Place the softened cream cheese in a large bowl with the onion, parsley, pecans, and milk. Mix by hand or with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
Lay slices of deli ham on a clean work surface. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture onto each slice of ham, leaving some room around the edges.
Roll each slice firmly into a log.
Stack the rolls in a storage container. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least two hours, or up to 24 hours.
About an hour before you’re ready to serve the ham and cream cheese pinwheels, use a sharp knife to cut the ham logs into one-inch pieces (this creates the pinwheels).
You can either keep them flat on the platter, or stand them up and place a toothpick into the top of each one.
Let the ham roll-ups rest on a serving platter for one hour to come to room temperature.
These little ham appetizers are delicious on their own or you could add them to a cheese platter (see how to make a cheese board for more inspiration).
Variations
- The original recipe (from a 1970s South Carolina church cookbook) called for one teaspoon of prepared horseradish in the cream cheese mixture. Try it if you’d like a little kick to these!
- Replace the pecans with walnuts.
- Add one-quarter cup very finely chopped pickles OR 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped olives to the cream cheese mixture.
- Replace the yellow onion with 2 tablespoons of finely chopped chives OR green onions.
- Use one-half teaspoon of onion powder in place of the yellow onion.
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