Rainbow Pigs In A Blanket

Put a twist on a traditional meal and make this Rainbow Pigs In A Blanket! This is the perfect appetizer for a St. Patrick's Day party or a cute meal for your kids!

The past few days were dreary and wet and I felt as gray as the sky. So today when the sun finally peaked out, I had a surge of energy and enthusiasm.  I ran outside and just stood there, motionless for a while, with my face pointing up to the sky.

The bright golden rays of sunshine felt warm and inviting and I was happy to just be at peace and let my mind wander. I stood there for a while thinking about recipe ideas for St. Patrick's Day and  I decided it was a perfect day to create a rainbow.

Legend says that there will be a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, so what if that pot is filled with golden mustard?  O.K. I know it's not as exciting as real gold, but if you had a rainbow made of crescent dough-wrapped hot dogs, the mustard would be a very nice find, wouldn't it?

Rainbow Pigs In A Blanket

Ingredients:
8-10 hot dogs (depends on the size of your rainbow)
3 tubes Pillsbury Crescent Creations Seamless Dough Sheet
egg wash - whisk one egg and 1 teaspoon water together
Neon Food Coloring (purple, green)*
Primary Food Coloring (blue, yellow, red, green)
flour for dusting work surface
* I found the neon food coloring at the grocery store.

Special Equipment Needed:
knife
pizza cutter
pastry brush
paint brushes (new or brushes only used for food)
non-stick aluminum foil
non-stick cooking spray with flour
food handling gloves
optional: oven spatula

Instructions:

Cut tips off hot dogs.  Discard, eat, or do as I do and give the tips to your dogs as a treat. Cut each hot dog in half lengthwise. 

Cut hot dogs into ½"-¾" pieces.

Place a piece of non-stick aluminum foil on an upside-down baking sheet.  Allow enough foil to extend a few inches past the sides of the pan.  Arrange hot dog slices in a rainbow pattern. 

I used a 12" x 18" commercial ¼ sheet baking pan. If you use one of these, then you can skip this step.

If your pan is smaller, do arrange your hot dogs to see how long each rainbow stripe should be. Some hot dogs are more plump than others, so this is a good exercise to make sure your rainbow will fit on your pan. I used Nathan's Beef Franks and they are plump.

Lightly dust your counter with flour. Unroll one tube of Pillsbury Crescent Creations Seamless Dough Sheets. 

Cut dough into 2 ⅔ inch wide strips by the following lengths: 8-inch, 12-inch, 16-inch (you will have to piece dough together for the longer strips), 20-inch, 23-inch, and 26-inch. See more steps below to conserve your dough.

Line up the rows of hot dog slices, curved side down, on the crescent dough.

Place the first row of hot dogs on the dough and cut off the excess dough, cutting ½" past the last hot dog slice. Use that piece of excess dough to increase the length of the top strip of dough.

Brush some egg wash on the edge of the strip of dough and press the excess dough onto the strip to seal the edges together. 

 Lay the second and third rows of hot dog slices on the dough.

If using a smaller pan than I did, move each row of hot dog slices, that you arranged in a rainbow on your sheet pan, and place them in rows on the crescent sheets as above.  You will have more excess dough than above. Just cut off all the excess dough.

Lay one sheet of crescent dough down and brush egg wash over the left edge.  Unroll another sheet of crescent dough, setting its right edge over the left edge of the first dough sheet.

Press the edges together.  Cut dough into 3 long strips as above. Arrange three more rows of hot dogs on this dough.

Cut off and remove any excess dough - you just need the dough to extend ½" past the last slice of hot dog.

Brush egg wash onto the dough around the hot dogs and then bring the dough up over the hot dogs, pinching the seams together and cutting off the excess.

Carefully pick up the dough-covered hot dog strips and place them a few inches apart on a large piece of non-stick aluminum foil.   You may need an extra pair of hands to lift the long strips.

Squeeze neon purple (or combine red and blue), blue, green (I combined neon green and dark green), yellow, orange (add one drop red to a teaspoon of yellow), and red food colorings into small bowls or a paint tray. 

Use new paint brushes or paint brushes that are only used for food to brush coloring onto dough. Paint the smallest strip purple, the next one blue, then green, then yellow, then orange, and finally red.

The food coloring will not add any flavor and will bake into the dough.

Place a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil on a baking sheet that is turned upside down.  Allow foil to hang over the pan's edge by a few inches.  Fold the edges of the foil inward creating handles. Spray foil with cooking spray (if you have it, use the spray with flour.)

Put on food-handling gloves.  Pick up the purple strip and lay it in an arc on the foil-lined pan.  Wash your hands keeping the gloves on.  Dry them well. Pick up a blue strip and lay it next to the purple strip. Wash your hands.  Continue to add strips, wash hands, or replace gloves in between each.

Do Not do this with your bare hands or you will have rainbow speckled skin for the next day or so. Refrigerate the rainbow for at least an hour or up to 6 hours.

Place a baking sheet (the same size you used to create your rainbow) on the lowest rack in your oven.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Open the oven and use the foil to help you slide the rainbow from the cold baking sheet onto the hot baking sheet.  Bake for 16-20 minutes. The yellow strip will have turned a golden yellow color and you'll see golden brown spots in places. Remove the rainbow from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes on the hot baking sheet before moving it. 

I used an oven spatula to move my rainbow onto a board covered with paper printed with a sky.  You can serve it right on the baking sheet or move it to a large cutting board or platter.

Ask all of your party guests what they think is hiding inside this rainbow before you cut into it to show everyone the surprise.

If you're looking for more St. Patrick's Day food, use the link and check out these awesome recipes.

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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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