Saturday, April 7, 2012

Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket



I was e-mailed this article in LDS living for quick make ahead meals and I saw a recipe for Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket. I thought I would try it, and make my own changes, and this is the result.  To tell you the truth, I don't think I will be making them this way again. They weren't bad - the kids gobbled them up; but I prefer the ones made with the store bought crescent dough instead. (It's a lot quicker and less messy.)
The bonus for these ones is that you can freeze them and keep them on hand for a quick meal or after school snack.
If you want to make your own pigs in a blanket from scratch here is what I did.

This is what you'll need:
milk, salt, unsalted butter, baking powder, flour, sugar, shredded cheese, hot dogs, *pastry cutter, *pizza cutter, *cookie sheet
Put the flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 stick of butter, cubed.
 Cut the butter into the mixture until only small pieces of butter are visible. (I use my pastry cutter to do this.)
 Then add your milk. (I like to make a well in the middle and the stir with a fork as I add the milk.)
 Add the shredded cheese.
 Stir to combine and pour onto a floured work surface.  And sprinkle the top with flour. - My dough was really wet, and I needed a lot of flour to make it come together. As a result, I decreased the amount of liquid in the written recipe @ the end of this post
 Roll out the dough to a big rectangle (the original recipe said a 10x15 rectangle, but I just eye-balled it.)
 And cut into 6 squares using a pizza cutter.
 Put some flour on a plate and roll the hot dogs in the flour to coat.
Brush each square with the egg wash and place one hot dog on each square.
Roll them up.                                    
 Cut each hot dog in half and then each half in half again (so you have 4 equal pieces.
 Place them on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Make sure to get all the excess flour off the bottom. I didn't and the bottoms burned.)
 Preheat oven to 400 and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket

2 cups flour
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp water)
6 hot dogs

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut in cubed butter. Add milk and cheese. Stir until well combined and turn out onto a floured work surface. Knead until the dough comes together. Roll out t a 10x15 inch rectangle and use a pizza cutter to cut it into 5 inch squares (in thirds on the long side,in half on the short side). Brush each square with the egg wash. Roll the hot dogs in flour and place one on each square. Roll them up and cut each log into four equal pieces. Place on a cookie sheet (making sure to get off any excess flour) and freeze for 30 minutes. (You can bake them now or freeze for 1 month in a zip-top freezer bag.) Preheat oven to 400. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.

2 comments:

  1. ✎ I actually call this Pork In A Pillow because my pastry is so light and fluffy.✐ 

    ReplyDelete