Cranberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels are perfect for holiday parties. Cranberries and cream cheese with pistachios and a hint of orange.
It wouldn’t be the holidays without all the wonderful flavours of the season. Festive Holiday Croissants, Lentil Tourtiere, Mini Cream Cheese Balls and this Goat Cheese Log are a few of our favourites.
Are you holiday ready? Shopping, baking, wrapping, and entertaining seem to keep us busy. We all need some easy recipes to get us through the festive season.
With lots of pinwheel recipes out there, some are better suited for Christmas than others. These easy cream cheese holiday appetizers are just what you need. Tortilla roll ups are always a hit.
RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for these pinwheel appetizers can be found at the bottom of this post.
Ingredients Needed For These Party Pinwheels
- Tortilla Wraps – I used 10-inch wraps for this recipe.
- Cream Cheese – softened to room temperature.
- Roasted Pistachios – no shells.
- Dried Cranberries – fresh cranberries will not work in this recipe.
- Orange Extract – always a great combination with cranberries.
How To Make Cranberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels
Super easy, no-fuss recipe for your holiday entertaining. Full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Mix the extract into the softened cream cheese.
- Chop the nuts and cranberries.
- Spread the flavoured cheese onto the tortillas.
- Sprinkle on the nuts and cranberries.
- Roll and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Chill for at least an hour.
- Cut and serve.
Suggestions/Recipe Tips
Cream Cheese – I like to use full-fat but the light variety is a good option. You can also use a berry flavoured if you prefer.
Orange Extract – Feel free to adjust the amount. You can also use fresh orange zest.
Tortillas – I like the 10-inch size. For this recipe, I used regular and spinach flavoured wraps.
Nuts – I chose honey-roasted pistachios, but any flavour will work. You can also use other varieties of nuts if you prefer. Pistachios always remind me of Christmas since they are green.
FAQ’s
Absolutely. These can be made a day ahead of time. Makes for easy party prep during the holidays.
They will last for several days kept in the fridge. Be sure to wrap them with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
The key is to tightly wrap them in plastic, and chill them before slicing. This allows the cream cheese to harden and helps hold them together.
You might also like to try these other delicious tortilla wrap recipes:
You might also like to try these tortilla wrap recipes:
- Simple Egg Salad Wrap – the classic sandwich filling all wrapped up.
- Turkey Wraps – the perfect place for leftover holiday turkey.
- Vegetarian Burrito – meatless and delicious.
- Egg Tacos – a great addition to brunch.
Cranberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 2 tortillas 10 inch
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 ½ ounces roasted pistachios chopped
- 1 ounce dried cranberries chopped
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
Instructions
- Mix the extract into the softened cream cheese. Set aside.4 ounces cream cheese, ¼ teaspoon orange extract
- Chop the nuts and cranberries. Set aside.1 ½ ounces roasted pistachios, 1 ounce dried cranberries
- Spread the cream cheese onto the tortillas.2 tortillas
- Sprinkle on the nuts and cranberries.
- Roll tortillas into a log.
- Wrap tightly, and place in fridge to chill for an hour or so.
- Unwrap chilled rollups, slice and serve.
Laura
Made this for Christmas as an appetizer and everyone loved them! So creamy and flavourful! Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
So glad everyone enjoyed the festive holiday pinwheels.
Hayley Dhanecha
Cranberry and orange, a perfect Christmas combination. These turned out so delicious for us and everyone came for seconds.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
So glad you enjoyed these fun festive pinwheels during the holidays.
Natalia
These were so flavorful. I added raisins too, we love them. Next time I’m going to double the recipe. They didn’t last long! Thank you for the recipe. Happy Christmas!!!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
It’s great you can customize these just the way you like. Happy New Year!
Katie Crenshaw
I made these for a party. Everyone loved them. They were so tasty and fun to make!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Fun to make and fun to eat…the perfect party pinwheels for the holiday season.
Jamie
This is such a wonderful recipe at looks mesmerizing! A perfect treat for this Christmas festivity! Definitely looks so delicious and yummy! Loved it!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Happy Holidays…these are party perfect.
Jenny
Fun, colorful, easy and tasty are adjectives I’d use to describe this cream cheese pinwheel recipe. One could easily improvise to make it their own. Yay!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I agree, you can make these holiday pinwheels just the way you like.
Mikayla
A great fun recipe to make and was a sure fire hit with my co-workers. The crunch of pistachios and the sweet yet tart cranberries was wonderful!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
We love these festive little pinwheels for the holidays.
Ann
These are so pretty! You can never go wrong with pinwheels, for whatever the occasion is! Excited to give these a try!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Enjoy and Happy Holidays.
Colleen
These pinwheels are so simple and still so festive. A perfect addition to a holiday appetizer tray.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These holiday pinwheels are always the first to go off the appetizer tray.
Maggie
I’m making these tonight. We are having a small get together, and I think my friends will love them. Can’t wait!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Enjoy and Happy Holidays.
Sandy
Dear Gloria: HELLO and GREETINGS from Windsor, Ontario Canada. I’m looking forward to making these. They look YUMMY! I’m still waiting for you to publish a cookbook.
May the PEACE and BEAUTY of Christmas fill your Heart with PEACE, LOVE and JOY! May you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with good health and happiness, Gloria.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Oh Sandy, thanks so much for the sweet email. Hope you love pinwheels. They are festive for sure. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Journa Liz Ramirez
Tried this at home and we enjoyed making it. It’s so delicious and it’s easy to prepare. Perfect for a holiday. Thanks, for sharing this amazing recipe. Would probably make this again.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli
These cream cheese pinwheels have the colors and flavors of the holidays in a fun and tasty appetizer!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I totally the look and taste like Christmas. Happy Holidays.
Julie
These are so fun! I love the festive wrap for the season. I made these for a party and they were a hit.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These cute little festive pinwheels are always a party hit.
Priya Srinivasan
Such a festive looking cream cheese pinwheels! Love how easy and quick it is to make! A great party snack!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Festive and fun is all about the holidays in our house.