The Single Ingredient Needed To Elevate Pigs In A Blanket

Pigs in a blanket are a quintessential comfort food with a quirky name that describes them well: meat wrapped in a cozy outer layer. These classic nibbles that consist of miniature sausages or hot dogs encased in a warm, flaky pastry are often served as hors d'oeuvres at weddings or sophisticated cocktail parties, wolfed down as a quick breakfast on busy mornings, and devoured as a satisfying game day or movie night snack. Like many beloved eats, pigs in a blanket are as simple as they are versatile. Picture this: a golden-brown pastry enveloping a frank, with a hint of garlicky, buttery goodness enhancing each savory morsel. A generous coating of garlic butter can take a batch of pigs in a blanket from ordinary finger food to the star of the grazing table.

So, how does garlic butter — which is commonly used as a dipping sauce for pizza and veggies, a topping for steak and seafood, a sauce for pasta, and a mix-in for mashed potatoes — make pigs in a blanket even more delicious? It all boils down to the alchemy of flavors and textures. Garlic, with its aromatic pungency, adds a pleasant complexity to anything it touches. Butter, on the other hand, acts as an agent that infuses a smooth creaminess to the surface. When liberally slathered onto the "blanket" before baking, garlic butter imparts a subtle yet unmistakable taste that permeates every nook and cranny as the "pigs" cook.

Whether you opt for store-bought puff pastry or prefer a homemade puff pastry recipe, ensure it's rolled out thinly and evenly to achieve a soft yet crisp character. Whipping up a garlic butter recipe is a cinch; all you need is a garlic clove, a stick of butter, and optional chopped herbs like parsley, sage, or chives. If you don't have garlic bulbs in your kitchen, a sprinkle of garlic powder should do the trick. For convenience, you can also find tubs of premade garlic butter at many grocery stores. Regardless of your route, the application is simple. After liquefying the garlic butter, use a clean pastry brush to varnish every inch of the pastry, paying extra close attention to the folds. Pop the piggies in the oven, let them become snug in their blankets, waft in the scent, and enjoy.

Garlic butter has the power to enliven everything from soul-filling entrées like pizza and pasta, humble soups and salads, and of course, no-frills appetizers like pigs in a blanket. And, along with garlic butter, there are plenty of ways to give pigs in a blanket a new twist. Try brushing the dough with honey; sprinkling it with everything bagel seasoning; swapping pastry dough with pancake or pretzel batter; and experimenting with various types of sausage such as Polish kielbasa or Spanish chorizo. The customization possibilities of this iconic handheld are truly endless.