How to wrap and bake the perfect gluten free pigs in a blanket, for the Superbowl or for anytime. Everyone's favorite appetizer.
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It's hard not to appreciate the beauty of a simple weenie wrapped in pizza dough. Who can resist? After much, much too much trial and error for such simple fare, I have concluded that wrapping the pigs in triangle-shaped dough is way overrated.
It does tend to look pretty, but it becomes quite a chore to get all the triangles the same size and shape. And believe it or not, there is a an optimal shape (long and thin, sharply tapered triangles that are rolled rather thickly works best). So I settled on rectangles and never looked back.
The pigs look so cozy in their blankets, don't they?
Semi-Pro Tip: Slice halfway into each pig along the length before rolling it in its blanket. That way, the steam that builds up in the pigs when they are in the oven can escape and they don't burst out of the blankets.
I used my regular, tried and true gluten free pizza crust recipe from my First Cookbook for the dough this time, since that's what you'll have, too. It worked a treat.
Pigs in a blanket. They may not be the fanciest gluten-free Superbowl (or anytime) finger food, but they're always the biggest crowd pleaser!
Gluten Free Finger Food! Pigs in a Blanket
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated sugar
- ยพ teaspoon kosher salt
- ยพ cup (6 fluid ounces) warm water (about 100ยฐF)
- 3 tablespoons (63 g) extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling)
- 16 gluten-free cocktail weenies (about 8 ounces)
Instructions
Make the pizza dough.
- In a medium-size bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, place the flour, xanthan gum, yeast, sugar, and salt and whisk to combine well.
- To the flour mixture, add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the water in a steady stream, mix with a spoon or fork to combine, or mix with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on low speed.
- Stir or mix constantly while streaming in the water and continue stirring until the mixture begins to come together.
- If the dough seems super sticky, add some more flour a tablespoon at a time, and stir or pulse to combine. Press the dough into a disk.
- Place the dough in another medium-size bowl and drizzle it with olive oil. Turn the dough to coat it with oil.
- This will prevent a crust from forming on the dough while it is rising. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area to rise until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).
Shape the dough.
- Preheat your oven to 400ยฐF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- Once the dough has finished rising, divide it into 4 pieces of roughly equal size, and with floured hands shape each piece into a ball.
- Place one ball of dough at a time (covering the other two with a moist towel), on a well-floured surface, and dust the dough liberally with extra flour.
- Roll into a rectangle 8 inches long by 6 inches wide, and between 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch thick, dusting with flour if the dough becomes sticky. With a sharp knife or pastry wheel, slice the rectangle into 4 smaller rectangles, each 2 inches wide by 6 inches long. Repeat with the remaining 3 balls of pizza dough.
Assemble the pigs in a blanket.
- With a sharp knife, slash each weenie on one side, along its length about halfway through the weenie. This is to allow steam to escape while the pigs bake.
- Take the first rectangle of dough, place a weenie on a short side right at the edge, and roll the weenie up tightly in the dough. Press the edge against the weenie to seal, and place the pig and blanket on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining rectangles and weenies, and place them about 1 inch apart from one another on the baking sheet.
Bake the pigs in a blanket.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the dough is brown around the edges and lightly brown on top, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool briefly before serving.
Nutrition
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Gluten Free Finger Food! Pigs in a Blanket
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated sugar
- ยพ teaspoon kosher salt
- ยพ cup (6 fluid ounces) warm water (about 100ยฐF)
- 3 tablespoons (63 g) extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling)
- 16 gluten-free cocktail weenies (about 8 ounces)
Instructions
Make the pizza dough.
- In a medium-size bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, place the flour, xanthan gum, yeast, sugar, and salt and whisk to combine well.
- To the flour mixture, add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the water in a steady stream, mix with a spoon or fork to combine, or mix with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on low speed.
- Stir or mix constantly while streaming in the water and continue stirring until the mixture begins to come together.
- If the dough seems super sticky, add some more flour a tablespoon at a time, and stir or pulse to combine. Press the dough into a disk.
- Place the dough in another medium-size bowl and drizzle it with olive oil. Turn the dough to coat it with oil.
- This will prevent a crust from forming on the dough while it is rising. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area to rise until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).
Shape the dough.
- Preheat your oven to 400ยฐF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- Once the dough has finished rising, divide it into 4 pieces of roughly equal size, and with floured hands shape each piece into a ball.
- Place one ball of dough at a time (covering the other two with a moist towel), on a well-floured surface, and dust the dough liberally with extra flour.
- Roll into a rectangle 8 inches long by 6 inches wide, and between 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch thick, dusting with flour if the dough becomes sticky. With a sharp knife or pastry wheel, slice the rectangle into 4 smaller rectangles, each 2 inches wide by 6 inches long. Repeat with the remaining 3 balls of pizza dough.
Assemble the pigs in a blanket.
- With a sharp knife, slash each weenie on one side, along its length about halfway through the weenie. This is to allow steam to escape while the pigs bake.
- Take the first rectangle of dough, place a weenie on a short side right at the edge, and roll the weenie up tightly in the dough. Press the edge against the weenie to seal, and place the pig and blanket on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining rectangles and weenies, and place them about 1 inch apart from one another on the baking sheet.
Bake the pigs in a blanket.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the dough is brown around the edges and lightly brown on top, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool briefly before serving.
Nutrition
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, Iโm Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that arenโt good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, โgood, for gluten freeโ just isnโt good enough! Come visit my bio!
Brooksandjaime says
Can you freeze these? Before or after you bake them? Thanks!
JulieMom says
These look so good! I am de-lurking today. :-) Your site is my go-to place for GF goodness! My daughter has Hashimoto’s, and is GF because of it. We also moved to Zambia, Africa, shortly after her diagnosis. There are no GF products here!! So your site has been a fantastic resource for me, and all from scratch! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Victoria says
Two questions:
1. Can you make the dough the day before?
2. What brand of cocktail weenies do you use?
Thanks!!!
Victoria
gfshoestring says
Hi, Victoria,
1. You sure can. Just keep it well-wrapped in the refrig.
2. I really like Wellshire Farms Cocktail Franks, since they are very clear that they are gluten-free. Last I checked, Hormel Smokies were also gluten-free, but you’d definitely want to check to make sure.
xoxo Nicole
JoAnn C. says
When I worked as a nanny, (many years ago),ย this was an all time favorite.ย If I served pigs-in-a-blanket and fireworks, (carrot sticks), plates would be cleaned by happy children.
gfshoestring says
Who would complain about pigs in a blanket and fireworks, JoAnn? Not I. :)
xoxo Nicole
Catherine Peebles says
Nicole, I have a question about this dough, which I finally made for pizza a few days ago. For some reason (I used Better Batter and stirred by hand; it took about an hour and a half to double in size; and I chilled it for an hour), the dough seemed quite tough to me, and I couldn’t roll it out thin enough. (When I did, it just got full of tears and holes.) Since it was too thick, it didn’t make a great crust because it was sort of not quite cooked even though crisp on the outside. I know you’ll be publishing a new recipe, but in the meantime, can you give any guidance here? I’d love to make pizza more often, not to mention the pigs-in-a-blanket!
gfshoestring says
Hi, Catherine,
It sounds like you didn’t have enough moisture in the dough (and in your environment). That would account for the dough being tough and taking a bit longer to rise. Especially in the drier, colder months, err on the side of more moisture and a longer, more moist rising time. And be sure it is well covered (and well-oiled) as it rises, or it will dry out. Those all sound like “environment” issues you are having, which is quite common in the wintertime and have to be accounted for.
That should help.
xoxo Nicole
Jenny says
When you say high quality gluten free flour what do you recommend. Our options are very limited where I live and I don’t mind ordering but online gets overwhelming! Thanks love your cookbooks I have so far. The new one can’t come our soon enough.