Mini Pretzel Dogs
I think I’d like to write a book about how to make friends, entitled How to Make Friends, the almost fairytale.
Chapter One
Once upon a time there was a lonely girl who had but one friend… her snaggle-toothed mother. One day, in the kitchen, she stumbled upon a rare and delicious combination. A combination never before discovered in the land of Lonleyia. Warm, soft, salty dough met with… hot dogs.
It was as though rainbows, unicorns, and friendly hobbits had descended upon this special girl. People came from far and wide to sample her new found delicacy and friendships blossomed abound. It was like Springtime. Springtime of friendships.
Even the girl’s snaggle-toothed mother made a friend or two.
Never again was the lonely girl lonely (or hungry)…
The end.
Yea… my next book only has one chapter, one recipe, and about 34 words. No biggie.
So! You have two options here. You can re-read this story and go take a nap OR (and I totally suggest this next option) you could make these pretzel dogs this weekend, serve them with spicy mustard and cold beer, and make (or solidify) friendships of your own.
Choose your own adventure. No bigs.
Essentially, we’re wrapping soft dough around hot dogs. It’s nothing more complicated than that.
If that doesn’t sound like the best thing to happen all week, I invite you to come back in two days from now.
Ps. I love you.
Don’t be fooled by the twisty and golden brown nature of pretzels… they’re actually really simple to make.
It all starts with yeast, warm water, and flour.
At first the dough is shaggy shaggy.
With a little work of the dough hook, it will come together!
This is the luscious dough before rising.
It should feel light and soft. This will be a tender dough. It will be slightly sticky, but not sticky enough to actually stick to your hands.
It’s like a little dough pillow.
If your first instinct is to rest your head on the dough… you’re on the right track.
This is real life.
It’s juuust dough. Back off, kitten!
Beautifully risen dough.
It’s like magic in a bowl.
My trick?
I leave dough to rise in an OFF gas oven, or on the back burner of my stovetop with the oven left on at 200 degrees F.
Cut the soft dough into 16 pieces (for 1/2 hot dogs) or 8 pieces (for big ol’ whole hot dogs).
So light and tender.
But don’t eat it yet!
Rolling the dough into ropes.
Channel your Play-Doh days.
Ropes get rolled 12-inches long for half dogs, and 24-inches for whole dogs. It’s science… or not at all.
If this seems like SO MUCH FUN to you… I consider us friends.
Just make sure that the ends are sealed and pressed together.
The next step is boiling!
If the dogs aren’t sealed up tight they might unravel a bit… which is totally not the end of the world, ps.
Pretzels are boiled in a baking soda and water solution.
The baking soda changes the alkalinity of the outside of the pretzel. Baking soda is what gives pretzels their distinctive chewy crunch and golden color.
Baking soda is what separates these pretzel dogs from bagel dogs… and these are most certainly NOT bagel dogs.
Although… if you’re interested in bagel pizza… I was too.
Serve these pretzel dogs to many. You’ll need to share. Don’t be like me and eat too many. While you’re in the kitchen making awesome, you might also consider these Fried Pickles!
These pretzel dogs are so warn, tender, and utterly delicious. I promise that these darlings will find you friends, lovers, and stalkers of the feline variety.
ps. Leave Me Alone, Kitten!
Pretzel Dogs
makes 16 pretzel dogs (made from cutting hot dogs in half)
recipe adapted from Alton Brown
1 ½ cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
about 14 cups of water
1 cup baking soda
1 large egg, beaten, with a splash of water
salt and pepper for topping
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will begin to foam and froth. If it doesn’t, throw the mixture away and start again with new yeast.
Once the yeast and water is frothy, add the flour, salt, and melted butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, creating a ball of dough around the dough hook. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will be soft, pliable, and just a bit sticky. That’s perfect. Scrape any residue out of the bowl and coat the bowl with a bit of vegetable oil. Place the dough back in the bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and store in a warm place to rise. Allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Place baking racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and lightly brush the paper with oil. It’s important to brush the parchment paper or the pretzels will stick!
Combine water and baking soda in a large pan (8 quart is fine) saucepan and bring to a boil.
While the water comes to a boil, turn the dough out onto a clean, slightly oiled work surface. Divide dough into 8 or 16 pieces, depending on how large you’d like your pretzel dogs. 8 pieces of dough for whole hot dogs. 16 pieces of dough if you’re doing to slice the hot dogs in half.
Start with the fingers of both hands in the center of the dough, and roll, moving your hands outward as you roll. Roll the dough along the oiled surface until you have about a 24-inch or 12-inch piece of rope (depending on how large your piece of dough was… the more dough the longer the rope).
Wrap pretzel around a hot dog, making sure to seal the ends.
When water has come to a boil, gently lower a few pretzel dogs into the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds. Remove carefully, using a flat, slotted spatula. Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush boiled pretzels with beaten egg, and add coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Bake until deeply golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving warm.
Soft pretzels are best enjoyed the day they are made.
If you’re not going to enjoy all your pretzel dogs, double wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer out of plastic and into a piece of foil. Wrap well and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, or until heated through.
220 Comments Add A Comment
I would totally be your friend. I am making these when there are other people around so I don’t eat them all!
What a great item to serve at the Superbowl {or really just any time or day}! I love how the dough is a pretzel dough and not the basic bread dough. Love this recipe Joy!
Ha! I LOVE seeing pictures featuring your cat; such a beautiful kitty! I hope he got at least one pretzel dog :)
Pretzel dough makes the world SUCH a better place!! Delicious recipe :) and I’d totally be anyone’s friend that make these little puppies.
My 2 favorite snacks, pretzels and hot dogs. I cant wait to try this…thank you for sharing!
I love your cat. My kittens are always getting in my way in the kitchen too! Silly little guys.
These look so yum! Saving the recipe!
I would be the first in line to befriend this skillful pretzel-wrapping fiend!…..oh, I mean friend. This means me vs you pretty little kitty, vying for the friend slot. Saunter silently away from the doughy goodness and no claws will come out… Mmmm…
I love the picture with your cat eyeing up the sausage! xx
next2mee.blogspot.com x
God, I love that little cat face peeking up in the last picture. I’m confident my husband will require these for super bowl snacks when I show him this post.
Tehehe, I love your kitty! Your photography/recipe/kitten/awesomeness is so inspiring! Thank you!!
you always make me salivate! I’m making these this weekend!
YUM!
Do you think I could fill them with cheese? Would the process still be the same? I just really, really want cheese pretzel bread…
*cheesy :)
I worry that cheese would melt and ooze.
Try this: select a flavor of individually wrapped cheese sticks that you like (I know this might not be your ideal cheese, but some, such as cheddar jack, are actually pretty tasty). They are the perfect “girth” for a project such as this, and I often use this method when I’m worried that the cheese I am using as a substitute for meat will ooze. Unwrap all the cheese sticks, cut them into thirds or halves, whichever you like, and freeze them on a cookie sheet. Wrap the frozen cheese in the pretzel dough just before baking. The dough browns, and the cheese ends up perfect. Give it a go!
*boiling…and then baking
Joy, I didn’t even think of that (my love of cheese got in the way of my reasoning skills). Tracy, thanks you! I’ll give that a try.
I just about died seeing those adorable pictures of your kitty! Is it bad that I enjoy coming to your site as much for the pictures of your cat as for the pictures of your tasty recipes? #futurecatlady
These look amazing. They may just inspire me to get over my aversion to bread (and bread-type products) baking.
Please continue to post photos of your cat stalking things. Please.
I think you should finish that book. I would totally buy it <3. I've never had a pretzel dog but it looks delicious:D
I’m going with the pretzel. It’s very easy and fun to make.
These look fantastic! There is an Amish market near our house that has amazing pretzel dogs — so amazing that my husband will totally get up and get dressed to go to the store on a Saturday morning so he can stand in the super long line to get one. We always get the one with cheese in it, though… maybe I could just wrap a little cheese around the hot dog when rolling the dough around it?
I’m going to join in the chorus with everyone else and cast my vote that these look to die for, and I thoroughly plan on making them for the Superbowl. However, after scanned through the other comments, I didn’t see if anyone else asked this – do you freeze them after they’re already fully baked? I have a friend who makes the pretzel dough, freezes it, and THEN pulls them out to do the boiling water/baking portion. If these are a freeze-fully-ready….I’m so beyond sold. :)
yes! freeze them after they’re full baked then reheat them in foil. you could even thaw them in the fridge (after they’re frozen) and reheat in the oven wrapped in foil.
That last pic there with kitty creepily hovering in the background had me in stitches. well not entirely cos i was at work so had to giggle internally! tee hee hee. i didnt even notice him at first then BAM i saw him. *giggles all over again*.
This recipe makes me want to not be vegetarian any more…
You’re right, the brown, fluffy pretzel-ness is intimidating! I’ll have to give these a try when I’m settled in Austin and looking to make new neighbor friends!!
These look awesome! I’ve never made pretzels at home before, but it’s worth giving it a shot….PS. Your kitten peeking up over the side of the table in that last picture is *hilarious*!
The reason I don’t eat people’s homemade goods at work is for this reason exactly. People let their cats up on the counter where they’re baking. Gross.
bread, salt, pork, YUM!
I’ve been looking for a good pretzel recipe for awhile now, but the addition of hot dogs just completely elevated what is already a ridiculously delicious snack. Yum!
Hi Joy, I don’t have a Kitchenaid mixer with a dough attachment, just an electric hand mixer. Would I still be able to make this recipe?
I, too, want to know how to do it without an attachment! Would I just knead until it’s smooth?
I love pretzels, but I’m not too big on meat. I wonder what else these could be filled with? Probably lots of yummy combinations…
These look and sound so good! And like so much fun to make. I must make them. I love the kitten head photo!
Hi Joy!
Just a thought:
I would surely follow you into the land of homemade beer-mustard recipes if you decided to go there. Just think of all the fun adventures ahead! And, of course, tasting/drinking as you go . . .
Cheers (preemptively)
Good Lord, I’ve been attempting to figure out a way to make vegan versions of these things all day. I will succeed!
Yum! I love anything that involves a soft, warm pretzel! I love your pictures with the cat in them… very cute! Thanks for the great post.
Those are really that easy to make?! And, I think your story would make a great picture book… I’d be friends with *almost* anyone who offered me a tasty pretzal dog :)
“…stalkers of the feline variety.” LOL
Ahh..Joy….I love you.
Joy! Can I just say you make me laugh pretty much every post. I really relate to your sense of humor in story telling and recipe sharing, etc…………I’d definitely be your friend – even if you didn’t make me preztel dogs (but that would be lovely too!)
Thanks for being you!
Shannon
I feel so indecent for returning to your page more than once to catch a glimpse of these little weenies wrapped so comfortably in their pretzel blankets. I think I am going to have to make some of these soon to get this peepery out of my system.
Love the cat lurking in the background in the last picture! LOL
I love the shape, the color and the filling!!!!!!
I’m going to try it for sure! :)
These are on my list to make this weekend. They look perfect for a Super Bowl party (or just my husband and myself).
Those look de-licious!! Maybe I can figure out how to make that pretzel dough gluten free… YUM!
For the ladies asking about how to make this without a mixer: I don’t have a mixer either, and am planning on making these little beauties for the Superbowl. I read online that when kneading dough by hand, you generally want to double the time recommended to knead by machine. Also go by how the dough looks and feels. So… that is what I’m going to try. Can’t wait!
When I first saw this post, my husband, who is every bit a non-foodie as much as I AM one, was sitting next to me and immediately exclaimed, “CAN YOU PLEASE MAKE THOSE RIGHT NOW???”
I didn’t get a chance to make them that evening but after an enormous snowstorm + being stuck in the house with two littles + some wicked cabin fever, we finally mixed up a batch of dough and wrapped it around some fat weiners tonight. So. Perfect. So. Beautiful.
Thank you.
Hey Joy! These look fantastic – I’m totally trying them for a Superbowl party tomorrow! Just a thought – it might be good to add the sea salt to the list of ingredients. I didn’t think to get any at the store, since only regular salt was on list – I’m sure it’ll still be delicious with normal salt on the finished product though.
Made a batch this morning, and the boys are full and happy … A really over-the-moon sort of happy. Thank you!
Hi Joy, I just made these for my family for lunch, super easy, my daughter helped with the boiling. I made the minis and only have two left, I am sure they will not make it through the afternoon. Thank you again for another fabulous recipe!
I truly just drooled all over myself. These look so delicious …. but lets say if one doesn’t have an electric mixer… does the ol’ wooden spoon and strength of one arm work?
I made these today. I live in Germany so there’s really no shortage of fresh pretzels, but my husband was still GIDDY. I mean, I could have just made him a hot dog, but the novelty of the meat actually being cooked IN the bread made him grin like a handsome fool. I’m veg, so I made a half-batch stuffed with meat (turkey-cheese hot dog things) for my man, and used the rest to make the classic knot shape. I served them with soup for a light supper. I’ll definitely make these again.
Tried to make these today and the dough would not come together. :( it got to the shaggy part but wouldn’t come back together at all. I made two batches and they both turned out the same. Any suggestions?
we loved these!!! just made them for the super bowl. Fantastic.