Air-fried pigs in a blanket are a tasty, easy Christmas appetizer recipe

I have a bad habit while cooking. I am a good cook and I enjoy it — it's my favorite hobby — so that often means I make things too complicated. But, in truth, simple recipes can be great.

What I'm saying is, sometimes all you need is a tiny hot dog wrapped in crescent roll dough. And by sometimes, I mean on Christmas or New Year's, when you're hanging out with family and already making a whole mess of other foodstuffs. Leave the complications for the turkey, or the roast, or the perfect side dish. You should absolutely keep things easy with at least one appetizer, and I argue there's nothing more classic than little weenies.

Even better, make the pigs in a blanket in the air fryer and don't take up space in the oven, which is sure to be at a premium. I tested out Pillsbury's recipe for air-frying the classic app, and it was not only as good as an oven-made version, it was easier to clean and took like eight total minutes. You can find the Pillsbury recipe here, but I'll walk through the process as well.

Ingredients

• Mini hot dogs

• A tube of crescent roll dough

Directions

1. Cut and place parchment paper on the bottom of your air fryer.

2. Pop the dough and unroll into eight pre-perforated triangles.

3. Cut each triangle into three smaller, narrow triangles.

4. Roll a weenie into each small triangle, starting with the thicker end of the dough. One tube will yield 24 hot mini hot dogs.

5. Spray the basket with nonstick oil then place as many weenies as you can in the air fryer, point side down.

6. Air fry at 325 degrees for three to four minutes or until the tops of the weenies are golden brown. There is no need to preheat the air fryer.

7. Flip and air fry at 325 degrees for three to four more minutes. The dough should be golden brown and risen.

The details

I'm going to say this as simply as possible: This recipe is hard to mess up.

The most difficult part for your's truly was opening the roll of crescent dough. I didn't realize you have to kind of pop the middle before you press down with a spoon to unroll it. I am not the smartest man on Earth, this much is now clear.

Another dough-related tip: Keep it in the fridge until you absolutely need it. I kept my dough on the counter while filming a video to accompany this article. The dough got closer to room temp which made it stickier and thus more difficult to work with.

Otherwise, the recipe is so simple. You just cut some dough, then roll up weenies, then air fry. My cuts and rolls weren't even pretty — I am not a delicate chef — but it still turned out fantastic. You plop the hot dog on the fat end of the small triangle, fold over the end, and roll it up.

Rollin' weenies. Credit: Mashable

The dough rises while it cooks, which makes things more uniform and pretty even if you make wonky rolls like I did.

Pillsbury specifically says not to preheat your air fryer, so from there it's just monitoring the weenies until it's time to flip. My hot dogs were pretty toasty and brown after about three minutes, and totally done after three minutes more on the other side. Here's how they looked.

Weenies, done just right. Credit: Mashable

All in all, this was super easy and I'd argue incredibly helpful if you're hosting a holiday or New Year's Eve party. It saves precious oven space and is super easy to clean, since air fryers are non-stick and easily stowed away after the cooking is finished.

The final result was as good, if not better, than what you'd get in the oven. The hot dog was juicy and a little crisp. The crescent roll dough was flaky and risen in layers. Everything was cooked through and the mini dogs were a salty, sweet, buttery treat. Dip those little suckers in some mustard and you're golden.

Did I eat five mini weenies for lunch after testing this recipe? You're damn right I did, and I'd do it all again.