These pretzel hot dogs are so delicious, with a tasty combination of a chewy pretzel wrapped around a juicy salty hot dog. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner, and everyone will love them!
These homemade pretzel hot dogs are better than you’d get from the mall, without too much effort. You’ll be enjoying warm chewy pretzel wrapped hot dogs in only about an hour – with only about 20 minutes of actual work.
They’re perfect served up with some ketchup and mustard for dipping them into, and everyone will love them.
I did a study abroad in Vienna, Austria when I was in college. I lived there for about 4 months in the fall into the winter, which meant we got to enjoy the warmth of the end of summer, the changing fall leaves and crispy air, and the spirit of Christmas.
Vienna might be my favorite place to spend the Christmas season, because it means Christmas markets! The Christkindlmarkt in Vienna are open for several weeks which meant I could enjoy many of them throughout the city, and a lot of them I went to multiple times. At these lovely markets you can buy anything from warm baked goods and hot cocoa or gluhwein, to hand crafted Christmas ornaments, jewelry, children’s toys, and much more. All of these things come together to create one of the most picturesque Christmas scenes. The sights and the smells are breath taking.
One of my favorite things to buy from a Christmas market were pretzel wrapped bratwurst. Now I love to make all the soft pretzels at home, including cinnamon sugar pretzel bites, and they all remind me a bit of those beloved Christmas markets in Vienna. These pretzel hot dogs are so insanely delicious, with the chewy pretzel bread on the outside, stuffed with a yummy hot dog. Dip them into your favorite ketchup or mustard for a delicious dinner that kids and adults will love!
It might seem hard to make these at home, but it’s really not hard. With a simple dough recipe that is ready in about 40 minutes, you’ll have these pretzel dogs ready in just over an hour!
You can make these pretzel dogs with any hot dogs or bratwurst that are precooked from the store. I haven’t tried them with the ones that are made with raw ground meat yet, so I’m not sure how those would cook up.
Can you save pretzel dogs for later?
The pretzel dough is best eaten warm and fresh, but you can save them in the fridge for 1 to 2 days and reheat them in the oven when you want to enjoy them again at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until hot throughout.
Or you can freeze them for another time. First you will need to let them cool completely to room temperature. Then wrap them up individually in plastic wrap, then put them all in a freezer safe bag. Store them in your freezer for about 1-2 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them again you can reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until they’re hot throughout.
Since this recipe makes about 14 pretzel dogs, you could instead make 6 or 8 pretzel wrapped hot dogs and use the rest of the pretzel dough to make your own pretzel bites, or soft pretzels. Or you can save some of pretzel hot dogs for later.
How to make pretzel hot dogs?
You’ll start be preparing the dough. You’ll mix your yeast and warm water together. Then add in brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add in the flour, one cup at a time, stirring after each, until you have a nice soft dough. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes and then form it into a ball. Stick the dough into a bowl sprayed with nonstick spray, cover with a towel, and place it in a warm area. Let it rest for 30 minutes while the dough rises.
Bring a large pot of water to boil, with 1/2 cup baking soda.
Cut the dough into 14 sections and roll them each out into long ropes about 18 inches long. Wrap the dough rope around your hot dogs starting with one end and working to the other. Pinch the dough onto itself to hold it in place. Add each of the pretzel dogs to the boiling water and boil for 30 seconds. Then with a slotted spoon, or spatula remove the pretzel dogs and place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Make an egg wash with water and an egg whisked together, and using a rubber basting brush, brush the tops of the pretzels with the egg wash. Then sprinkle the tops with coarse salt.
Bake in the preheated oven until the pretzels are a nice dark golden color. Let them cool for a couple minutes so they’re not too hot to handle and then gobble those pretzels up quickly because they’re so good!
These pretzel wrapped hot dogs are a great solution for lunch, dinner, or even for a football game watching party. They’re better than you’d get from the mall, so no more worrying about grabbing these from Auntie Anne’s – now you can enjoy them at home! They’re so delicious, and everyone will gobble them up in no time!
Looking for more soft pretzel recipes?
- soft pretzels
- soft pretzel bites
- cinnamon sugar soft pretzel bites
- soft pretzel rolls on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Connect with Like Mother, Like Daughter
Be sure to follow us on social media, so you never miss a single post!
Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Email
Pretzel Hot Dogs
Ingredients
For the Pretzel Dough:
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (1 packet)
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 TBS brown sugar
- 2 TBS melted butter
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 8 cups water
For the Egg Wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 TBS water
For Pretzel Hot Dogs:
- 14 hot dogs
- 1 TBS coarse sea salt
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
Instructions
For the Pretzel Dough:
- In a large bowl, combine your yeast and warm water. Stir together and let sit for 1 minute.
- Add in the salt, brown sugar and melted butter, and stir together.
- Add in the flour, 1 cup a time, until the dough is thick and no longer sticky. (Add in more flour 1 TBS at a time as needed if the dough is still sticky)
- Lightly flour a flat surface.
- Knead your dough for 3-4 minutes and form it into a ball.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel, and place in a warm area.
- Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Bring water to boil in a large pot over medium high heat and add in baking soda.
- Cut dough into 14 pieces.
- Roll each section into long ropes about 18-20inches long.
- Wrap each hotdog starting at one end working to the other. Pinch the dough onto itself at the ends to hold it in place.
- Place 2 to 3 wrapped hot dogs at a time into the boiling water. Boil for 20-30 seconds each.
- Remove pretzel dogs with a slotted spoon or spatula to let the water drip off.
- Place on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the egg and water.
- Brush the tops of the pretzels with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle the tops with coarse salt.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-18 minutes, until the pretzel dough is a dark golden brown color.
- Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Enjoy warm served with ketchup and mustard.
Nutrition
Pretzel wrapped hot dogs first posted on October 12, 2012. Photos and recipe updated on April 24, 2020.
Dianna Christensen says
Love to share this recipe but in the Print version the instructions don’t include the 30 sec. boiling time . So they have to go back to website.
matt potter says
Tried it 7 cups flour requires much more liquid than 1 1/2 cups liquid.
Aimee Berrett says
So sorry it didnt work for you!! I have made this recipe a few times now without any troubles and the dough was never too dry. However most recently I have just used the dough for my soft pretzel bites recipe which is quicker to make, http://lmld.org/2015/01/26/soft-pretzel-bites/
Ingrid says
I will be making these for sure. I just pinned it to my Bread board.
Sarah says
Mmmm…I’m thinking of some fresh chicken bratwurst they make at a store near me and how I can work them into this. It sounds so good! I’m already hungery for it and I just ate lunch! 🙂
aimeeberrett says
Mmm chicken bratwurst wrapped in this pretzel sounds delicious! I would recommend cooking the bratwurst a little first because although its boiled for a bit and baked, I usually start with precooked stuff, and I wouldn’t want to risk it. Let me know if you try it!
Shannon says
Made a 1/2 recipe in my bread maker on the dough setting and they are great! We also used smoked sausages bc that’s what I had… Love it and wanted to pin it but, and maybe I’m just being outsmarted – doesn’t necessarily take much, I don’t see a pin option on the page and did a search in Pinterest with no results. Help? Thank you, and thanks for a great recipe.
aimeeberrett says
I should work on putting a ”pin it” button but I haven’t yet. You can add pinterests button to your tool bar and then you can pin any image from any website without then including a pin option. and thank you! Im glad it turned out for you! Sounds delicious with smoked sausage
aimeeberrett says
Here is my pin of the recipe, so you can repin it. I have a board on pinterest of all our recipes, you should also check that out. http://pinterest.com/pin/132293307775407469/
haniphotonicibrahim says
i love pretzel dogs!
i have tried a few recipes before, which make me feel odd when i read your recipe. most of other recipe calls for around 4 to 4 1/2 cups of flour to 1 1/2 water or milk and 3 to 4 tablespoon of melted butter. but your recipe needs 7 cups of flour? wow. is it hard to knead? do you think its tougher than usual? what about the final product? how is the texture? i am excited to try your recipe but i am so curious as to why your flour to liquid ratio is so different. thanks!
aimeeberrett says
Hey,
This is the only recipe I have every tried for pretzels, so I’m not sure if my dough is tougher than other pretzel dough, but fortunately I use my kitchen aid mixer for most of my kneading. I do roll the dough out by hand to form the pretzels and wrap them around the hot dogs and it sometimes does get a little tough for the last few as it dries out, but putting a damp paper towel over the dough usually fixes that. I think it might be a little tougher to knead the whole thing by hand, but I don’t think it is too difficult.
The recipe does make a lot of dough, since it does use 7 cups of flour, but I bet you could cut it in half with good results.
Let me know if you try it out!
Heather says
this has been on my to-make list for weeks! looks amazing
The Apron Gal says
Yum!
Erika says
Oh my gosh. These look so amazing! Combining two of my favorite foods! Ugh..I could totally eat that right now!
aimeeberrett says
These are one of my favorite things I’ve ever made and I think it will continue to be a family favorite. Maybe you can make a gf pretzel?
Claire Ford says
You are making me ache for travel, particularly to Austria. As I was reading your memories, I had multiple flashbacks to our hotel in Dorfgastein, the McDonalds (ha!) in Budapest, the Austro-American Institute…I remember how diligently you wrote in your journal about our experiences. Oh, how I wish I had done that! I really need to collect all the things I wrote and pictures I took into one central place. Gosh. Such fabulous, life-changing memories!
Katie {Epicurean Mom Blog} says
Mmmmmmm!! These look yummy!! I agree, pinterest is much more to me! I adore that site! I’ve found food, house decorating, party ideas, etc…!
Aimee Berrett says
Exactly. Though, the amount of time I spend on pinterest compared to the amount of time I’ve spent making projects from pinterest doesn’t exactly equal up. I could spend hours just looking through all the ideas!
Deborah says
I’m the same as you – I’ve made quite a few things that I’ve pinned!
I’ve been itching to travel lately, but haven’t been able to. But I can travel through food, right? I think this sounds delicious!!
aimeeberrett says
Deborah, I have been dying to travel as well. I have been lucky enough to go to Europe 3 times already, but now its been almost 3 1/2 years since I’ve gone and I’m really craving to go back. I just need to save up more money! If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go to?
Erin @ A Crafty Cook says
You just made me homesick for Prague. That’s where I served my LDS mission. At least now I can make these and feel a little less homesick.
aimeeberrett says
Wow, I can imagine serving in Prague was amazing. I only visted the city for a few days, but I absolutely loved it. You’ll have to make these and let me know if they’re similar to what you might have eaten. 🙂