Spider Hot Dogs

Why You'll Love This Recipe:

You will love this recipe for spider hot dogs because:

• These are the perfect party snack or appetizers for your Halloween party.
• These super cute and not-so-spooky hot dogs are quick to make and can be prepared in advance.
• They are budget-friendly too.

Ingredients In This Recipe

You can download a printable version of this recipe below. It lists all the ingredients you need and gives clear, step-by-step instructions to help you make it.

Sausage - we used pre-cooked mini red sausages (cocktail frankfurters) that require boiling in hot water for heating, but you could also use bun-length hot dogs cut into half. 

Ready-rolled puff pastry - is used to wrap around the sausage for the spider body.

The readymade puff pastry sheets are about 26 cm (10.5 inches) square - you will only need half a sheet for this recipe.

If using puff pastry that is not prerolled, roll the dough to a thickness of about 5mm (¼ inch).

If you can't get puff pastry, you could make your own using our rough puff pastry recipe or make it with store-bought or homemade crescent roll dough

Candied eyes - these are quick and easy to apply and can be found in the cake decorating section at the supermarket. 

If you can't get them, you could use dots of ketchup, mayonnaise, capers, or slices of olives for the eyes.

Mustard (mayonnaise or ketchup) for attaching the eyes - you don't need much - a dot applied to the back of each candied eye will hold them in place.

Step By Step Instructions

How to make hot dog spiders:

Step 1 - Cut each hot dog in half lengthwise to give you 12 halves. 

Step 2 - Use the tip of a knife to make 3 slices at either end of the hot dog to make four spider legs on either side – keep about a finger's width of sausage uncut in middle for the body.

Step 3 - Cut 12 strips of puff pastry about 2 cm (0.78 inches) wide and 7 cm (2.7 inches) long, or long enough to wrap around the sausage half and overlap.  

Wrap a piece of dough around the center of each sausage with the ends overlapping on the flat cut side, and press to seal.

Step 4 - Place the prepared hot dogs onto a lined baking sheet and place them in the fridge for at least 15 - 60 minutes before baking.

Step 5 - About 15 minutes before baking preheat oven to 200⁰C (400⁰F). 

Bake in a hot oven until the pastry is puffed and light golden brown - this will take about 12 - 15 minutes. 

Note: If you want the legs to curl up as ours did, cook them a little longer, but avoid overcooking them because the sausage will become dry.

Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before adding the eyes.

Step 6 - Use a toothpick to apply a little mustard, mayonnaise, or ketchup on the back of the candied eyes and stick them to the spider dogs.

Recipe Tips

• Allow puff pastry to fully thaw before using, but it should still be cold to the touch. 
• Chill prepared the puff pastry spider appetizers for at least 15 minutes before baking. You want the unbaked appetizers nice and cold before baking because this will give them the best puff.
• Puff pastry needs a hot oven so, for the best results preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) for at least 10 – 15 minutes before baking.

Serving Size

One of these spider hot dogs is a serving size.

Calories Per Serve

There are about 50 calories in a serving.

Serving Suggestions

Serve these hot dog spiders with a bowl of ketchup or tomato sauce on a large platter.

You could also make a spiderweb sauce as we did for these mummy hot dog puff pastry appetizers.

Meal Prepping

These can be prepared the night before and stored covered in the fridge until ready to bake.

If you like this recipe for Spider Hot Dogs you might also like to see this collection of Easy Halloween Foods to Make or these quick and easy puff pastry appetizers or the recipes below:

• Halloween rocky road
• Halloween pudding cups
• Oreo eyeballs
• Halloween hot dog fingers
• Witch finger cookies
• Oreo spider cookies