Gluten-free pigs in a blanket on a serving board with honey mustard dip

Gluten-Free Hot Honey Pigs in a Blanket

Name: Gluten-Free Hot Honey Pigs in a Blanket
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 13 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 3 pieces
Ingredients: 1 pouch (11.7 oz) Pamela's Gluten-Free Hot Honey Drop Biscuit Mix; 3/4 cup cold water; 24 little smokies or cocktail franks, patted dry; 1/4 cup Dijon mustard; 3 tablespoons honey; 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar; Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

on Oct 13 2026

Table of Contents

Pigs in a blanket are the appetizer nobody has to be talked into. They disappear off the tray, they cost almost nothing, and every party has at least one person quietly eating their fourth.

They are also made with crescent roll dough, which comes in a refrigerated tube and has never existed gluten-free. Not in a specialty store, not in a freezer case, not anywhere. So this is a dish a lot of people have not eaten in years.

Biscuit dough does the same job. It goes around the sausage, it bakes golden, and it pulls apart the same way. It also takes about ninety seconds to stir together, with nothing to unroll or separate along a perforation.

These use Pamela's Hot Honey Drop Biscuit Mix, which brings honey and chili with it, so there is a little sweet heat in the wrapper. Twenty-four of them, about twenty-five minutes, and they work in the air fryer too. So good, no one will guess they are gluten-free, the way Pamela's has done it since 1988.

Are There Gluten-Free Pigs in a Blanket?

Not to buy, no. Not frozen, not from a deli counter, and not in a refrigerated tube.

The problem is the dough. Crescent roll dough is a refrigerated product that depends on gluten for its layers and its stretch, and no one makes a gluten-free version. Frozen pigs in a blanket all use the same dough. Catering platters use it too.

At home it takes twenty-five minutes. Pamela's Hot Honey Drop Biscuit Mix plus cold water gives you a dough that wraps a sausage and bakes golden, and it is GFCO-certified gluten-free.

The mix these are built on Pamela's Gluten-Free Hot Honey Drop Biscuit Mix Honey powder, crushed chilies, and cayenne in the mix. Just add cold water. GFCO-certified gluten-free and kosher.

The Cheddar Garlic mix is just as good here, and arguably better with sausage. It takes 1 cup of water rather than 3/4, and you fold in 2/3 cup of shredded sharp cheddar.

One thing still to check on your own: the sausages. Most little smokies are gluten-free but some use wheat as a binder, so read the package.

How to Wrap Them Without Crescent Dough

You do not roll this dough, you drop it. That sounds like a compromise and it is not.

Drop about a tablespoon of dough onto a parchment-lined sheet. It will be shaggy and irregular, which is correct.

Press a little smokie into it lengthwise, pushing it about halfway down.

Push the dough up around the sides with wet fingers, leaving both ends of the sausage exposed. Wet fingers are the whole trick. The dough is sticky and it will fight you dry.

The ends should show. That is what a pig in a blanket looks like, and it also lets the sausage heat through properly.

Leave 1 1/2 inches between them. They spread a little.

Do not try to fully enclose them. A biscuit dough sealed all the way around steams instead of baking, and the bottom goes pale.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Yield 24

Serving Size 3 pieces

Ingredients

1 pouch (11.7 oz) Pamela's Gluten-Free Hot Honey Drop Biscuit Mix
3/4 cup cold water
24 little smokies or cocktail franks, patted dry
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

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Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Pat the sausages dry. They come packed in liquid, and a wet sausage makes the dough around it soggy.
Empty the pouch into a bowl and add the cold water. Stir just until the dry mix disappears, about fifteen stirs. The dough should look shaggy with a few dry spots.
Drop about a tablespoon of dough onto the sheet. Press a sausage into it lengthwise, then push the dough up around the sides with wet fingers, leaving both ends exposed. Repeat, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes, checking at 12. They are done when the tops are golden and the dough is set underneath where it meets the sausage.
While they bake, whisk the Dijon, honey, vinegar, and pepper flakes together.
Cool 5 minutes and serve warm with the honey mustard.

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Gluten-Free Hot Honey Drop Biscuit Mix

Recipe Tips & Notes

This works well, and for a small batch it is faster than the oven.

375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, in a single layer with space between them. Check at 8.

Do not crowd the basket. Air fryers cook by moving air, and a packed basket steams. Two batches of twelve beats one batch of twenty-four.

Line the basket with a perforated parchment round or spray it well. Biscuit dough sticks.

Lower temperature than the oven, deliberately. Air fryers run hotter than their dial suggests and the dough will brown before it cooks through at 425.

Reheating cooked ones: 350 degrees F for 3 to 4 minutes. Better than a microwave, which makes the dough tough.Air Fryer MethodHow Long to Cook Pigs in a Blanket

12 to 14 minutes at 425 degrees F, until the dough is golden on top and cooked through where it meets the sausage.

Check the underside of the dough, not the top. The top browns first, and the part touching the sausage is the last to cook. Lift one with a spatula. It should be set and lightly golden underneath, not doughy.

The sausages are already cooked. Little smokies and cocktail franks come fully cooked, so you are only heating them through. The dough is what determines the time.

Start checking at 12. The honey powder in this mix browns faster than a plain biscuit dough would, which is why the package calls for less time than the other flavors.

If the tops are browning too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last few minutes.

Air Fryer Method

This works well, and for a small batch it is faster than the oven.

375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, in a single layer with space between them. Check at 8.

Do not crowd the basket. Air fryers cook by moving air, and a packed basket steams. Two batches of twelve beats one batch of twenty-four.

Line the basket with a perforated parchment round or spray it well. Biscuit dough sticks.

Lower temperature than the oven, deliberately. Air fryers run hotter than their dial suggests and the dough will brown before it cooks through at 425.

Reheating cooked ones: 350 degrees F for 3 to 4 minutes. Better than a microwave, which makes the dough tough.

Dipping Sauces

This is where people have opinions. Honey mustard is the most requested and it is the right call here, since it echoes the honey in the dough.

Hot honey mustard. 1/4 cup Dijon, 3 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, a pinch of red pepper flakes. Whisk.

Classic yellow mustard, straight from the bottle. Not everything needs improving.

Ranch, which is what half the table will want regardless of what else you put out.

Barbecue sauce, especially with a smokier sausage.

Extra hot honey, warmed, for people who want more of what is already in the dough.

A note on quantity: two dips is plenty for twenty-four pieces. Three starts to look like a project.

What Sausages to Use

Little smokies or cocktail franks. Both are fully cooked, both are the right size, and both are in every grocery store.

Check the label for wheat. Most are gluten-free but some use wheat as a binder or filler, and it is not always obvious from the front.

Pat them dry before they go into the dough. They come packed in liquid and a wet sausage makes the dough around it soggy.

Full-size hot dogs cut into thirds work if you cannot find cocktail size. Cut them on a slight angle, which looks better and gives more surface.

Smoked sausage or kielbasa, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths, makes a more substantial version. This is great with the cheddar garlic mix.

Making Them Ahead

Assemble up to 4 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate on the sheet pan. Bake straight from cold, adding 2 to 3 minutes.

Do not mix the dough the night before. The leavening activates when water hits it, and a rested dough bakes flat.

Freeze them unbaked, which is the better make-ahead. Assemble on a sheet pan, freeze solid, then bag. Bake from frozen at 425 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes. No thawing.

Baked ones keep 3 days refrigerated. Reheat at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes or in the air fryer for 3.

They are best warm, and they hold their heat about twenty minutes on a tray. For a long party, bake in two batches rather than one.

Ways to Change Them Up

Cheese. Press a small piece of cheddar in alongside the sausage.

Everything seasoning, sprinkled on before baking.

Breakfast version. Use breakfast sausage links cut in half instead of smokies, and serve with maple syrup. This is a real thing people search for.

Jalapeño. A thin slice tucked in with the sausage.

Mini. Use half a tablespoon of dough and a smaller sausage piece for about 40 tiny ones. Reduce the bake to 9 or 10 minutes.

Cheddar garlic version. Swap the mix, use 1 cup of water, and fold in 2/3 cup of shredded sharp cheddar. Very good with a smoked sausage.

What These Contain

These contain milk and soy.

Milk comes from the buttermilk, butter powder, and whey in the mix. Soy comes from soy flour and soy lecithin. This mix cannot be made dairy-free or vegan.

Check the sausages for wheat, and for soy if that matters to you. Many contain both.

Eggs and tree nuts are not ingredients in the mix, but Pamela's products are made on equipment that processes both.

If you need dairy-free, our Biscuit & Scone Mix contains no milk and no soy and lets you add your own fat and liquid. It makes a firmer dough that is easier to wrap, though you would add your own seasoning.

Every Pamela's product is certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization, made in a peanut-free facility, and certified kosher.

Other Recipe Notes

Wet your fingers when shaping. The dough is sticky and wet hands are the difference between a clean shape and a mess.

Leave the ends of the sausage exposed. A fully enclosed biscuit dough steams instead of baking and the bottom stays pale.

Air fryer: 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes in a single layer, no crowding.

To freeze unbaked, assemble on a sheet pan, freeze solid, then bag. Bake from frozen at 425 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes.

Check the sausage label. Most little smokies are gluten-free but some use wheat as a binder.

Recipe FAQs

No. Frozen versions, deli platters, and refrigerated crescent roll dough are all wheat-based, and there is no gluten-free equivalent on any shelf. Made at home with a drop biscuit mix they take about 25 minutes, and the dough stirs together in ninety seconds with nothing to unroll.

12 to 14 minutes at 425 degrees F, or 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees F in an air fryer. The sausages come fully cooked, so the dough determines the time. Check the underside rather than the top, since the part touching the sausage cooks last.

Yes, and it is the best gluten-free option since crescent roll dough does not come gluten-free. You do not roll it, you drop it: a tablespoon of dough on the pan, press the sausage in, then push the dough up around the sides with wet fingers, leaving the ends exposed.

Yes, and it is the better make-ahead. Assemble on a sheet pan, freeze solid, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen at 425 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes, no thawing. Do not mix the dough the night before, since the leavening starts working as soon as water hits it.

Honey mustard is the most popular, and it suits these because the dough already carries honey. Whisk 1/4 cup Dijon with 3 tablespoons honey, a teaspoon of vinegar, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Plain yellow mustard, ranch, and barbecue sauce all work too.