Pretzel Dogs

The Herrys went to St. Louis for a little baseball trip.  We had pretzel dogs at a place called Gus' Pretzels.  I was on a mission to make my own, so when I got a Kitchenaid mixer for Mother's Day, that's what I did.  The recipe is a from Tracey's Culinary Adventures, but she started with a pretzel recipe from Alton Brown.  These are SO good.

Ingredients:

• 4 ½ C. all-purpose flour
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 t. kosher salt
• 1 ¾ t. instant yeast
• 1 ½ C. warm water (110 degrees F)
• 4 T. butter, melted
• 10 C. water
• 2/3 C. baking soda
• 8 hot dogs, cut in half (to reduce the diameter, not the length)
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 T. of water (egg wash)
• Sea salt

Directions:

1. Add flour, sugar, salt, yeast, water, and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook
2. Mix on low speed until the dough comes into a rough ball
3. Knead on low speed for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic (it should pull away from the sides of the bowl)
4. Transfer the dough to a large bowl that’s been sprayed with cooking spray
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 50 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size
6. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
7. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
8. Combine the water and baking soda in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil
9. Turn the dough out onto a work surface that has been dusted with flour
10. Flour your hands and flatten the dough to divide into 16 equal pieces
11. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough in your hands into a 12 inch rope
12. Wrap the rope around each piece of hot dog, being sure to seal the ends well, so they don’t unravel when you boil them
13. One at a time boil the pretzel dogs in the water mixture for 30 seconds, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to drain
14. Transfer the dogs to the parchment paper-lined cookie sheets, brush with the egg wash, and sprinkle with the sea salt
15. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until golden brown
16. Serve with Honey Mustard

Tips and Tricks:

• These are great with Honey Mustard.  I make my own.  It’s easy, follow my link.
• The dough is very tacky when you remove it from the bowl after it rises.  You need to work with it a bit with floured hands to get it to come together.