Parmesan Pretzel Dogs
Parmesan Pretzel Dogs are on the menu this weekend! Wrapping jumbo all-beef hot dogs in a Parmesan-infused, Italian-seasoned pretzel dough elevates the humble hot dog dinner. And while you may think that pretzels are tricky to make, just ask my friend Stephanie who just tried the Everything Pretzel Morsels and was pleasantly surprised by how easy they are!
Okay, you may have a more sophisticated palette than hot dogs, but I’m sure you secretly crave a good one every once in a while. When that urge gets a hold of you, give these a whirl. They are fun to make (maybe with the kiddos?) and are delicious! No joke!
Serve them for a weeknight dinner or cut them into small pieces and serve as an appetizer at a cookout. However you serve them, make sure you have ketchup, mustard, MustKetch, tomato sauce or salsa to dunk them in! It’s the finishing touch!
The dough is a yeast-dough but before you start hollering about not knowing how to knead dough, blah, blah, blah, all you really knead (haha) to know is that as long as you have a mixer with a dough hook and know how to warm your water, you are just fine.
Begin by combining water, sugar and a touch of salt to the bowl of your mixer. The water needs to be a little warmer than body temperature, about 110°F. If you don’t have an instant-read thermometer, just put your wrist under the faucet. If you can’t really feel it because it matches your body temp, then warm it up. If it feels too hot, then cool it off.
Then, add the yeast to the bowl. The warm water along with the sugar will activate it. Within 5 minutes, it should start to bubble (or bloom, to be exact). That’s when you want to add the flour, butter, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.
Now for the easy part, mix the dough ingredients together using the dough hook and let the machine do its magic for 4-5 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean and oil it and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour.
Bring water and baking soda to a boil. Don’t get worried about how much baking soda you are using…it is a correct measurement!
Meanwhile, divide the dough into ten equal pieces, roll each one into a rope and roll the rope about the hot dog. Make sure you tuck in the ends of the pretzel. You can spiral the dough around each dog or you can crisscross it…whatever makes you happy! Repeat for the remaining dogs.
Now, place each dog, one at a time, into the boiling water for 30 seconds, remove it and set it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dogs and then brush some egg yolk and water mixture onto each pretzel dog, sprinkle with pretzel salt and pop them into a hot oven.
Bake them until they are very brown and serve them with any condiment you like. I especially love them with MustKetch, the brilliant combination of mustard and ketchup in a jar!
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Parmesan Pretzel Dogs
Makes: 10 servings as main course or 30 appetizers
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes plus 1 hour rise time
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 cups warm water (110-115°F)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 4 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Vegetable oil for pan
- 10 cups water
- 10 hot dogs (I like Jumbo all-beef dogs)
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Pretzel salt
Instructions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher 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. Add the flour, butter, Italian seasoning and parmesan and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside. Meanwhile, bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll into ropes, and then roll the rope around an entire hot dog, making sure to secure the ends. Place onto 2 parchment-lined sheet pans.
Place the pretzel dogs into the boiling water, one by one, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes.
Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve these with ketchup and mustard!
Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
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