Wreath Dogs, Foil Packet
Crescent dough and shelf-stable smokies, baked in foil coals-side instead of an oven.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Snack
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Refrigerated crescent roll dough | 1 roll | rides in the cooler, day one or two |
|---|---|---|
| Little smokies or cocktail sausages | 20 | shelf-stable vacuum pack beats the refrigerated tub |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | melted; ghee keeps better in heat |
| Grated parmesan | 1 tsp | the hard green-can kind, no cooler needed |
| Italian seasoning | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp |
Method
- Burn the fire down to coals. You want steady heat, not flame.
- Unroll the dough on a sheet of foil and cut it into thin strips, one per sausage.
- Wrap each sausage in a strip. Leave the ends showing so they crisp.
- Arrange them in a ring on a double layer of heavy foil, sides touching, and crimp a lid over the top.
- Set the packet on a grate over the coals, or in a lidded dutch oven with coals on the lid. Twenty minutes, rotating once.
- Open the packet. If the dough is still pale, give it five more minutes.
- Stir the seasonings into the melted butter and brush it over the ring before serving.
This started as a holiday party centerpiece baked in an oven. The wreath shape survives the move to a fire because it is actually useful: sausages packed shoulder to shoulder in a ring hold each other up, so the dough sets before anything tips over, and the middle of the packet is empty where a fire runs hottest.
Crescent dough is the one thing here that needs a cooler, which makes this a car-camping recipe and a first-night one. Everything else is stable — vacuum-packed smokies, shredded parmesan out of a can, dried herbs. The butter and seasoning go on after cooking, not before; brushed on early they scorch against the foil. Foil heat is uneven, so rotate the packet once and expect the side that faced the coals to be darker.
Packing
Mix parmesan, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, and salt into one small jar at home. Dough goes in the cooler and gets used the first night or two. Heavy-duty foil, not the thin stuff.
Variations
- No dough in the cooler: skip the wrapping and heat the smokies straight in the foil with the butter and seasoning.
- Full-size hot dogs cut into thirds work and cost less.
- A dutch oven with coals on the lid browns the tops better than a flat packet does.
https://mealswithmaria.site/pigs-in-a-blanket-wreath