Pretzel Dogs

This is definitely not my normal type of recipe; after all, not only does it contain meat, but hot dogs, of all things, which I hate.  I try hot dogs every year, wanting so badly to have a go-to thing to eat at barbecues, and every time, I just hate them.  However, with that said, I have this very weird love for corn dogs.  I know, that's a hot dog too, but I guess if you wrap cornbread around anything, I will eat it.  I figured it might be the same thing with pretzels, so when I heard Alex saying that he needed to find a Sonic restaurant due to their new pretzel dogs, I offered to whip up a batch for him.

The pretzel dough was pretty easy to make as far as yeast dough goes (minus the fact that my beloved fiance threw out my yeast and I had to open a new bag).  It only had to rise for an hour.  Then you divide the dough into portions, make ropes out of each one, and wrap the rope around a hot dog.  Make sure you pinch the ends together tightly; I had a few that opened up when they boiled!  Once they're all wrapped, to make the dough pretzels rather than bread, you have to boil them, hot dog and all.  Then they get baked.

The end result was pretty damn good.  As a hot dog hater, I will confess to eating one and a half pretzel dogs.  They were extra good when they were still warm; I recommend eating them before they cool completely!  However, there were quite a few that were devoured later :)

I will also say that I decided to double the recipe for the dough and make one batch of pretzel dogs, along with one batch of pretzels.  I was glad that I did because Rachael even said that she was craving pretzels but not the hot dogs.  It made a good pretzel, too, so there was something for everyone!

Recipe:

pretzel dogs
from Brown Eyed Baker
yields 8 pretzel dogs

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 - 115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
kosher salt, for sprinkling
8 hot dogs

Instructions:

1) 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.

2) Add the flour and the 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 4-5 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.

3) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable oil.  Set aside.

4)  Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart pot.

5) 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 (mine were much shorter; I think this is if you use foot-long hot dogs!)  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 pan and repeat with the remaining dough and hot dogs.

6) 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 pan, brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the coarse kosher salt.  Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12-14 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.