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Pretzel Pigs in a Blanket Recipe Hack

Pretzel Pigs in a Blanket Recipe Hack

This recipe hack is a spin on an American classic game day food – traditional pigs in a blanket.

Pigs in a blanket are baked, bite-sized hot dog sandwiches that appeal to everyone. Combine pigs in a blanket with pretzel bread, and you have pretzel pigskins.

These snacks are perfect for your Super Bowl celebration and only take 30 minutes to make.

mini cocktails sausages in pretzel bread on a football field background

What makes pretzel bread taste like pretzel?

If you’ve never made pretzel bread before, you may have wondered how pretzel bread get its dark color? Is it a special kind of flour? Is it a special baking process? What makes pretzel bread taste more like pretzel and less like bread?

The answer comes down to one game changing ingredient – baking soda. When making pretzel bread, right before the dough is baked, place it in a pot of boiling water mixed with baking soda. This baking soda bath it ultimately what gives it that signature pretzel flavor that so many of us have come to love.

The pretzel hack

For today’s pretzel hack, we will be using Pillsbury’s premade pizza crust to make the pretzels. Boil a pot of water with 5 cups of water. Once boiling, slowly add 1/3 cup of baking soda. Be sure to add the baking soda really, really slowly to ensure it doesn’t bubble over. While today we are making pretzel pigs in a blanket, you can twist the dough into any shape you’d like. Right before baking, drop the dough in the pot of boiling water with baking soda for 30 – 60 seconds depending on the size, and voila! “Pretzel” bread.

Ingredients

To make this recipe, you will need:

  • 1 13.8 oz roll of Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust (right next to Pillsbury crescents in the refrigerated section of the grocery store)
  • 1/3 cup of baking soda
  • 1 14-oz pack of Hillshire Farms Lit’l Smokies
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Coarse sea salt (optional)

How to make pretzel pigs in a blanket

Pop open the can of Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough. Unroll the dough onto a floured surface. Cut the rectangle of dough vertically (from top to bottom) into 1/2 inch strips. You should get approximately 15 strips. Next, make one cut horizontally (from left to right) in the middle to give you 30 equal sized strips.

pizza dough cut into strips on a floured surface

Using a strip of dough, wrap up your lit’l smokies. Be sure to press the seams together to ensure they don’t unravel in the next step.

Boil water and add baking soda. Make sure to add the baking soda gradually so it doesn’t overflow. Then, put your wrapped smokies in the boiling baking soda water bath for a total of 30-45 seconds. Turn over the dough as necessary to make sure that each side has had a chance to bathe in the baking soda water. You will see tiny bubbles all over the surface of the dough indicating that the pretzels are ready to bake.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the pretzels from the pot and transfer them to a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 425F for 10-12 minutes until the tops are pretzel brown. Be sure to watch them closely towards the end of the bake time because they go from perfectly done to overdone quickly.

Pretzel Toppings

Immediately after removing them from the oven, brush melted butter over each one and sprinkle coarse sea salt on top. Let them cool and enjoy your pretzel pigskins with your favorite condiment such as mustard, ketchup or honey mustard. Enjoy!

Optional: use mustard to draw laces on your pigskins for a themed game day snack.

Yield: 30 each

Pretzel Pigs in a Blanket

mini cocktails sausages in pretzel bread on a football field background

Easy, pretzel pigs in a blanket recipe. Save time by using Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust in this pretzel bread hack! #recipehack #partyfood #partyrecipes | thehomemadeparty.com

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated classic pizza crust
  • 1/3 cup baking soda
  • 1 package (14 oz) cocktail sausages (ex. Hillshire Farms Lit'l Smokies)
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted

Optional

  • sea salt, coarse 
  • yellow mustard

Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare two cookie sheets with cooking spray.
    2. Boil 5 cups of water in a large pot. Set aside to be used in a later step.
    3. Flour a large work surface for the pizza dough. Pop open the can of pizza crust and unroll the rectangle of dough. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough vertically (from top to bottom) into approximately 15 strips. Make one cut horizontally (left to right) along the center. You should now have approximately 30 strips. Wrap each strip around a lit'l smokie. Pinch the ends to ensure that it stays together in the next step. Set aside on a plate.
    4. Bring the water back to boiling and slowly add the baking soda. *Use caution when adding the baking soda. If you add it all at once, the water maybe bubble over.
    5. Place up to 6 wrapped smokies at a time for about 30-45 seconds. Turn as needed to ensure each side was in the water bath.
    6. Using a slotted spoon, remove from water and place on the prepared cookie sheet at least 1/2" apart.
    7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until brown.
    8. Immediately after removing them from the oven, brush with melted butter. (optional - top with coarse sea salt or draw football laces using mustard).
    9. Transfer to a heating rack and let cool. Serve with your favorite condiment. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 61Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 790mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered as a substitute for professional advice.

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