Yesterday was National Pigs in a Blanket Day, another random food holiday I only knew about thanks to a foodie friend who mentioned it to me. Pigs in a blanket are among Shane’s favorite appetizers so I knew if I mentioned the holiday to him, he’d ask if I was going to make them. I planned ahead, knowing I wasn’t in the mood for our homemade go-to recipe, and added pretzel dogs to the menu this week instead! I don’t even really like hot dogs that much, but wrap a soft pretzel around one and it becomes an entirely different story. Mmmm, carbs! I’ve had these pretzel dogs bookmarked for ages, and even though I’m not technically sure if they qualify as pigs in a blanket, I’m going with it π
These were a lot quicker to put together than I expected. Yes, the pretzel dough involves yeast, but even if you’re not 100% comfortable working with yeast, this is a super simple dough – promise. You toss all of the ingredients into your stand mixer, let it work its magic for about 5 minutes and you’re rewarded with a smooth shiny dough. (You could definitely do this by hand too, if you don’t have a stand mixer.) Let it rise (it needs less than an hour) then you’re ready to shape and roll around the hot dogs. After a quick dip in a baking soda bath and a few minutes in the oven, you have pretzel dogs!
I’ve yet to meet a soft pretzel I didn’t love, and these were no exception. Soft and chewy, topped with a liberal coating of salt and wrapped around our favorite hot dogs – they were completely irresistible! I actually made the full amount of dough, but only wrapped half as many hot dogs as the recipe called for. Shane would probably disagree, but I didn’t really think we needed to eat 8 hot dogs for dinner. The leftover dough was used to make pretzel bites for us to snack on later that night. I might just be coming around on hot dogs, so long as you skip the hot dog rolls and serve them in pretzels π
Pretzel Dogs
pretzels adapted from Alton Brown, method via Fake Ginger (originally from A Dash of Sass)
Dough
22 oz (about 4 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 F)
2 oz (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
8 hot dogs, halved
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)
pretzel salt or coarse salt
Add the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, water, and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until the dough comes into a rough ball. Knead on low speed for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic (it should pull away from the sides of the bowl). Transfer the dough to a large bowl that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 50 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the 10 cups of water and the baking soda in a large stockpot or roasting pan and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto your work surface. Divide it into 16 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into approximately a 12-inch rope. Wrap the rope around one halved hot dog – be sure to pinch the ends very well to seal (to reduce the likelihood that the dough unravels when you boil in the next step). Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough until you’ve wrapped all of the dogs.
One at a time, boil the pretzel dogs in the baking soda/water mixture for 30 seconds, transferring them to a wire rack afterward using a slotted spoon or spider strainer. Repeat with all 16 pretzel dogs. Transfer the dogs to the parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle with the pretzel salt.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the pretzels are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before serving. Serve with mustard or your favorite dipping sauce.
Makes 16 pretzel dogs
Totally love this. I don’t eat pretzels for dinner nearly enough.
Tracey, those look sha-mazing. I wish I had time to make them for dinner tonight, but these are going to make an appearance in my house SOON.
These were really good, we should definitely have them a bunch this summer! Thanks for making them!
Oh my goodness, Tracey, you are killing me with these. I so, so wish were neighbors!
I love pretzel dogs, my mom used to make them all the time when I was a kid, I still enjoy them as a grown up!
Yours turned out so pretty! These are favorites around here and like you said, they’re so much easier than you’d expect!
This is funny – pretzel dogs are on my menu this week, too! Yours look better and easier than the recipe I flagged, so I’m abandoning it and using your recipe instead. Can’t wait to see how they come out. π
OMG these look amazing! Thanks Tracey!
These are adorable and I saw them on Amanda’s blog and now here..this would light up a bbq or potluck fast! Everyone would love em!
These look SO insanely good! I have a secret guilty love for hot dogs.
By the way – I love that Shane comments on your posts! What a good husband π
These are now officially n my menu for next week. =) And I totally think they count as pigs in blankets.
These look incredible!!!! I love pretzels!
You could call these pigs in a quilt. The pretzle part being as thick as a quilt and all. π
These look fantastic, but on their own I would probably eat like 2 or 3 for dinner, haha.
These look awesome. I can’t wait to try them.
I don’t usually go out of my way for a hot dog, but these sound really fun as well as tasty!
wow, only you could make these look perfect. they seriously look way too good to eat — although, i’d definitely eat all 16, i LOVE pretzel dogs..best combination in one!!
I’m not normally a pig in a blanket kind of guy but I could put a serious dent in these!
Your pretzel recipe has been featured on the limefish studio guide for National Pretzel Day! http://limefishstudio.blogspot.com/2012/04/national-pretzel-day.html
I actually think that today is National Pretzel day, so you are getting 2 of this month’s food holidays in 1. Love the look of these!!
These look so yummy…an upgraded version of pigs in a blanket! π
I am going to have to make this with my son soon, he would LOVE them!
I love all the little food holidays that there are. The pretzel dough seems like the perfect compliment for the hot dogs. They look so perfect!
These look amazing, can’t wait to make these for dinner over the weekend. I adore pretzel dogs.
Caterers in Manchester
Very cute, they look absolutely delicious!
What was your other dipping sauce in the picture? I’m totally with you on the hot dog thing, think I’ll make them for the family and I’ll have the pretzel bites!!
@Anon – we just had two different kinds of mustard. I think it was just plain yellow mustard and a dijon. My husband thought a spicy brown would have been good too!
These so qualify as pigs in a blanket. I’m smitten! And I’m cracking up at your comment about thinking 8 hot dogs might be too many for one dinner. That’s hilarious! I’m sure pretzel bites were a hit too. I’ve been telling Hubs, who is on a bread baking kick, that he needs to make us some fresh baked pretzels. I think I might be able to persuade him to help me make these!
Just made this tonight for dinner and it was a huge hit!!!! Thank you for easy recipes!!!!!…. I am not one who works well with yeast but with this recipe I felt like a bread maker!!!!!
Thanks for sharing these. They were yummy. I blogged them with step by step photos.
http://whatthedogate.blogspot.com/2012/05/first-on-first-pretzel-dogs.html?m=0
Just made these today and they were amazing! Even better with cheese sauce…they will be a staple in my household
Oh the look beautiful, so perfect. Wanna try them next weekend!
I recently made these and while they don’t look nearly as pretty as yours, they were delicious! Thanks for sharing them!