Pigs in a Blanket: Pigless and Milkless, a Brief Report
Fig 1. Super Bowl Dairy Free Pigs in a Blanket
More than a day late and a dollar short, here is a great idea for a quick and cute game day snack without dairy.
I'm sure that like me, you're tired of the scientific community decrying lack of publications for replication studies and null findings, but actually not doing too much about it. Novelty is more exciting! Fear not, together we can face down these barriers to true scientific knowledge and delicious treats one recipe at a time. Here I present to you my attempt at a recipe with minor adaptations for generalizability to the dairy-free population.
The recipe reference:
https://www.thereciperebel.com/pigs-in-a-blanket/
Dairy-free adaptation:
1. The "pig": I've learned that some hot dogs and sausages contain dairy in the ingredient list, so be wary! Fortunately, kosher hot dogs and sausages are guaranteed to be 100% beef and free of any milk-based ingredients.
2. The "blanket": When trying recipes for the first time, unless there is a compelling reason otherwise, I usually default to 1:1 substitutions. This time, substituting margarine for the butter, and almond milk for the milk, in 1:1 ratios worked perfectly.
Product Links:
1. Jack's kosher hot dogs: https://www.kroger.com/p/jack-s-gourmet-kosher-beef-hot-dogs/0085068100327
2. Simple Truth Unsweetened Almond Milk: https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-unsweetened-almond-milk/0001111078505?fulfillment=PICKUP&searchType=default_search
3. Imperial Margarine or "vegetable oil sticks": https://www.kroger.com/p/imperial-vegetable-oil-sticks/0001111587132?fulfillment=PICKUP&searchType=default_search
Supplemental material: Full procedures
1. I gathered all my ingredients, combining the dry ingredients and preparing my wet ingredients by melting the margarine in the microwave and warming the almond milk in the microwave for about 20 seconds until it was approximately 105 degrees. As recommended, I started with 1 cup of flour.
Fig 2. Ingredients at the ready because I'm a real blogger now.
2. Next, I added the wet ingredients and mixed. Indeed, after a few moments, the flour absorbed the liquid and was quite sticky. Following the recipe, I slowly added a little more flour. I thought I was there with
Fig 3. Initial mixture. Fig 4. A little more flour.
Fig 4. I thought I was there but... Fig 5. I added a little more flour and voila.
3. Deviating from the methodology, I simplified by rolling out all of the dough in one rectangluar shape.
Fig 6. My artistic "rectangle."
4. I did go through the steps of cutting the dough into triangles to wrap around the cut up hot dogs. However, if you wanted to simplify, you could roll larger dough pieces around each hot dog then slice.
Fig 7. "Try-angles"- points for effort? Fig 8. Lil' smokies? Lil' cuties.
5. Another minor but impactful modification: The recipe author suggested a few spices to add flavor, but what's better than Everything but the Bagel seasoning? I also was not about to use a whole valuable egg for egg wash, but I happened to have some liquid egg whites open and used just 1T or so to coat the pigs in their blankets before dipping in the seasoning.
Fig 9. All washed and dressed up
6. I found that baking for 17 minutes total (adding 2 minutes to the recommended 15 minutes) yielded the golden brown color of my mini hot dog dreams.
