Pretzel Dogs

Have you noticed pretzel everything these days?  Pretzel bagels, pretzel hamburger buns...pretzel dogs?  I reworked a pretzel recipe I had to make these pretzel-wrapped hot dogs.  Everybody loved them here, so I thought I'd share the recipe. 

Pretzel Dogs
The original recipe is for "Soft-Ball Pretzels" from Paula Deen.

Ingredients


1 cup warm water (about 98 degrees F)

1 package active dry yeast

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 tablespoons margarine, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

4 cups water

2 Tbs. baking soda

Kosher salt  or pretzel salt

One package Hot Dogs ( I used Hebrew National, which only has 7 per package)

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water and yeast. When the yeast dissolves, add half of the flour, the margarine, salt, and sugar and mix  with dough hook for about 3 minutes. Add in the remaining flour. Continue kneading dough in mixer or turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is no longer sticky. Let the dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until it doubles in size, about 45 to 50 minutes. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into 18-inch long ropes. Wrap the rope around the hot dog, making sure that the ends are secured.  Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Any remaining ropes of dough can be shaped into pretzels. Let rise again until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
In a large non-aluminum Dutch oven over high heat, bring 4 cups of water and baking soda to a boil. Using a large spoon, gently lower pretzels into water a few at a time and boil for about 1 minute, or until they float. Return the pretzels to the cookie sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt or pretzel salt.   Bake until browned, about 12 minutes.