This is an easy and fun fan favorite at my house (my kids and my grandson are adults and STILL love this one)! It doesn't take long to make and the prep work is minimal. You can scale this recipe up as needed if you have a large family or the kids have friends over by just increasing the number of tubes or crescent rolls, hot dogs, and cheese slices you get. This is also one of the recipes in the cookbook I made for my kids, CLICK HERE for more on making your cookbook!
Here’s what you will need:
Parchment or freezer paper
A plastic knife for each child
Cookie Cutter Shapes
Cookie Sheets for baking
A big cardboard cutout of a leaf for a placemat for each child (I found a pattern for one on the internet)
Ingredients:
2 tube of Crescent Rolls
1 package of hot dogs
1 slice of cheese (I use the American Cheese Slices)
1/2 cup of cinnamon and sugar mixed together to make Cinnamon Sugar.
Hot Dog Crescent Roll Instructions:
- Start by giving each child a piece of parchment paper or freezer paper to work on
- Then give each of them a cheese slice, a hot dog, and 1 rectangle of the crescent roll.
- Next cut a slit in the hot dog Almost half of the way through (Make sure you go over how to hold a knife and general safety rules when handling a knife).
- Now cut the cheese slices in strips about a ¼ of an inch thick, and put in the slit you made in the hot dog.
- Finish by rolling your hot dog stuffed with cheese in the crescent roll (I let them roll it anyway they want).
- Space them out on a cookie sheet and bake them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
Cinnamon and Sugar Bites Instructions:
Give each child another piece of parchment or freezer paper to work on and a clean knife.
Give each child another rectangle of the crescent roll and, using the cookie cutters or the knife, let them cut in any shape they want. Sprinkle their creations with Cinnamon Sugar mixture, place them spaced out on a cookie sheet and set aside till hot dogs are done. When the hot dogs are done, put the Cinnamon Sugar cut outs in the same oven until golden brown (the cooking time varies on these because of the different shapes and sizes so it is necessary to keep a close eye on them while they are cooking so they don't burn. Remove smaller shapes as they finish cooking if necessary while the larger shapes finish cooking.
***FUN TIP*** We usually had a little down time while the hot dogs and cinnamon sugar bites were cooking, so I cut a leaf shaped placemat for each child and had it out and ready for them to decorate. When we were done decorating our placemats (usually with crayons and/or markers) we set the table with our placemats, paper plates, paper cups, and napkins. When the Hot Dogs were ready, I helped the kids set each plate up with celery, carrots, and grapes I prepared earlier. We loved sitting around wherever we were and eating our creations and talking about nothing in particular. The best part for me was that cleaning up was fast and easy, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the evening together. The goal is to maximize fun family time, and minimize hassle so please tailor this to whatever that looks like for your family. (My daughter is a single mother so it was often just her and my grandson. She shared that it was sometimes a lonely feeling to be at a big dining room table with just the two of them so they would often opt to sit at the counter together or make a living room picnic or even eat outside in nice weather. The point was that they were eating together).
We hope you enjoy this recipe! Check out our other recipes in our Cooking With Kids blog series by clicking the links below:
Cooking With Kids for Summer: Recipe 1- Parfait
Cooking With Kids for Summer: Recipe 2- Bread in a Ziploc Bag
Cooking With Kids for Summer: Recipe 3- Shapely Sandwich Tray
