Pretzel Dogs
When I was a kid, I only ate hot dogs one of two ways: nearly burnt to a crisp on the grill, or wrapped in crescent rolls and baked in the oven. The former typically happened during the summer, while the latter was almost always a fall and winter treat. My mom would kick the crescent-wrapped dogs up a notch by slicing the hot dogs down the middle and stuffing a half-slice of American cheese in the middle. As far as my 8-year-old palate was concerned, that was just about as gourmet as you could get. That was my favorite way to eat hot dogs for years and years… until I discovered pretzel dogs. I have been a soft pretzel lover for what seems like forever, so imagine the shock and awe when I discovered hot dogs wrapped in soft pretzel dough. I don’t eat hot dogs very often, but a few times a year, I’ll have one either straight from the grill, black and charred, or wrapped in a buttery soft pretzel, which is usually accompanied by copious amounts of outlet shopping. For some reason, it never occurred to me to make them at home. Until now. Which is definitely cause for celebration.
I’ve been making homemade soft pretzels for nearly as long as I’ve had this blog and I’ve shared a couple of recipes with you in the past. This one, however, has been my staple for the last nearly three years. I can’t believe in all that time I haven’t gotten it out to you! To make the pretzel dogs, I used this basic soft pretzel recipe and instead of shaping the dough into pretzels (which you could also totally do), I wrapped it around hot dogs. It’s so easy, and if you’ve been intimidated by yeast recipes before, this would be a perfect one to start with. The dough is easy to mix together, very forgiving, and only requires one quick rise of less than an hour.
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Whether you want to get in some hot dog-eating while it’s still summer, or you’re on the hunt for game day food for the upcoming fall season, these are definite musts for your menu. You could cut the hot dogs in half for smaller portions, or even use lil’ smokies for bite-size versions. Serve them up with ketchup, your favorite mustard and an ice-cold beer. Perfect for summer, perfect for watching the game, perfect for shopping… perfect anytime!
Pretzel Dogs
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (375 ml) warm water, 110 to 115 degrees F
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast, 2¼ teaspoons
- 4½ cups (562.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter, melted
- Vegetable oil, for pan
- 10 cups (2.5 l) water
- ⅔ cup (80 g) baking soda
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Kosher salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Combine the water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.
- Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
- Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart pot.
- In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a rope that’s about 24-inches long. Starting at one end, wrap the dough around the hot dog, pinching each end together so that it’s sealed. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan and repeat with the remaining dough and hot dogs.
- Place the pretzel dogs into the boiling water two at a time and boil for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat slotted spatula. Return the boiled pretzel dogs to the half sheet pan, brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with the coarse kosher salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Can you make these as pigs in a blanket and freeze for later?
I think you could; they would be best warmed back up in an oven.
I made these tonight, although I only used half the dough from the recipe so they ended up more like the thickness of the mall pretzel dogs. The only thing is I used wax paper and sprayed cooking spray onto it. When they came out of the over they were stuck to the wax paper. Would it be better to just spray the pan with oil or do I really need “parchment paper”?
They were delicious and perfect other than that! Try dipping them in jalapeño cheese. So good!
Hi Mary, Wax paper will definitely melt in the oven and everything will stick to it; you need to use parchment paper.
I was wondering about your reply about the parchment paper, I alsoused wax paper but it didnt hurt anything, they still tasted wonderful. But is it necessary to use parchment paper or can you just spray your baking pan?
Hi Tina, I always prefer parchment paper because it is inherently non-stick and you don’t need to worry about any grease from sprays or butter transferring to whatever you’re baking.
I just made these pretzel digs and they are AMAZING!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
I made these for one of my July 4th posts and they were great! We rarely eat hot dogs, so these were a special treat. I love pretzel anything :) and so easy too.
thank u , it’s an awesome recipe, i minimized the salt into one spoon, and I took some of the dough and sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon, the kids devoured it, I also added some cheese to the hot dog pretzels.
I made these last night. So beautiful and delicious. The only comment I have is that I think this recipe makes just a little bit too much dough for the 8 hot dogs. Next time I would split the dough into 10 pieces and just make a couple stand alone pretzels with the extra dough. Oh, I also think next time I will try wrapping a slice of American cheese around the dogs before wrapping them in the dough.
I just made these today. They are awesome! I sprinkled a little bit of onion powder on a few of them, along with the salt because my other half loves onions on his hot dogs. Wonderful… Thanks! I’ll definitely make these again!
I made these Saturday for the UFC fight night and they were ah-maz-ing!!! I did the dough by hand which was super easy it’s definitely not a picky dough by any means. I had enough dough to cover 12 jumbo hotdogs which was a pleasant surprise. I served the hotdogs in thirds with Chipotle Ketchup and the men just devoured these babies. Excellent recipe :) Doing a blog post soon and signing your praises lol
Hi, I’m wondering if I can make this without a mixer, just by hand :)
Absolutely! Enjoy! :)
I want to make these for church event on a sunday afte church, could could I boil them one day and bake them the next?
Hi Lacie, Unfortunately no, you need to bake the pretzels as soon as you boil them.
Lacie, these reheat well either by microwave or like I do in the oven so boil and bake as per recipe once cool wrap them and put them in the fridge and then just reheat when you need them
Is it possible to make the dough a day in advance and just leave it in the fridge for the night? Or would this mess up the dough because of the yeast?
Hi Rick, I have never done it, but a lot of people have success using a cold, overnight rise with dough. This is a pretty forgiving recipe, so I think it would be worth a shot.
Do you think this would work with veggie dogs instead of regular hot dogs?
Sure!
Thanks! I am excited to try these with my kids!
Made these for dinner tonight, and sharing your recipe on my blog! I split the recipe exactly in half and it turned out perfect. This was sooo delicious. Thank you!
I was so thrilled to find these on Pinterest. My daughter loves these from Auntie Anne’s. Whenever we go to the mall the first thing out of her mouth is can we get a pretzel dog. Now she can have them at home and better yet for lunch at school! These were so easy to make and to make it even more yummy I used the hot dogs with cheese inside of them. I wish I was there at school to see her face when she unwrapped these! Thank you so much for this recipe. This will become a staple at our house. I am so glad I made a ton and am going to freeze them. I know I will be getting lots of requests for these.
Nathans hot dogs are the best with these. I cut them into “coins” and top with chili, cheese, diced onions and mustard. Yum!
Just made this & they are all gone! My family loooved them! Never had a prezel (from Kenya) , bt my dad’s already asking me to make some more. Thanks!!!
I finally made these tonight for me and some college friends for dinner! (Okay. My roommate made the dough and did most of the work… I had a meeting.) We had a blast, and while they didn’t come out nearly as gorgeous as yours, they were still delicious! Thanks for sharing the idea!
I made these tonight for dinner and my husband loved them! I loved the pretzel part, but I didn’t care for the hot dog part. The next time I make these, I’ll get different hot dogs. :)
Made these this past weekend….instead of hotdogs I used the bun length smoked sausages….OMG! Fabulous! This will definitely be added to our menu rotation. Yummy!
These were amazing! I replaced 2 cups of flour with whole wheat pastry flour. It was DELICIOUS!
What a fun weeknight dinner idea!!!
OMG. Yes. i had these when i was in New York!! I’ve been craving ever since. Gotta try this soon :))
Terrific looking pretzel dogs! My recipe is similar for pretzel dough with the exception of bringing soda water to boil and drop in. Mine says to turn water down to a simmer then drop pretzels in. Have you tried that or is a rolling boil best, yours are gorgeous, just worried about them becoming mush at a boil!
Hi Kaye, I always do a rolling boil on high heat and haven’t had a problem. Enjoy!
I want to make these for tonight! Will it work if I add cheese inside the dough with the weiner?
Hi Courtney, I would actually cut a slit in the hot dog and put the cheese in there. I’d be afraid if the cheese was between the hot dog and dough that it could weep out while the dogs are being boiled.
This looks like a fun recipe to try this weekend! I really like the recipes you feature! I look forward to the email.
The pretzel dogs look absolutely delicious. will definitely be trying…
I love pretzel dog, but it is hard to come by around my neighborhood. Thank you for sharing this.
Ahhh……. the sweet smell of buttery mall food…. at home. This looks beautiful, I’m not too keen of hot dogs either. But, wrapped in preztels. Oh! The Princess is happy!! Will have to try this after a fit into that new dress….
Great site!
Keep it yummy,
The Princess
Thanks, Michelle! My two boys will LOVE these!!!
O.K. these look like something my kids would love, but what I’m really interested in is where you got that King Arthur Flour rolling mat!
Hi Barb, I got the mat from King Arthur Flour – http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/silicone-rolling-mat#4994#