Homemade Whole Wheat Pretzel dogs make this fun meal very kid-friendly. Make them small bites for an appetizer or large for a meal-on-the-go!
People assume that because I cook and have a blog about family friendly recipes that I cook with my children all the time. Um, no, I don’t. During the school year they get home around 4pm and it’s homework time and scouts and other activities that keep the five of us busy. Dinner is usually already made or getting made while they work. They do help clear the table, set the table, and bring dirty dishes to the sink. But, when it comes to the weekend and holidays, I recruit their help with the baking and prepping, like they helped with these Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs.
This is a fun lunch/dinner-on-the-go for my family. Every summer, my boys have their Twilight Camp for scouts and a sack dinner is needed to be packed and ready to go. My kids have the envious meals, as you can imagine. I can’t justify a cold sandwich for dinner like I can for lunch!
The kids love working with dough, whether it’s for bread, pizza or pretzels. And since this week’s #SundaySupper theme is Kids in the Kitchen, I knew these Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs would be a perfect fit!
The dough is mixed in the stand mixer with the hook attachment. Why this is so much fun to watch for kids, like the washing machine, I just don’t know.
Then you place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and covered to double in size. This I totally understand the kids’ amazement. I am always fascinated (and frankly, relieved) that I didn’t kill the yeast and that the dough doubled in size!
Now comes the fun part, ESPECIALLY for the kids. I used those giant Hebrew National Quarter Pound Hot Dogs for these Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs, so the dough was divided into 8 equal parts.
Then you roll 8 24-inch dough ropes to wrap around your giant dogs.
Boil the dough-wrapped dogs in boiling water spiked with lots of baking soda to give it a nice crust in the oven. Drip dry the wet dogs, place on your baking sheet, brush on an egg wash, sprinkle with salt AND bake in a very hot 450ºF oven for about 15 minutes.
These Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs are a bit darker in color than their all white flour counterparts, but the kids even notice. I kept the flour mixture half whole wheat and half white, but I will keep pushing the whole wheat envelope to eventually develop one that is 100% whole wheat.
Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs
This fun meal is very kid-friendly. Make them small bites for an appetizer or whole for a meal-on-the-go! Recipe adapted from Alton Brown
Ingredients:
- 11 1/2 cup water, warm
- 1 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 TBS butter, unsalted, melted & cooled
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 8 1/4-lb hot dogs
- 1 egg, large
- 1 TBS water
- 1 TBS kosher salt
Directions:
- Combine in the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment:
- 1 1/2 cup water , warm
- 1 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- Sprinkle over the water and let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy:
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- Add in:
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 TBS butter, unsalted , melted & cooled
- Mix on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
- Coat a large bowl with non-stick spray or vegetable oil and place dough ball into the greased bowl.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for approximately 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450ºF.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Combine in a large pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil:
- 10 cup water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- In the meanwhile, place dough on a lightly greased work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, about 24-inches long.
- Wrap each rope piece around:
- 8 1/4-lb hot dogs
- Tuck the ends of each rope into the folds and place the dough wrapped dogs on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down.
- Boil the pretzel dogs in the hot baking soda water for 30 seconds each.
- Use a slotted spatula to remove from the pot and place on a cooling rack to allow excess water to drip off.
- Return boiled pretzel dogs to the prepared baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, whisk together:
- 1 egg, large
- 1 TBS water
- Brush each boiled pretzel dog with egg wash and sprinkle with:
- 1 TBS kosher salt
- Bake until browned, about 13-15 minutes.
- Allow pretzel dogs to cool on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes:
Serving Suggestions: Serve with a variety of mustards, ketchup, melted cheese or other favorite dipping sauces.
Cooking Tips: These make 16 using regular bun-length hot dogs, or 8 using the larger 1/4-lb hot dogs (pictured above). You can also cut them up to make smaller bite-size treats.
Source: Recipe adapted from Alton Brown
Prep Time:
Yield: 16 servings
Cook Time:
Total Time:
Check out the other fun treats the #SundaySupper team came up with their Kids in the Kitchen:
Start Your Day:
- Panko Encrusted French Toast Sticks ~Doggie At the Dinner Table
- Pineapple Not-Upside Down Muffins ~In the Kitchen with Audrey
- Bacon, Egg & Sausage Breakfast Cups ~Daily Dish Recipes
- Buttermilk French Toast with Homemade Cinnamon – Raisin Bread ~What Smells So Good
Healthy Snackers:
- Snack Attack: 3 Healthy Choices for Little Nibblers ~Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Fruit Salad in an Orange Cup ~Mama’s Blissful Bites
Main Squeeze:
- Whole-wheat Pretzel Dogs ~Family Spice
- Poblano Mac ‘N Cheese ~Juanita’s Cocina
- Coconut Chicken and Shrimp ~Super for a Steal
- Lunie and Mini-me’s Grilled Pizza ~Cravings of a Lunatic
- Hedgehog Meatballs and Chili Dog Pie ~Cooking by the Seat of our Pants
- Walking Tostada ~Shockingly Delicious
- Mini Sausage Rolls ~Small Wallet Big Appetite
- Mini Corn Dog Muffins ~In The Kitchen With KP
- Mexican Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers with Homemade Guacamole ~Cupcakes and Kale Chips
- Threaded Spaghetti Hot Dog Bites ~Damn Delicious
- Golden Potato Patties ~My Trials in the Kitchen
- Grilled Chicken Wings in Sesame Flavors ~The Queen’s Notebook
- Spaghetti Tacos ~Girlichef
- Parmesan Corn on the Cob ~Home Cooking Memories
- Yum Yum Salmon ~Family Foodie
- Pad Thai ~Meal Planning Magic
- Chicken Tortilla Bake ~Mrs. Mama Hen
Sweet Treats:
- Chocolate Slab ~Happy Baking Days
- Chocolate Chip Cut-Out Cookies ~Chocolate Moosey
- Self-Crust Coconut Pie ~Magnolia Days
- Fresh Cherry Clafoutis ~The Meltaways
- Wolf’s Wonderful Peanut Butter-Brownie Fudge Sundaes ~The Weekend Gourmet
- Cookies and Cream Ice Cream ~The Messy Baker Blog
- Healthy Creamy Caramel Apple Parfaits with Greek Yogurt ~Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
- Chocolate and Salted Caramel Pudding Pops ~Hezzi-D’s Cooks and Books
- Chocolate Cheese Turnover ~Basic and Delicious
- Chocotorta Vintage Kitchen Notes
- Oatmeal and M&M Cookies ~That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Purple Blueberry Cake ~Tora’s Real Food
- Tropical Popsicles ~Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again
- Carrot Cupcakes ~Diabetic Foodie
These look amazing and my favorite part is those cute little hands in that pick! Love your inspiration and I am so glad you are such a big part of #SundaySupper!
I would take these over a corn dog any day! I can imagine they would be incredible dipped in mustard. Yum.
What a cool idea!
These look so good! Love your “pretzel technique” of boiling then baking.
I ADORE these dogs. And I’m pinning because my kiddo will love these!
These are beautiful! I love that they’re healthier than their fried counterparts. Happy #SundaySupper!
These look tasty and fun to eat. I love the technique.
These are GORGEOUS…and much healthier than the pretzel dogs at the mall food court! I think I will have to face my trepidation about cooking with dough and make these!!
I’ve never made homemade pretzels before, so I really liked hearing your technique. Also love that you’re incorporating more and more whole wheat!
Fantastic recipe! I wonder what other filling can be used that wouldn´t disintegrate during boiling. Love your washing machine association!
These are awesome! I make the white flour counterpart here quite often – we can’t get enough. I’ll have to give it a go w/ whole wheat flour the next time. Yum!
Wow, this looks absolutely phenomenal! And I love that you have whole wheat in this too!
These whole wheat pretzel dogs look delish & amazing! Thanks for sharing your #SS recipe & thanks for the blog-visit!
I never thought I’d be drooling over a hot dog but you’ve done it! These are beautiful, too!!! Wow.
These look terrific! A nice update on the classic Pigs in a Blanket! And mustard goes so well with both hot dogs and pretzels, so obviously I’d be slathering it on. Brilliant recipe – thanks.
Neat !! Looks so professional and pretty.. the rolls and the step by step pics make it seem do-able 🙂 Thanks for sharing !
Laura these are absolutely amazing! What fun, creative idea. Bet my hubby would simply love these. Added them to my recipe box.
Have a great week my friend
yum these look so good!! Such a healthier alternative to the corn dogs my kids are always begging for!
They look so neat and perfect and what a special dish for the kids to help prepare. I saw on TV recently that another way to get a good crust on bread is to throw some ice cubes onto a second tray in the oven. The steam crisps up the bread apparently. I haven’t tried it yet though.
I haven’t had a pretzel dog in forever but now you’re reminding me what I’ve been missing – these look so good!
I think they need to start making these at wetzel pretzel! ha They look way better than anything they’ve got! 🙂 So glad I found your site–loving all your delicious recipes!
xoxo
Aarean
colorissue.blogspot.com (come on over and follow along…I think you’ll enjoy the colorful inspiration!)
This is wicked cool. I think I might be in love with you now. It looks like a deep fried hot dog. So cool.
These look wonderful. I absolutely love pretzels but my husband has never been a fan. I think I could win him over with this recipe.
These look awesome! We make “mummy dogs” at Halloween that look similar to these but use all the store-bought stuff. 🙂 I love that these are a bit healthier—we’ll be giving these a try soon!
These look incredible! And how much fun for kids to make!
These pretzel dogs look SPLENDID!
Strange, I’ve never had a pretzel dog! Your whole wheat variant sounds amazing though!
Oh my husband is going to love you for posting these! He loves pretzel dogs but I haven’t yet seen a recipe to make them. I better get it on the menu plan this week.
I love the way those look. The spirals are perfect. I bet my kids would like to make those, too.
Wow! I love the way you wrapped the hotdog, very unique.
These dogs look amazing! I guess the boiling with baking soda trick works really well. I never heard about it, but now I can’t wait to try. I also love watching the dough in the stand mixer, so I completely understand your kids :-). And seeing those little precious hands working with the dough is also very sweet!
Oh I love pretzel dogs! Glad to see you made the dough completely from scratch. Usually people cheat on that part.
Wow Laura, these Pretzel dogs are so good!!!! I am sure my kids would love making this. It’s great that you involve kids in cooking. 🙂
Oh you have no idea what a big hit this would be at my house! Its such a brilliant idea and has been so perfectly executed!
I LOVE pretzels. I go to auntie annes at the mall sometimes, but i know i’m killing myself slowly by eating the crap they put in there.
this looks soooo…advanced. haha. very intimidating. but since your kids were involved, i feel like i should take the challenge too. I can’t be out-cooked by your kids! 😛
I hope you are enjoying your summer!!!
Hi there,
LOVE the idea of the pretzel dog. When we first went to make them, the dough was almost soupy. After referring to the link to Alton Brown, I noticed that your listed flour amounts were 2 cups under what he used.
It did work the following time when we increased the flour. Is that a typo or did the limited flour really work for you? Ours was way too soupy to knead, let alone roll out. Figured I would mention it in case it was an error.
Hi Susan,
Thank you so much for catching this mistake. Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me when I proofread my notes! The mistake has been corrected!