectangle, or saran wrap it and save it for the next day.

Cook for 13 minutes, or until nice and golden brown on top. 

Close up photo of the real deal. Delicious.

A couple of tips:

The jalapenos can be fresh or from a jar. If jarred, you can buy them diced (to make it easier), sliced, or whole. If you use the fresh jalapenos, I'd be sure to scrape out the seeds unless you want your pinwheels really spicy.

I baked one rectangle and saved the other. I meant to cook it the next day, but finally got around to it five days later. This was a bad idea. By then, the middle dough in contact with the cream cheese had absorbed a lot of the moisture and didn't cook right, turning out mushy. I would say you really need to cook them within a day if you want to make them in advance.

The jalapeno pinwheels are really good by themselves, but my sister, husband, and I thought they would be even better with a little something extra. I think they would be phenomenal with pepper jelly, my sister thought ranch (eew). I didn't have any pepper jelly to try them with, but I will test it out the next time I do. [note: you can buy pepper jelly from some grocery stores, cute little gourmet food shops (example), or make it home made (a la Paula Deen)]

This is a fairly large plate. One rectangle filled this plate, the pinwheels lining the outer edge.
They were so good I almost forgot to take a picture (thus, only two left).

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!