Pretzel Dogs

Pretzel Dogs are nothing new, and they never go out of style. This is great to get the kids involved in making, or to serve as a movie night munchies for the family. Quick, simple and so yummy.

Now you can make these two different ways. The quick way, or the homemade way.

The quick way is to buy pizza dough already made, roll it out, cut into slivers and wrap your dogs in the dough, place on cookie sheet and cook at 425 for about 23 minutes. That's the quick fast way, but remember cooking is supposed to be fun and entertaining, so we're going to make them the hard way -- from scratch. Here we go.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees F) Use your yeast thermometer)
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup melted butter
Olive oil spray
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Kosher Salt to be sprinkled over top of dogs.
Hot Dogs (I prefer Nathan's Brand) 2 per person for adults, 1 per child

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, mix together the water, sugar, yeast and salt. Gently mix with a spoon and let sit for 5-7 minutes. Your mixture will begin to foam, that's what you want.

Once the mixture is really foamy, begin to add your flour and butter (room temperature) mixing completely. On a clean and floured surface, remove your dough from the mixing bowl and begin kneading your dough. Add remaining flour to the dough as you knead it. In a clean mixing bowl, drizzle your vegetable oil, coating the base, put your dough into the bowl and lightly coat your dough with a bit of the oil. Cover the bowl and place the bowl in a warm area of the kitchen, approximately 2 hours, or until your dough has doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Cover your cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Roll your dough out on a clean floured surface, and cut strips based on the number of hot dogs you plan to cook. Generally 8-10 dogs works best for this recipe.  Spray your cookie sheet with oil and place dogs on top. With the remaining butter, brush each dog lightly, then sprinkle top lightly with Kosher salt. Cook for 14-16 minutes, or until golden brown.  If hot dogs are frozen, you can precook them in boiling water and allow them to get to room temperature before handling them in this process.  Serve with horseradish mustard, or your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!