S’mores pastry swirl – using up leftovers

While it’s nice to spend time following a recipe and waiting for a cake to bake, sometimes you want to eat something fast, and don’t want to wait around. That’s why I love easy and quick bakes.  Especially if they’re so easy, N can help out (although cooking always takes longer with children involved).

I tend to shop my main shop for food over the weekend and then lunches on a Friday lunch time, then top up over the weekend or during the week if I forget stuff or run out of milk or bread.  But I always make sure I’ve a couple of staples and fall back items in the fridge.

The first is chilled tomato and basil sauce.  Yes, I could buy a tin or jar, but I always find the chilled ones taste nicer. Plus if they’re in the fridge a tub is more visible and will get used, over something hidden away in our larder.  I also find that the tubs last ages, even when opened.  Yes, I know you should throw after so many day, but it’s best before, there’s no dairy to go sour in them, and if there’s mould then I know it’s gone too far.

The second, and the hero of both savoury mains and puddings when you want something a bit more special or quick, is chilled pastry.  Again, I could buy frozen (although I’ll freeze any unused chilled pastry), but then I have to remember in advance to defrost it.  I don’t have time or the memory for that.  But pastry is so versatile. Especially when you want a treat and have some breakfast pastries.

The other week I had a bit of puff pastry leftover after making salmon en croute.  Sometimes I make jam tarts from the remainder, but this time I decided I’d try making a S’mores pastry swirl.

S’mores are one of the things that we do when camping (obviously), but I usually have marshmallows of some kind at home.  I’d run out of larger ones, but the mini ones we had for winter hot chocolate were a better size for this.  Add to that chocolate chips, and some crumbled up biscuit, and a S’mores pastry swirl is born.

Making this again I’d definitely up the marshmallow content to get that gooeyness as mine was a little dry.  Chopping a couple of larger marshmallows would do the job, or even try using marshmallow fluff instead.  If you don’t have chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate, you could try a slathering of Nutella instead along the pastry for a chocolate taste.  I crumbled my digestive biscuits, but small pieces would work better so you get more of the biscuit taste.

What you need to make S’Mores pastry swirls

Puff pastry – as much as needed, cut into lengths around 4-6 cm wide
Chocolate chips – milk or dark
Marshmallows – either mini or chopped up larger ones
Digestive biscuits – crumbled into small pieces

Tips:

To prevent the filling being too dry, use more marshmallow or add a bit of chocolate spread.

Don’t have the swirls too big, or there’s a danger of drying out as you’ll need to bake the pastry for a bit longer.

These are a great way to use up leftover pastry, or to get the children involved with baking. They might not look pretty but they taste good. You could even whip up some cream and dip these in to make more of a dessert. It could be messy though!

Print

S’Mores pastry swirl

S’mores but in a pastry form!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American, French

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• puff pastry as much as needed, cut into lengths around 4-6 cm wide
• chocolate chips milk or dark
• marshmallows either mini or chopped up larger ones
• digestive biscuits crumbled into small pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to the temperature recommended on the pastry wrapper. I usually put mine to 170-180C

2. Set out your pastry on a board or work surface. You can do more than one at a time

3. Top with the filling ingredients, leaving a bit of pastry edge along the long side free

4. Wrap the pastry over the filling lengthways, so you have a long ‘sausage’ shape of filled pastry.

5. Roll the pastry up in a spiral then push the end together against the swirl to stop it opening up. If you want, brush over some milk or egg wash (I don’t bother)

6. Bake on a non-stick baking tray or non-stick baking paper on a tray for around 10 minutes. You want the pastry to be puffed up, golden in colour, and crisp so keep an eye on it.

7. Eat while slightly warm – watch out for the heat of the marshmallows.

Recipe Notes

To prevent the filling being too dry, use more marshmallow or add a bit of chocolate spread.

Don’t have the swirls too big, or there’s a danger of drying out as you’ll need to bake the pastry for a bit longer.

What do you make with your pastry leftovers?