Posted Jan 26, 2017, Updated Jul 12, 2024 If you’re looking for a great appetizer or hand-held meal to enjoy while watching your favorite sporting event, then these homemade pretzel dogs are for you! This pretzel dogs recipe is the best! A from-scratch pretzel dough is wrapped around high-quality hot dogs making these a much better choice than store bought varieties! Plus they’re delicious and freezer friendly! This Homemade Pretzel Dogs recipe combines two of my family’s favorite foods, my Homemade Pretzel Bread and hot dogs, so they’re always a winner in our house.
Pretzel Dogs: Ingredients & Substitutions
Whole Milk. 2% milk, half and half or cream are all possible substitutions that work well. All-purpose flour. Bread flour is the only other flour I have used to make this recipe and it produces an incredibly delicious final product! Hot Dogs: Choose a brand and variety with a short ingredient list and one that is made with all beef! We always use Nathan’s!
How to Make Pretzel Dogs
As always, we’ll walk through the process of making this recipe, and don’t forget to watch the video!
Make the Pretzel Dough
Begin by making the dough. Start by proofing the yeast, then adding the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and using a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, or by hand, knead the dough until it’s slightly tacky. Oil a large bowl, place the dough ball in the bowl, and cover with a damp towel in a warm place to let rise for one hour or until doubled in size.
Wrap the Hot Dogs
Once the dough has risen and been punched down, it’s time to wrap the hot dogs. Make 8 balls of dough the same size, which I always do using a food scale. The total weight of the dough comes out to be about 800 g, so each ball should weigh about 100 g. Take one dough ball and roll it into a thin rope, 8-10” long. Wrap it around one hot dog making sure the ends are secure. Repeat this with all 8 hot dogs.
Baking Soda Bath
To make the baking soda bath, bring the 4 quarts of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, slowly add the baking soda. Be careful or you will have a baking soda/water explosion.
Boil Wrapped Pretzel Dogs
Gently place two dough-wrapped hot dogs into the boiling baking soda water. Boil for 60-90 seconds on each side, turning it once to guarantee both sides covered. Drain the excess water and place them on an oiled baking sheet.
Sprinkle with Salt & Bake
As soon as the boiled pretzel dogs are placed on the baking sheet, sprinkle coarse sea salt over the dough to your specific tastes and bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet once halfway through baking. Note: These Homemade Pretzel Dogs have a tendency to stick to the pan. Greasing it thoroughly helps with this issue, or use a silicone baking mat.
Brush with butter
Once removed from the oven, immediately brush the melted butter over the Pretzel Dogs to guarantee a soft, buttery crust.
Serve
This pretzel dog recipe is delicious served as an appetizer with mustard, ketchup or cheese sauce (or all three)! Or, you can serve them as a main dish with a delicious salad or roasted broccoli on the side. They also pair very well with our famous homemade mac and cheese!
Store
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Freeze
Let the pretzel dogs cool to room temperature. Freeze in an airtight container or plastic bag for up to 2 months. If you make and love our recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along with us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so we can see your creations!
