Homemade Whole Wheat Pretzel dogs make this fun meal whether your watching the big game or a family movie with the kiddos. 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.
And when school isn’t in session? I enjoy cooking and trying new things, but doing it everyday certainly takes its toll on me. And with the kids home, I recruit their help with the baking and cooking. The kids have been helping me bake and cook since they were little, but they still ask me for help when they stumble into the kitchen!
We were all desperate for something fun to make and eat, so I found this recipe for my whole wheat pretzel dogs. They were a big hit with the kids when they were little. What’s not to love? Soft home baked pretzels with a delicious hot dog inside. Think of it as a cross between a corn dog and soft pretzel!
Why this recipe is so awesome
Whenever I bake for my kids and family, I am always trying to make it a little bit healthier – even when it isn’t consider health food. Soft pretzels are loved by all of us, but I know we shouldn’t eat too much of a good thing!
So for these pretzel dogs, I wanted to make them a little bit more healthy by adding whole wheat flour. I didn’t want them super heavy and made with just whole wheat flour. So I split the flour 50/50, 50% all purpose flour and 50% whole wheat flour.
And the result?
These whole wheat pretzel dogs are a bit darker in color than their all white flour counterparts, but the kids didn’t even notice the difference. They loved them now as big teenagers just as much as they did when they were little kids. My kids like to eat pretzel dogs alone or with ketchup. I prefer them with regular yellow mustard.
You can serve them with dijon mustard or any stone ground mustard, too. You can also use sausages instead of hot dogs, for a more gourmet touch. I love spicy sausages and they pair beautifully with this pretzel dough.
These pretzel dogs are great the next day or the day after that. You can also keep them in the refrigerator so they just need a reheat when you need to grab and go and eat on the run or.
Wrap them in foil and send them in your kids’ lunch boxesThey should last 5 days in the refrigerator if stored in an airtight container.
Ingredients you need
- Granulated sugar: Sugar is used to feed the yeast.
- Active dry yeast: You can also use instant yeast.
- Hot dogs: You can use any type of hot dogs. I like using all beef hebrew national hot dogs.
- Pantry staples: All purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, kosher salt
- Refrigerator staples: Egg and butter
Step-by-step directions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment, combine warm water, sugar and kosher salt. Sprinkle yeast over the water and let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.
2. Add in flour, whole wheat flour and cooled, melted butter. 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.
3. If dough is crumbly and not holding shape, add water 1-tablespoon at a time until it is smooth and soft. Work dough into a ball.
4. Coat a large bowl with non-stick spray or vegetable oil and place dough ball into the greased bowl. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place for approximately 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Place dough on a lightly greased work surface or silicone pastry mat and divide into 8 equal pieces if you are using ¼-pound hot dogs or sausages. Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, about 24-inches long. Wrap each rope piece around one ¼ pound hot dog. Divide the dough into eight pieces if. You can also cut the dough into smaller sizes if you want to make smaller hot dog bites.
Don’t worry if your rope tears. It is very forgiving. Just pinch the ends together, smooth it out and continue rolling.
6. Tuck the ends of each rope into the folds and place the dough wrapped dogs on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down. This keeps it from unwrapping when it cooks. Cover with a damp paper towel while you work.
7. Combine remaining 10 cups water, baking and baking soda in a large pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Boil the pretzel dogs one at a time in the hot baking soda water for 30 seconds each. Use a slotted spatula to remove from the pot and place back onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
8. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 TBS water. Brush each boiled pretzel dog with egg wash and sprinkle with kosher salt.
9. Bake in a 450ºF oven until browned, about 13-15 minutes. Allow pretzel dogs to cool on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Recipe tips and FAQs
As you can see in the picture below and in the video, I did not form a smooth ball before placing it in a bowl to let it rise. I probably should have, but honestly, the pretzel dough didn’t need it. This dough is very, very forgiving. And the final shots show you, the pretzel dough magically poofs up when finished.
If you have a newer style oven, check to see if it has the ‘proof’ button on it. This was a life changer for me and my bread making skills. Place your pretzel dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel and stick in the oven with the proof setting for one hour.
This is the perfect temperature for your dough to rise. No more running around the house looking for warm spots! What, am I the only one who did that?
You should not replace all of a recipe’s all purpose flour with whole wheat flour without making any modifications. Whole wheat flour is a bit more dry and needs more liquid than regular white flour. You can substitute half of the regular flour with whole flour in almost any baking recipe and for the most part, the recipe will turn out just fine. But if you want to completely use whole wheat flour, you will have to increase the water and fat in the recipe to keep the dough from turning into a lead weight once baked.
yeast needs warm water to bloom and will die if the water is too hot. Stick your finger in it. Does it feel warm? If you pull your finger out because you can’t keep it in the water, it’s too hot. You want the water to be warm to touch.
This is achieved by boiling the pretzel dogs first in a water bath containing baking soda. Baking soda is an alkaline ingredient. By boiling your pretzel dogs in water with baking soda, you are increasing the alkalinity on the outside of the pretzel. And by doing this, you can bake your pretzels for less time so it can brown more quickly. So wrap your dogs, tuck the ends, and boil them one by one for 30 seconds. Once boiled, they get baked in a hot 450ºF oven and turn dark without burning.
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Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs
Homemade Whole Wheat Pretzel dogs make this fun meal whether you're watching the big game or a family movie with the kiddos. Make them small bites for an appetizer or large for a meal-on-the-go! Recipe adapted from Alton Brown.
Ingredients
- 11 ½ cups warm water
- 1 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ⅔ cup baking soda
- 8 ¼-lb hot dogs
- 1 large egg
- 1 TBS water
- 1 TBS kosher salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment, combine 1 ½ cups warm water, sugar and kosher salt. Sprinkle yeast over the water and let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.
- Add in flour, whole wheat flour and cooled, melted butter. 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.
- If dough is crumbly and not holding shape, add water 1-tablespoon at a time until it is smooth and soft.
- Work dough into a ball.
- Coat a large bowl with non-stick spray or vegetable oil and place dough ball into the greased bowl.
- Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel 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 remaining 10 cups water, baking and baking soda in a large pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil.
- In the meanwhile, place dough on a lightly greased work surface or silicone pastry mat and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, about 24-inches long.
- Wrap each rope piece around one ¼ pound hot dog.
- Tuck the ends of each rope into the folds and place the dough wrapped dogs on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Cover with a damp paper towel while you work.
- Boil the pretzel dogs one at a time in the hot baking soda water for 30 seconds each. Use a slotted spatula to remove from the pot and place back onto baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 TBS water.
- Brush each boiled pretzel dog with egg wash and sprinkle with 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 ¼-lb hot dogs (pictured above). You can also cut them up to make smaller bite-size treats. You can also use sausages of any variety.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1793Total Fat: 142gSaturated Fat: 56gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 65gCholesterol: 302mgSodium: 10444mgCarbohydrates: 66gFiber: 5gSugar: 8gProtein: 64g
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
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Have you tired freezing and/or reheating?
I have not, but you should be fine freezing them. Just let them cool completely, wrap tightly in foil and freeze. Should keep for a couple of months. Try reheating them in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes, or for 10-12 minutes if frozen.
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!