Sticky Pecan Little Smokies in Crescent Rolls

These Little Smokies in Crescent Rolls are baked on a delicious mix of brown sugar, honey and chopped pecans for a sweet and savory party appetizer. They are incredibly easy to make with canned crescent rolls and just 5 other ingredients!

If you’re into salty-sweet food… This recipe will be right up your alley! It’s like eating sticky buns with crispy bacon for breakfast, but in the form of party-friendly finger food.

Personally, I have always been a fan of the sweet/savory combo, and also of the good old pig in a blanket. That’s why this is an appetizer I come back to again and again – for parties, for football, for birthdays!

And the fact that it’s so quick and easy to make doesn’t hurt either, a keeper for sure!

Ingredients you’ll need

This is just an overview of the ingredients needed – scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for exact quantities and instructions.

Ingredient notes

• Crescent dough: You can either use an 8-count can of crescent rolls, two 4-count cans or a crescent dough sheet.
• Honey: I recommend a mild, runny honey for this recipe.
• Pecans: You can also make the recipe with sliced almonds or with chopped walnuts.

How to make caramelized Lil Smokies Crescent Rolls

1. Place the butter in a ~9×13 inch casserole dish. Place the dish in the oven and turn the oven on to 400°F. The butter will take about 5 minutes to melt, remove the dish from the oven as soon as the butter has melted – do not let it burn!

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2. Stir the brown sugar, honey and pecans into the butter (careful, the dish is hot).

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3. Unroll the crescent rolls and cut each triangle into 3 smaller triangles (if you’re using a crescent dough sheet, just roughly follow the pattern in the photo below). Wrap each piece of dough around a little smokie.

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4. Place the wrapped smokies on top of the pecan mixture in the dish. Feel free to egg wash (I don’t normally, but I did for the photos to make them look a little more special), bake until the sugar mixture is bubbly and the crescent dough is golden.

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I like to let the smokies sit and cool in the dish for 5-10 minutes before serving, this allows the sticky pecan mixture to cool and thicken a little and makes it easier to eat the mini “pigs in blankets”.

Recipe tips

• Pay close attention to the butter while it’s in the oven, it melts quickly. If you don’t remove it as soon as it’s melted, it will start to burn. If you’re not comfortable with this method of melting butter, feel free to melt it in a bowl in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove instead.
• Unroll the dough carefully so it doesn’t get all messy and sticky.
• Make sure you place the rolled up sausages seam-down in the casserole dish. Otherwise the crescent roll dough starts unwrapping itself as it bakes.
• Do not overbake, else the sugar and butter mixture will scorch and turn out bitter.

More easy party appetizers

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