Mini Crescent Dogs are cocktail sized beef smokies wrapped inside cheddar cheese and tender crescent rolls. These crowd-pleasing pigs in a blanket are the perfect party finger food and always give you reason to celebrate!
In this house we are somewhat ritualistic when it comes to our football game day food. We have an appetizer ritual and these Mini Crescent Dogs are front and center when it comes to must have easy finger foods to watch our games.
And how do these Mini Crescent Dogs come into play? Ask any sports fan and they will tell you, if there is one thing that is sacred when it comes to a winning season, you don’t mess with tradition.
These cheesy pigs in a blanket are always found on our appetizer table at any party alongside Irish Pub Potato Nachos, Southern Chicken Salad and my favorite Pepperoni Stromboli Ring.
WHY THESE ARE THE BEST MINI CRESCENT DOGS
Mini Crescent Dogs are an easy to make appetizer made of little smokies rolled in dough but I like to make mine super tasty by adding cheddar cheese before I wrap them up in crescent rolls.
- This tasty appetizer is made with only THREE INGREDIENTS… hello?.. timesaver?
- You can make these little pigs in the blanket ahead of time and park them in the refrigerator until you need them.
- Mini smokies can be store bought but if you want you can also substitute them with cut up kielbasa or even hot dogs if that is what you already have on hand.
- You can leave the cheese out (down to TWO ingredients folks!) and make regular crescent roll pigs in a blanket
To make these little cheesy Mini Crescent Dogs, you will need:
- Tube of refrigerated crescent rolls
- Slices of sharp cheddar cheese
- Mini cocktail smokies
HOW TO MAKE MINI CRESCENT DOGS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start by opening and unrolling a refrigerated can of crescent dough and pour the little beef smokies into a bowl.
Pinch together two of the crescent triangles side by side to create a square or leave as individual triangles and with a sharp knife, cut down the square lengthwise to create 1/2 inch strips of dough.
Place a small piece of cheese on the dough strip followed by a lil’ smokie.
Roll the smokie up in the dough and move to a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper.
Follow these instructions until you run out of lil’ smokies. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and serve immediately.
These Cheesy Mini Pigs In A Blanket are easy to make, next to no clean up and deliver AWESOMENESS with only three ingredients. THREE!!!!! Beat THAT!
Plus they are a favorite crowd-pleasing appetizer and nothing makes hungry game day party goers happier than cheesy appetizers… or meat appetizers .. so by combining both these Mini Crescent Dogs will bring happiness of epic proportions!!
PRO TIPS FOR MINI CRESCENT DOGS
- You can make these little pigs in the blanket ahead of time and park them in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap until you need them.
- Pre-packaged lil’ smokies come with a bit of liquid in the packaging. Be sure to move them to a bowl so the liquid can drain away.
- I use slices of sharp cheddar cheese to make this appetizer. Shredded cheese could also be used.
- Try to cut your sliced cheese a bit smaller than your strip of dough. Cheese will melt out a bit but that’s ok 🙂
- Want to fancy them up? Brush them with melted butter after baking and sprinkle on some poppy seeds, everything seasoning or sesame seeds.
- Easy to serve up with a side of spicy honey mustard, bbq sauce or even ranch dressing
- Store any leftover pigs in a blanket covered in the refrigerator. Reheat them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds for a quick snack.
MORE EASY APPETIZERS YOU WILL LOVE
- Orange Cranberry Pecan Goat Cheese Truffles
- Queso Blanco Dip
- Slow Cooker Spicy Hawaiian Meatballs
- Goat Cheese Bruschetta
- Blue Cheese Bites
Want to check out all of my appetizer recipes? Check out every one of them HERE!
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Mini Crescent Dogs
Ingredients
- 8 ounce can refrigerated crescent dough
- 12 ounce package lil' smokies
- 4 ounces sliced cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start by opening and unrolling a refrigerated can of crescent dough and pour the little beef smokies into a bowl.
- Pinch together two of the crescent triangles side by side to create a square or leave as individual triangles and with a sharp knife, cut down the square lengthwise to create 1/2 inch strips of dough. Place a small piece of cheese on the dough strip followed by a lil' smokie. Roll the smokie up in the dough and move to a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper.
- Follow these instructions until you run out of lil' smokies. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and serve immediately.
Notes
PRO TIPS FOR MINI CRESCENT DOGS
- You can make these little pigs in the blanket ahead of time and park them in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap until you need them.
- Pre-packaged lil' smokies come with a bit of liquid in the packaging. Be sure to move them to a bowl so the liquid can drain away.
- I use slices of sharp cheddar cheese to make this appetizer. Shredded cheese could also be used.
- Try to cut your sliced cheese a bit smaller than your strip of dough. Cheese will melt out a bit but that's ok 🙂
- Want to fancy them up? Brush them with melted butter after baking and sprinkle on some poppy seeds, everything seasoning or sesame seeds.
- Easy to serve up with a side of spicy honey mustard, bbq sauce or even ranch dressing
- Store any leftover pigs in a blanket covered in the refrigerator. Reheat them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds for a quick snack.
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Update Notes: This post was originally published in April of 2018 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in October of 2019.
I used the Grands version of Pillsbury crescent rolls and they were awesome! They were also much easier to work with than the regular size. My son loves these. I do too!
Nice to hear AnneMarie, so glad everyone enjoyed them.
Oh, these mini wieners look fantastic! My daughter is going to love them
These look so fun and easy; our kids are going to love!!
These are so cute and sound delicious, my family would love them!
What a fun project to do with kids. I bet kids go crazy over these !
I love these, so easy to make, but delicious. Perfect for bonfire night and fireworks.
Great food for game day. I want a platter for the kitchen for sure!
These are awesome! If I were to pick a favorite game day food, this is it! I could scarf-up a whole plate by myself!
Can I just tell you how much my kids would LOVE these? What an awesome snack 🙂 And totally perfect for Saturday football 🙂
This is such a fantastic snack for gameday, I would definitely make it soon – Yummmm!
These fun mini appetizers bring me back to my childhood. If you wrapped anything around a pork product, I would be gobbling up stacks of them. My favorite was pigs-in-blanket. I think I could go hog wild over these, for sure!
These are so perfect for the Christmas party I’m planning (really early lol). I’m so glad I found this recipe! I remember we used to do something like this when we used to go camping, but it’s been so long that I basically forgot about them!
My grandchildren are going to love these little bites. 🙂
i have a breakfast thing for work next week, will have to try this.
Those are adorable. I can see me making them for the grandkids when the “adults” have more sophisticated appetizers. Although I think I could pig out on these.
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