I don't know about you, but growing up I always thought it was super fancy when my Grandmother would make pinwheels. I had in my head that these were special appetizers. They were appetizers that were hard to make and clearly something that was only made for really special or deserving occasions. I would get so excited when we would go to her house and she would have pinwheels out. It felt like this big deal.
But, I was wrong, pinwheels are super easy to make. Like, really easy. So Grandmother just made them when she wanted to (and probably because she knew how much we loved them).
To make these pinwheels you go and buy the cheap tortillas. You don't want the fancy ones because you want them to be tough enough to spread cream cheese. If you get too fancy then you'll tear the tortilla, you want the hearty tough tortillas. You'll need them to be 12 inch diameter.
Then really, buying the right tortillas is the toughest part of this.
I would recommend making these the day before, you do need time to have them chill.
Make sure and soften your cream cheese though before you go about your spreading business or you'll have lots of regrets. I find that sitting on the counter for 30 minutes or so is enough for it to be softened enough to not have regrets. But if you want to go for longer then by all means.
Before you start mixing things, drain your can of olives and diced green chilis. Once you get all the liquid out, put spread them both out on top of a few layers of paper towels. You can put a few layers of paper towels on top of them too. You'll want to absorb as much of the liquid as you can to keep the pinwheels from getting soggy. Blot them when you feel the urge to do so. And don't be afraid to replace your paper towels. Both the olives and the green chilis are pretty wet, even after being drained, so blotting will be your friend.
When your cream cheese is softened, mix with it a 1oz. packet of hidden valley ranch salad dressing mix (you know the powder stuff, not actual dressing, it'll look like a packet, probably on the aisle with the salad dressings in the grocery store). Add to that green onions. I cannot remember if I have talked about this before, but my pro-tip for cutting green onions is to use kitchen scissors. Just take some good old kitchen scissors and chop them away. It'll take two seconds and you will be a much happier person. Mix all that stuff together really well.
From there you can start building! Eye ball what a quarter of the cream cheese mixture will be and spread it out on top of one of the tortillas. Spread it out as evenly as you can and make sure to get all the way to the edges, don't want to leave anything to waste here! Then do that on the other three tortillas. Like I said, this isn't overly hard! Make sure and keep running the spreading knife over the spot where you plopped down the cream cheese in the first place, I've found that area to be deceptive at hiding a thick layer of cream cheese that would be much better spread out. Really this isn't rocket science though and if you get it wrong it'll still be good. Just make sure and spread to the ends!
Then you'll want to toss the green chilis and olives on top of the four tortillas. Get it as even as possible. Spread them all around too, try not to let them clump up anywhere.
Then you roll them up! Easy breezy. Roll them as tight as you can, it'll make for better pinwheels, you don't have to have a vice to them, but be aggressive about it. Once you roll all of them up, you'll want to put them in the fridge for a few hours or overnight before you cut them. I try to put them in a fairly tight container so that they will keep their shape. This time I used one of my bread pans because it was the perfect size and I could wedge three of them together on the bottom. The top one just got to hang out. But it was balanced, it did a good job of keeping its shape in the end.
When the pinwheels are done chilling take them out of wherever you are keeping them and cut the ends off. The ends just no matter how hard you tried to be even at spreading things or even at toppings are never good. They're thin and sad. Generally I cut off about an inch or so, but you'll be able to tell when you're cutting it that you're good. From there just cut them into 1/2 inch or 1 inch slices based on your preference, until you get to the other end, which you also will want to discard. Do this for the remaining tortillas. After you're done slicing they're ready to be eaten immediately!
Enjoy them and let people think that they're super fancy and super hard to make. It's worth it.
HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH PINWHEELS
YIELDS: 36 ROLLS | PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES | CHILL TIME: 2 HOURS
Ingredients
4 flour tortillas (12-inch)
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 oz. package hidden valley ranch original salad dressing mix
2 green onions, sliced
4 oz. jar diced green chilis
2.25 oz. can sliced black olives
Instructions
Set out the cream cheese to soften
Drain and set aside, on paper towels, the olives and the diced green chilis, blot to help dry with paper towels.
Combine the softened cream cheese, the salad dressing mix and the green onions.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on the four tortillas.
Evenly spread the green chilis and the olives on top of the cream cheese mixture.
Roll tortillas tightly and let chill for 2 hours or overnight. Once they are done chilling, cut them into 1" pieces, discarding the end.
Serve with spirals facing up.