This is my season to shine! I love coming up with new recipes for the holiday season, and this year I have so many fun ones to share. When I’m brainstorming recipes ideas I’m always thinking about how I can create tasty dishes that can be prepped ahead of time. While I love cooking for friends and family, I also like to actually hang out with them too and don’t want to spend the whole time they’reover in the kitchen. Today’s holiday appetizer idea is a Garlic and Herb Crab Pinwheel – it’s very easy to prepare, and you can make most of the recipe in advance; just slice and bake when you’re ready to serve them!
I lean on frozen-puff pastry bites for entertaining because they’re a real crowd pleaser, and you can make so many variations by mixing up fillings and flavors. For this recipe, I made a filling that combined cream cheese, crab, garlic and herbs. I used Louis Kemp Crab Delights® which is made from real Wild Alaskan Pollock (and is a less expensive alternative that still gives you the crab flavor and texture!). For the herbs, I brought in scallions and parsley, which have some great bold flavors and add pretty flecks of green in the filling. A little bit of lemon juice, Worcestershire, and Dijon help boost those crab and herb flavors. All of the ingredients plus some fresh garlic cloves get tossed into the food processor and combined for some quickly prepped filling.
After you have your filling prepped, just spread it over some thawed frozen puff pastry and roll it up to create a log of Garlic and Herb Crab Pinwheels that are ready to be sliced and baked. I recommend chilling it in the fridge to make the slicing easier, and if you’re making this ahead of time just leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to slice and bake. It should last 24 hours in the fridge! Get the oven ready to go right before your guests arrive so you can impress them with this easy appetizer as you pull out the warm Garlic and Herb Crab Pinwheels ready to eat. Yum! Get the full recipe below: 
- 4 oz. of Cream Cheese
- 4 oz. of Louis Kemp Crab Delights®
- 1 Tablespoon of fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons of Scallions, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons of Parsley, chopped
- 2 Teaspoons of Dijon Mustard
- 1 Teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Package of Frozen Puff Pastry, thawed
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and roll out the two sheets of thawed puff pastry onto a cutting board.
- In a food processor, combine cream cheese, Louis Kemp Crab Delights®, lemon juice, scallions, parsley, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Pulse to combine for about 20 seconds.
- Divide the filling among the two sheets of rolled out puff pastry and spread evenly until coating the entire sheet, leaving about ½” border around the edge of the pastry to allow for sealing the dough.
- Lightly season with salt and pepper before rolling the filled pastry dough into logs.
- Transfer the rolled pastry logs into the refrigerator and chill for 10 minutes to make cutting it into pieces easier.
- Slice the rolled dough into ½” thick pieces, and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet with the pinwheel shape facing up.
- Bake slices at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown.
Please note: This post was created in partnership with Louis Kemp Crab Delights®. All opinions, images and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site!
