Awhile back, I was watching one of those behind-the-scenes food shows on television, which detail how your favorite things to eat are made. There was a segment on a pretzel shop and how they make their popular soft pretzels. The host of the show casually mentioned they also sell “pretzel dogs”, and the camera showed a brief glimpse of them. From that point forward, I obsessed over this idea… I had a wonderful soft pretzel recipe, and my son loves hot dogs. So, one week I decided to experiment. The results? Delicious and fun! It’s like a traditional pig-in-a-blanket, but better.
Pretzel dogs are fairly simple to make. They do require a little bit of planning and time, but they are worth it! I used a half recipe for soft pretzels, and had enough dough for 8 hot dogs plus 8 mini-pretzels. So, you could probably do 16 pretzel dogs with a 1/2 recipe.
Start with the dough. Make it according to the recipe. At the point where you start shaping the dough is where I will continue here.
Divide the dough into 16 portions. This is equivalent to cutting it in half, then the halves in half 3 more times. I love my pizza cutter for this step!
Roll out the pretzel dough into a long skinny rope just as you would if you were making a pretzel.
Starting at the end of a hot dog, wrap the dough around the hot dog. At the end, press the dough onto itself to seal and keep it from unwinding. Try to tuck the dough under at the ends a little of you can. It makes them look a little nicer.
In a large skillet, boil 2 inches of water. Add a tablespoon of baking soda. Boil the hot dogs for about 1 minute, turning a few times. Remove from the water and put them on a cooling rack to dry off a little.
Dust a baking sheet with some cornmeal, and place the pretzel dogs a few inches apart. Beat an egg with a little water, and brush each of the pretzels with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with some coarse kosher salt.
Bake until the pretzel dogs are golden brown. Serve right away with your favorite hot dog fixin’s!
Pretzel Dogs
From your Everyday Home Cook
1/2 recipe for Soft Pretzels dough, ready for shaping
8 or 16 hot dogs
Roll out the pretzel dough into a long skinny rope just as you would if you were making a pretzel. Starting at the end of a hot dog, wrap the dough around the hot dog. At the end, press the dough onto itself to seal and keep it from unwinding.
In a large skillet, boil 2 inches of water. Add a tablespoon of baking soda. Boil the hot dogs for about 1 minute, turning a few times. Remove from the water and put them on a cooling rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Dust a baking sheet with some cornmeal, and place the pretzel dogs a few inches apart. Beat an egg with a little water, and brush each of the pretzels with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with some coarse kosher salt. Bake at 450 degrees F until the pretzel dogs are golden brown. Serve immediately.
Makes 8 pretzel dogs plus 8 mini-pretzels, or 16 pretzel dogs.
March 16, 2013 at 12:26 amThese look awesome. Been perusing through your blog lately and I am loving it! 🙂 Helpful tips, handy pictures, cute anecdotes, and such a sweet family…what’s not to love? Thanks for all the recipes!