I’m obsessed with pretzel bread and love working with pretzel dough. Although it’s hard to choose favorites when talking about pretzel bread, wrapping it around hot dogs is definitely a winner.
As complicated as it may look, pretzel dough is really super easy to work with, especially if you have a stand mixer. The dough hook does all of the kneading for you. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can definitely knead it by hand.
Also a perfect football game day treat! What says football party better than soft pretzels AND hot dogs!?
I’m still trying to figure out a way to freeze them and reheat. I’ve tried the obvious (freeze after baking, then reheat in the oven) but the pretzel bread ends up hard and crispy while the hot dog is not heated all the way through. Suggestions?
Pretzel Dogs
Warm soft pretzel bread twisted around our American favorite hot dog.
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons butter , melted
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt , plus more for topping
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
- 22 ounces (about 4 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- Vegetable oil (nonstick) spray, for pan and bowl
- 16 hot dogs (longer than bun size, such as these)
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cups baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk , beaten with 1 Tablespoon water (for egg wash)
Instructions
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar, salt and 1 1/2 cups warm water. Sprinkle the yeast on top. Add the flour and mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed. Once the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl, wipe the bowl and then spray with the vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, turning once to cover both sides with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for approximately 45-50 minutes, or until doubled in size.
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Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick spray; set aside.
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Bring the 10 cups of water to a boil in a large sauce pan or stock pot, then add the baking soda.
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While waiting for the water to boil, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface or a large pastry mat. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Roll one of the pieces of dough into a 24-inch rope, then wrap around a hot dog, leaving the ends of the hot dog slightly exposed. Pinch the rope together at each end to seal. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and hot dogs.
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Working with two or three pretzel dogs at a time, boil each for 30 seconds, flipping halfway. Use a large slotted spoon or spatula to remove from the water and return to the baking sheet. Brush the top of each pretzel with the egg wash then sprinkle with kosher or pretzel salt.
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Bake one sheet (8 pretzel dogs) at a time on the center rack of the oven until dark golden brown, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
This recipe calls for "bigger than the bun" sized hot dogs, which are hot dogs that are longer than the bun and skinnier than traditional sized dogs. You can certainly use traditional sized hot dogs instead without changing the baking time, however, the pretzel dough ropes will not need to be as long as 24-inches and the recipe may yield more.
Two of my favorite foods in the world, all wrapped into one!! LOVE.
These look really good! My family loves pretzel dogs. I’ve never made pretzel dough before, but you’ve made me want to give it a try! Thanks for sharing.
Would it work to wrap them in foil and heating them in the oven (or toaster oven) to keep them from getting too crispy but warm the hot dog through?
Oooh! Kelly! I should definitely try that…duh! I don’t have a toaster oven, but I will give it a shot next time in my regular oven. I’ll come back and let you know! 🙂 Thanks!
I could eat anything on or in a pretzel bun. I love them! I’ve never made pretzel buns from scratch. You have inspired me!
When I made my pretzel dogs, I didn’t cook the ones that were going in the freezer for as long. Then after freezing I put them in a 325 degree oven and let them finish baking. Worth a shot?
By the way…these are some gorgeous dogs!
Good idea, Karly! Now I just need to plan ahead and decide how many I want to eat and how many I want to freeze. 🙂
Hot dogs are so much better when they’re wrapped up in pretzel bread – GENIUS!
I’ve seen these before, except they were on Smells Like Home and Fake Ginger, and used Alton Brown’s pretzel recipe. But you changed the amount of butter so it’s basically your original.
Jenn,
Although I’m not a reader of those blogs you mentioned, they probably did do a pretzel dog recipe, along with other great bloggers I know like Brown Eyed Baker and Buns in my Oven. You’re right, the idea is definitely not original. I mean, hello, it’s pretzel dough wrapped around a hot dog. Many of us have had these at least once in our lives, and even Sonic and Auntie Anne’s sells them. The pretzel dough recipe is based on Alton Brown’s, for sure, as I stated here. I use this pretzel dough recipe all the time and have adapted it to my liking. Not sure of the purpose of your comment.
I have not yet made these but in answer to your inquiry -I am thinking that if you anticipated how many dogs you think you might want to freeze and only partially baked those ,wrapped them well for the freezer and finished baking them at a later time. In other words, processing them more like a brown and serve roll.
Thanks, Elaine! 🙂
What if you made smaller pretzel dogs? More like bite size. Do you think that would freeze/cook better?
Possibly! 🙂
I always want the pretzel dogs when I walk by the place at the mall that has them. Like every single time! They just call my name. I should definitely start making them at home.
HAHA! You’re not alone. 😉
Hi Nikki! I have made this recipe a couple of times now and these pretzels dogs are so fun to make! Freezing them is something I haven’t tried yet but it’s definitely worth trying out.
I was wondering why you didn’t list a source here for this recipe. I know that you increased the butter in Alton Brown’s original recipe but other than that, I don’t see any other changes. No, pretzel dogs are not a new concept but it’s sort of misleading to your readers to not cite a recipe that you didn’t create and even though others may not have cited Alton’s pretzel recipe in the past, it doesn’t make it the right thing to do for iterations going forward. Even a link to your old pretzel post in the recipe (not in the comments) would be helpful in clarifying the recipe source. Nobody would think less of you as a blogger for adding a source, I can assure you of that.
I’m sorry you are bothered about me not listing a source for this recipe. I do not think anyone is being mislead here, but in case someone is feeling that way, I felt it was good to respond. The pretzel dough part is adapted from Alton Brown’s version, but it didn’t even cross my mind to cite a source as I was following a print-out of the soft pretzels adaptation I posted earlier on. You have been blogging many years and probably know that citing is a very gray area and everyone does it differently. For the most part, I’m pretty sure I abide by your standards and apologize that this one post didn’t. And, if you want to get that technical, not only is the butter listed differently, but this recipe uses instant yeast and not active dry.
These look fabulous! Any idea how many mini dogs could be made from 1 batch of dough? I’m looking to do these as appetizers.
Hi Michele! I haven’t done these as miniature hot dogs, but one batch would make a TON. It sure would be enough for pretty much any party. 🙂
Just saw these through Pinterest! They look awesome! Pinned! I will definitely be making these for my Superbowl party I’m throwing this weekend! 🙂