Pretzel Dogs are made of the most irresistible, chewy, soft pretzels wrapped around juicy hot dogs or sausages. They’re surprisingly easy to make and a guaranteed hit tailgating, at parties, game night, or when you just need to treat yourself!
Pretzel Dog
I am a self-confessed soft pretzel addict. From Pretzel bites to pretzel buns, pretzel bread, and Pretzel Bagels, I just can’t get enough of these chewy, salted, mahogany brown pieces of bready heaven on Earth.
But when you take soft pretzel dough and wrap it around a juicy hot dog? Dang. All bets are off. Just do not stand between me and the table they’re sitting on.
It’s the most perfect party food imaginable. We’re talking about the perfect handheld food. The pretzel itself is the vehicle for the sausage.
Is it a glorified pig in a blanket? Absolutely. In fact, if you don’t want to boil these pretzel dogs or lye dip ’em, they’ll be pigs in blanket.
It’s the pretzel treatment that makes these bad boys pretzel dogs vs. regular old pigs in blankets. Are they worth the extra work? Oh, yes. Yes, they are.
And you might think I’m nuts, but I love leftovers of this recipe for breakfast. It’s a little like an upgraded Texas style kolache.
Pretzel Dogs
You could argue that plates become optional when you wrap a sausage in pretzel dough! Of course a plate makes it easier to carry a variety of dips for your pretzel dog; mustard, barbecue sauce, Garlic Buffalo Sauce, and more are all great options.
I could even be convinced to try slathering Dill Pickle Dip or Hot Corn Dip all over my pretzel dogs. Why not, I ask you?
The key here is picking a sausage or hot dog you love. I love these made with high quality all-beef franks, but my husband has a life-long loyalty to regular old classic Oscar Meyer Wieners.
When I make pretzel wrapped wieners, I usually do a couple with my preferred style of franks and a couple with my husband’s preference. You do you, though!
You can top these pretzel dogs with about anything. I chose to use traditional pretzel salt for half of them and a combination of Cajun seasoning and everything bagel seasoning for the other half.
I also think sesame seeds would be wonderful! Honestly, unlike our Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites recipe, I think these would even be good with no seasoning on top at all!
And what goes better with hot dogs of any kind than potato salad? Loaded Baked Potato Salad is tender cubes of potato tossed with a simple sour cream dressing, shredded Cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, and a generous amount of crispy bacon.
Cap off your meal with a batch of indulgent Greek Yogurt Brownies. Deeply chocolatey, fudgy, and decadent, these brownies come together in a flash and only dirty one bowl. And it’s not a typo; these one bowl brownies are also eggless brownies!
Pretzel Dog Recipe
Alright. Let’s address the elephant in the room. You’re going to have to either simmer these dough wrapped dogs in a baking soda bath OR dip them in a lye dip to get the optimally shiny, chewy results that make a great soft pretzel.
To get that chewy outer crust on your sourdough discard pretzel bites recipe, you need to raise the ph of the water you’re going to use for the boil. You can most certainly plump for a baking soda bath. That’s by far the easiest one to source and is probably the least intimidating of the options and will yield a pretty golden brown exterior.
To get it to a deeper brown, you need a little help; try baking your baking soda! That’s right!
Spread 1 cup of baking soda evenly over a foil lined sheet pan. Bake in a preheated 250ºF oven for one hour then cool completely. Then use the foil to lift and funnel it into an airtight jar.
Cover and store at room temperature until you need to make pretzels. This method will make enough for two batches of pretzels or pretzel bites.
This is sort of the happy medium method. It makes darker pretzels than a simple baking soda boil, but doesn’t require all the caution needed in lye pretzels.
But for the real deal, traditional Bavarian deep brown pretzels with the signature chew and blistered exterior, you’re going to need to play the mad scientist a bit. Reach for food grade lye to achieve this!
In this case, you’ll need a kitchen scale that can measure in grams. Put on rubber gloves that are hole free, wear safety glasses, and measure 40 grams of food grade lye into a small bowl and set it aside.
Put a big bowl on the scale and add 1000 grams of cold water to it. Carefully stir the 40 grams of lye into the water (never pour the water into the lye!) and proceed as directed.
Read more about the method and safety precautions needed for a lye bath here. An extensive look into working safely with food grade lye can be found here.
Pretzel Dogs
Rate RecipeEquipment
- silpat or premium parchment paper
- slotted spoon
Ingredients
Ingredients for Pretzel Dogs:
- 4 cups bread flour 1 pound 1 ounce by weight
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 ounce or 14 grams by weight
- 2 teaspoons SAF or instant yeast
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup unfed sourdough starter 4 ounces or 113 grams by weight
- 8 hot dogs
Ingredients for Pretzel Boil:
- 2 quarts water
- 1/2 cup baking soda See notes! (or 40 grams of food grade lye)
Optional Ingredients for Toppings:
- 2 tablespoons pretzel salt
- 2 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- In the work-bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or in a mixing bowl using your hands), combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix on low about 30 seconds, or just to combine dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, carefully pour in the milk and sourdough starter. Continue mixing on low or by hand until you have a smooth, slightly tacky dough. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk and puffy, about an hour or so.
To Form the Pretzel Dogs:
- Line two half sheet pans with silpats or premium parchment. If using parchment, spray generously with non-stick cooking spray. Set next to your work area.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean surface.
- Use a bench knife to cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece like play-dough until you have a snake of dough about 24-inches long.
- Working with one hot dog or sausage at a time, spiral wrap the rope of pretzel dough from one end of the sausage to the other. Pinch the ends of dough to the dough next to it to "fix" it into place. When you have dealt with all the dough and hot dogs, cover the pans with tea towels and let them rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy looking, about 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
Option One: Boil the Pretzel Dogs:
- 2 quarts of water to a boil in a stainless steel or other non-reactive pan (enameled cast-iron, tempered glass, etc…) When water simmers, add the baking soda. Gently lift the pretzels dogs one at a time into the boiling water. (You can boil more than one at a time, but be sure not to crowd the the pan as they will expand as they boil. Let simmer for about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spatula or spoon to drain and return each piece to its place on the pan. Continue until all pieces have been boiled and returned to the pan.
Option Two: Lye Dip the Pretzel Dogs
- Add 2 quarts of very cold water to a glass or plastic mixing bowl. Carefully stir in 40 grams of food grade lye with a stainless steel slotted spoon or plastic/silicone spatula.
- Using gloves, lower one pretzel dog at a time into the water, top side down. After 15 seconds gently flip them over and let them stay in the water another 5 seconds. Lift the pretzel bites, allowing excess water to drain away before replacing them on the lined sheet pans. Be sure to allow space between them for them to expand while baking.
To Bake the Pretzel Dogs
- Sprinkle each pretzel dog with a sprinkle of pretzel salt or other seasoning to taste. Place pans in oven and bake the pretzels at least until golden brown (at least 18 to 22 minutes), but you can bake until they are deep brown which is my preference (closer to 22-24 minutes in my oven.)
- Let stand for at least 5 minutes before eating. These are best enjoyed warm, but can be stored in non-airtight container such as a bowl covered with a clean tea towel or a paper bag that is cinched or clipped shut at room temperature for a couple of days. They can be quickly reheated prior to serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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