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It’s no secret that I love Christmas and for me one of the big parts of Christmas is the food. It’s the one time of year you can eat all day without anyone questioning it. Plus, you can have all your favourite things on one very full dinner plate!
What are your favourite Christmas food traditions?
We start buying mince pies as soon as they appear in the shops and in the run up to Christmas we buy everything that’s on offer – a big box of chocolates, nibbles and the obligatory Chocolate Orange.
But when it comes to Christmas it just wouldn’t be the same without turkey and all the trimmings. In our house that means roast potatoes and parsnips, lots of different steamed veg, sprouts, red cabbage, stuffing, yorkshire puddings, really thick gravy and not forgetting the pigs in blankets.
For me, the one thing we save just for Christmas is pigs in blankets – they are the ultimate comfort food and my favourite sausage recipes. We don’t have them any other time of the year and it makes having them at Christmas just that little bit more special.For me, the one thing we save just for Christmas is pigs in blankets.
We don’t have them any other time of the year and it makes having them at Christmas just that little bit more special. We enjoy them throughout the festive period, having them at any party or social gathering, as a buffet snack or side dish.
They really one of our favourite British traditions – you cannot beat the taste of these little bacon wrapped sausages. They may not be that healthy but they’re quick and delicious!
We use pretty standard pork co*cktail sausages for this recipe but you could use chicken or beef sausages or even vegetarian sausages and a bacon alternative for a meat free option. Plus, you can cook pigs in blankets in the air fryer too.
We also love Honey and Mustard Pigs in Blankets and Caramelised Onion Pigs in Blankets if you’d like to try those recipes too. You can see our other pigs in blanket recipe variations hereand all our other Christmas recipes too!
Here’s our easy Maple Glazed Pigs in Blankets Recipe
Preheat oven to 180C and line an oven dish or deep baking tray with foil
Cut each rasher of streaky bacon in half and wrap around a sausage, securing with a co*cktail stick. Repeat, placing them in the oven dish.
Bake the pigs in blankets for 20 minutes before pouring away the excess fat from the dish. Drizzle the sausages with the maple syrup and place back in the oven to continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes until the sausages are nicely golden browned.
Remove the sausages from the dish, giving them one last coat in the sweet sticky maple syrup sauce.
So that is our Christmas tradition. Lovely, sticky pigs in blankets. They will be served on Christmas day alongside the honey roast parsnips and eaten surrounded by family. For me Christmas dinner is my favourite meal of the year.
If you’d like to print or pin the Maple Glazed Pigs in Blankets Recipe for later you can do so below. Enjoy!
For me, the one thing we save just for Christmas is pigs in blankets. We don’t have them any other time of the year and it makes having them at Christmas just that little bit more special.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine British
Keyword christmas
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Total Time 55 minutesminutes
Servings 18sausages
Calories 90kcal
Ingredients
18co*cktail Sausages
9Smoked Streaky Bacon Rashers
150mlMaple Syrup
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C and line an oven dish with foil
Cut each rasher of streaky bacon in half and wrap around a sausage, securing with a co*cktail stick. Repeat, placing them in the oven dish.
Bake the pigs in blankets for 20 minutes before pouring away the excess fat from the dish. Drizzle the sausages with the maple syrup and place back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes until the sausages are nicely browned.
Remove the sausages from the dish, giving them one last coat in the maple syrup.
*Note: Nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published.
Traditionally the sausage used is a co*cktail-sized pork-based chipolata and the wrapping a streaky bacon, but variations include those using chorizo or chicken sausage, using sausages with added ingredients such as apples or chestnuts, using full-sized chipolatas, or using flavored or smoked bacon.
A pig in a blanket is a sausage (originally a pork sausage, hence the “pig”) wrapped in either a pancake, biscuit dough, or a crescent-style piece of pastry (you guessed it, that's the “blanket”).
Pigs in blankets are thought to have originated from Czechoslovakia or Germany but first appeared in print in the Cooking for Kids cookbook, published by U.S food firm Betty Crocker in 1957.
Why are pigs in blankets eaten at Christmas? There are no specific known origins of pigs in blankets becoming a traditional part of the British Christmas dinner, but the first written record of the product in general goes back to 1957.
After Christmas dinner, a family member deposits the pig into a small sack. Using a small, metal mallet, each person at the table gives the pink porker a thwack, and shares a story of their good fortune from the past year.
In the United States the term "pigs in a blanket" typically refers to hot dogs in croissant dough, but may include Vienna sausages, co*cktail or breakfast/link sausages baked inside biscuit dough or croissant dough.
kolaches resemble the Texas kolaches of my youth—a small pastry square, corners folded in, with a swab of a fruit filling. But now I see gas stations in Texas selling enormous pigs in a blanket and advertising them as kolaches. What gives? A: The Texanist loves kolaches.
It is thought that the name comes from central Europe from countries such as Germany, Slovakia, and Czechia. The first time the name appeared in the US was in 1957 in Betty Crocker's “Cooking For Kids” recipe book.
According to the meticulously researched Food Timeline, pigs in a blanket—described as “franks baked in flaky crust”—is an American dish that descends from the British sausage roll and first started appearing in cookbooks in the 1930s.
Wondering why we have turkey on Christmas day? During his time on the throne, King Henry VIII decided to swap out his traditional goose for a turkey on Christmas day. After this, King Edward VII took to the delicacy and popularised having turkeys for Christmas.
Storage Tips: These are best served warm or at room temperature the day they are made, but leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Freezing Tips: Freeze unbaked pigs in a blanket by assembling and then freezing in a single layer on a baking sheet for about 2 hours.
In the United States, the term “pigs in a blanket” usually refers to hot dogs or sausages that are wrapped in biscuit or croissant dough and baked. In the United Kingdom, the term refers to small sausages, or “chipolatas,” wrapped up in bacon.
In the United States, the term “pigs in a blanket” usually refers to hot dogs or sausages that are wrapped in biscuit or croissant dough and baked. In the United Kingdom, the term refers to small sausages, or “chipolatas,” wrapped up in bacon.
Pit-roasted pig is the traditional centerpiece of a Cuban Nochebuena, or Christmas Eve supper, a holiday that stirs the same sort of emotions—and digestive juices—in a Cuban heart that Thanksgiving does in ours.
The meat or savory part, often a sausage but not always, is wrapped in kolache dough and not croissant dough. This dish in Texas is most commonly referred to as "kolache", although traditional Czech-style kolaches are a sweet dish, not a savory dish.
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