See that gorgeous, colorful cloth napkin at the back of my picture?  That’s by a friend of mine, Jennifer, that owns Dot & Army, based right here in Georgia.  They’re moving into their new retail and workshop space in downtown Brunswick, Georgia and I’m hoping that she’ll like these Brioche pinwheels well enough that I’ll serve them, along with a few other goodies, at her open house in the next couple of weeks.  Check out all her lovely products here.

I just love Brioche dough; all that richness derived from butter and eggs.  That, combined with the sweetness of apricots – both jam and dried –  along with tart, creamy goat cheese and, of course – b.a.c.o.n.  Sweet, tart, smoky and salty, eggy and buttery rich goodness all in one lovely appetizer.  (Is that a run on sentence?)

Really though – who am I kidding – just about everything goes with bacon.  And, if you want to go a tad healthier, I just love the new uncured turkey bacon from Applegate.  It will provide that same smoke and salt as regular bacon and you can feel good about yourself while still enjoying this delectable treat.

One minor thing to consider if you’re going to make these; you need to think about it about 8 hours ahead (or overnight) of when you want to make them.  I first presented gluten-free brioche dough when I made the King Cake for Mardi Gras.  You can find that recipe here,

As you’ll read in that post, this rich dough is very sticky when first mixed.  You truly need to let it refrigerate for 8 hours (I guess you could get away with 6) so that you don’t lose your mind when working with it.   Working with one-third of the dough at a time, while keeping the remainder in the refrigerator is key.

Mise en place, which just means “everything in its place,”  is pretty important here.  You want to make sure you have all the ingredients at the ready before you start rolling the dough.  Cook and dice the bacon, dice the apricots, have your egg wash ready, etc., etc…

I found that I had to generously flour the parchment, then place one third of the dough, flatten by hand, sprinkle a bit more flour on top and then it was easy to roll the dough into a 10″ x 7″ rectangle.  I wanted to keep these appetizer size, so I kept the rectangle to 7″.  If you’re interested in making larger pinwheels, you could divide the dough in half and roll the dough into a 10″ x 16″ rectangle and cut in 1 to 2 inch thick slices.  To make it into a perfect-ish rectangle, I trimmed the dough.

And, then it’s just about assembly.  Slather a third of the apricot jam over the dough.  I went all the way to the ends and sprinkled dried apricots, goat cheese and bacon over top.

Then, starting at the long side, roll the dough up like a jelly roll.  I found that the dough needed an assist from the parchment paper.  So, instead of touching the dough, I used the parchment paper to push the dough into a cylinder.  Brush off any excess flour.  And, then I cut each cylinder into 12 – 1″ slices.

Place cut side down on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  The dough will start to soften up a bit so you may need to nudge them back into a circle shape.  Brush the top with the egg wash and bake until lightly brown and puffed a bit for 18 to 24 minutes.  These are nice served warm.  And, should you not serve them right away, you can store in the freezer, thaw and reheat in a 350F oven for about 8 minutes until warmed through.  It will rejuvenate the dough and make them delicious all over again.

Deb Farina

Yields 36

Gluten Free Goat Cheese, Bacon and Apricot Brioche Pinwheels

Rich brioche dough pinwheel filled with goat cheese, bacon and apricots. The perfect appetizer.

8 hr, 30 Prep Time

18 minCook Time

8 hr, 48 Total Time

 

 

Ingredients

  • Gluten Free Brioche Dough Recipe, refrigerated overnight or 8 hours
  • 6 Tablespoons Apricot Jam
  • 6 ounces dried apricots, finely diced
  • 6 ounces bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped
  • 6 ounces crumbled goat cheese
  • 1 whole large egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Divide refrigerated brioche dough into thirds. Work with one piece at a time and keep the remainder refrigerated until needed.
  3. Place one third of dough on generously floured parchment. Flatten with hand and sprinkle flour over the top.
  4. Roll out into a 10″ x 7″ rectangle. Trim, if necessary to have a clean rectangle.
  5. Spread 2 Tablespoons of apricot jam in a thin layer over entire surface of dough.
  6. Sprinkle 2 ounces of diced apricots evenly over dough.
  7. Sprinkle 2 ounces of bacon over dough.
  8. Sprinkle 2 ounces of crumbled goat cheese over dough.
  9. Starting at long edge of dough, use parchment to help roll the dough up in a jelly roll fashion. If excess flour sticks to dough, brush off with pastry brush.
  10. Slice into 3/4″ to 1″ thick slices. Each roll should yield about 12 pieces.
  11. Place onto parchment-lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and reshape into a circle, if needed.
  12. Repeat with remaining dough.
  13. Bake until light golden brown and puffed up a bit. Bake from 18 to 24 minutes until done. Best served warm, but pretty good at room temperature as well.
  14. Can be frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw and reheat in 350F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes until warmed through.
Cuisine: American | Recipe Type: Appetizer

http://glutenfreefarina.com/2016/05/29/gluten-free-goat-cheese-bacon-apricot-brioche-pinwheels/

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