Pretzel dogs.

Buttery, chewy, pillowy... hot-dog-y rolls made in under 2 hours.

The dough here is a modified version of Alton Brown’s homemade soft pretzels. I will be using grams in this recipe because it’s more reliable, but refer to his if using cups and cut portions in half for a similar number of dogs.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 hot dogs or other precooked sausages, veggie dogs perfectly acceptable

• 330 grams all-purpose flour

• 5g brown sugar

• 1 dry yeast packet

• 85g baking soda

• 20g melted butter

• Kosher salt

• Toppings of your choice to decorate (e.g. poppy seed, sesame seed, flaky salt, etc.)

• Optional: Pre-sliced cheese (American melts best but most anything will work.)

STEPS

1. Add 5g brown sugar, 5g kosher salt, 1 dry yeast packet & 200 grams warm water (110 degrees) to bowl and let sit 5 minutes. This recipe is designed to make four very generous pretzel dogs. Excess dough can be used to make pretzel buns, pretzel bites, or plain old pretzels. Previously I have doubled this recipe, used most of the dough for buns, and made a lone pretzel dog as a chef’s treat.

2. Add 10 grams melted butter and 330 grams all purpose flour. Stir and knead until dough is formed. I don’t have a stand mixer, so in previous attempts I both kneaded by hand and kneaded in my food processor. The latter method has about a 50/50 success rate in my experience, with the dough coming together wonderfully once and getting under the blade and making a huge mess on one attempt with this recipe. Thankfully, kneading by hand is not particularly demanding with a dough this flexible.

3. Cover dough with a towel and let sit in a warm place, 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Many pretzel recipes I’ve come across suggest letting the dough rise overnight, and maybe that leads to a more airy, authentic German pretzel. I’m not trying for that, though, I’m looking to recreate American mall food.

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Yeah I’m back to American measurements now, I don’t have to be consistent, it’s my blog and I can do what I want.

5. Dissolve 85g baking soda into 2 liters water in a dutch oven or a large saute pan and keep heat at just below a simmer. (Fine, that’s 2/3 cups soda to 10 cups water.) The ratio of baking soda to water is fairly important for making a suitable alkaline solution. The science of all that goes over my head, and the authentic pretzel crowd will harp on the importance of using lye, but I’m not bringing that mess into my kitchen.

6. Turn out rested dough, divide into 4 (125-135g each), and roll out each piece into a long strand of about 18 inches. I find that rolling from the middle outward is the most reliable method of getting an even pretzel rope. I like an exceptionally puffy and airy pretzel dog, but if one wants something more compact, simply roll thinner/longer and get more pretzels for your buck.

7. Wrap dough around hot dog and lower into simmering alkaline solution for 25-30 seconds. Wrap sliced cheese around hot dogs first for an optional cheesy pretzel dog - wrap extra tight if opting for this. The pretzel dogs are pretty resilient and will hold together if simply dropped in, but I lower them in with a flat slotted spoon just in case. More than about 30 seconds and supposedly the pretzel can take on an unpleasant metallic taste- I didn’t experience it, but that’s what my research suggested.

8. Place on greased or buttered sheetpan, brush butter or egg wash onto tops (optional), sprinkle seasonings of your choice, and bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Left to right toppings on my pretzel dogs: red pepper flake and garlic powder, “everything but the bagel” seasoning, kosher salt, and poppy seeds.

9. Pull from oven, let rest 5 minutes (on a cooling rack if you have one), and serve while hot.

BONUS RECIPE: Pretzel Dog B.E.C.

A fun way to use up leftover pretzel dogs the next morning.

1. Split pretzel dog right down the middle with a sharp knife.

2. Cook bacon or preferred breakfast sandwich meat in medium-hot frying ban. Remove bacon and set aside. Remove bacon grease if you’re under the mistaken impression that this is supposed to be good for you.

3. Butter exposed edges of the pretzel and sear in pan until golden brown. Remove from pan once edges are browned.

4. Pour one well scrambled and salted egg into same pan, spreading as thinly as possible and folding into delicate layers.

5. Assemble into sandwich form with a slice of American cheese. The residual heat of the other components will warm the cheese to semi-soft without oozing out of the sandwich.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:

0. About two months ago I had a really intense craving for pretzels. I had not had one for quite some time, because I only ever eat them at movies, live sports, and malls- three activities I had not been able to do since before the pandemic. My first two tries relied on recipes pulled from blogs with portions that led to inconsistent results, but the third time nailed it- I think because I used grams and a measuring scale. Hence, the proportions used above.

1. I am most familiar with big, buttery American pretzels, so that’s what I have aimed for here. Here’s a very interesting video on YouTube that looks a little more like what one would find in Germany, with a bonus dipping sauce that looks like it blows cheese or mustard out of the water. Again, though, I’m not about to mess around with lye.