These 1-hour pretzel hot dogs are an easy, kid-friendly recipe with juicy hot dogs wrapped in buttery pretzel dough and melty cheddar cheese. Perfect for game day or a quick snack when you’ve got hot dogs and cheese on hand.
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Why I Love These Homemade Pretzel Dogs
- Minimal ingredients: There's probably a very good chance you already have all the ingredients you need to make these pretzel dogs in your kitchen! All you need are some hot dogs, cheese slices and a few staple baking ingredients to whip up these pretzel dogs right up!
- Make your own pretzel dough: If you’re scared of yeast, don’t be!! This pretzel dough recipe is so easy to make and I'll walk you through the entire process. In fact, yeast will be scared of YOU after you discover how easy these are to whip up. 😉
- Versatile: These pretzel hot dogs are great for just about any occasion! Make them for a super bowl party, birthday party, fun snack or just a quick dinner that you know will be a hit with the whole family!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Pretzel dough: This recipe uses my soft pretzel bite dough which can be made from start to finish in just 1 hour and doesn't require a mixer! All you need is active dry yeast, water, brown sugar, salted butter, flour and baking soda. You can also use instant yeast if that's what you have on hand.
- Hot dogs: Use whatever kind of hot dogs you like here! Beef dogs, turkey dogs, veggie dogs, etc. You can even make mini pretzel dogs using lil' smokies if you want a fun appetizer!
- Cheese slices: I've found that Kraft slices wrap the best but I've also used Boars Head before (it was extra delish) it just broke more upon wrapping.
- Salted butter: While I typically use unsalted butter for baking, it just doesn't taste as good here. Using salted butter will make these taste like mall pretzels.
- Coarse salt or pretzel salt: To get that classic mall pretzel flavor and texture, I like to sprinkle course salt on top of the pretzels before baking. Use any type of coarse kosher salt, coarse sea salt, or pretzel salt. I just don't recommend using the super coarse salt, or it will be too crunchy.
How to Make Pretzel Hot Dogs
Step 1: Activate Yeast
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 cup), active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (2 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet – no need to heat it up more.
- Let sit for 10 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.
Tip: If your mixture doesn’t foam or bubble after 10-20 minutes, your yeast is likely dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast. Using expired yeast will result in a dense texture rather than soft and tender bread.
Step 2: Make Dough
- While the yeast is proofing, mix together all-purpose flour (3 cups) and salt (1 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture. After the 10 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture.
- Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
- Grease the sides of the bowl with oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl, coating the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean kitchen towel) and let dough sit for 30 minutes in a warm place. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
Step 3: Assemble
Preheat the oven to 375℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Step 1: Divide dough in 8-10 pieces (depending on how many hot dogs you have).
- Step 2: Pat hot dogs dry and wrap a slice of cheese around the hot dog.
- Step 3: Roll dough ropes about 12-14” long. Wrap each hotdog with a pretzel dough rope.
- Step 4: In a medium bowl, mix together warm water (1 cup) and baking soda (1 tablespoon). Be sure to use a tablespoon and not a teaspoon! Dip each wrapped hot dog in the baking soda bath, place on a prepared baking sheet.
- Step 5: Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Step 6: Now they're ready to bake!
Step 4: Bake and Enjoy!
Bake at 375℉ for 12-16 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush hot pretzels with melted butter for extra shine and flavor, then serve warm.
Tips & Variations
- Don't add too much flour: You only want to add flour to your pretzel dough until it's no longer sticky to the touch. If your dough is no longer sticky but there's still flour in the bowl, don't force it into the dough. Adding too much flour will result in drier and less tender pretzels.
- Pretzel bites: If you don't feel like making all 10 hot dogs, you can make pretzel bites with the extra dough.
- Use salted butter: Where I normally use unsalted butter in baking, these need salted butter for dipping. Unsalted just doesn’t taste good here!
- Dipping sauce: Dip these pretzel dogs in your favorite dip like ketchup, mustard, honey mustard or cheese dip! I usually just use jarred cheese sauce like Tostitos Medium queso. My family also likes the Nacho cheese from Sam's Club (that comes in a tub).
- Toppings: If you want to switch up these pretzel dogs you can also sprinkle with bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, a little garlic powder or any other savory seasoning you like!
Storage & Freezing
- Storage: Store leftover pretzel hot dogs in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the oven, microwave or air fryer until warmed through.
- Freezing: Let pretzel dogs cool completely. Then wrap tightly and store in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When reheating in the air frying or oven, I like to quickly run the pretzel under water before baking as it helps get the original texture back!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I use instant yeast?
Yes, these will work with instant yeast. While instant yeast doesn’t require it to be bloomed, I still recommend following the instructions as written.
Do I have to cook my hot dogs before rolling with pretzel dough?
As long as your hot dogs aren't frozen, you can skip the boiling step if you're short on time since most hot dogs are already fully cooked. Just be sure to check that your hot dogs are fully cooked, otherwise you will want to boil them beforehand since they won't have a lot of time in the oven.
Can I use bread flour for this pretzel dog recipe?
Yes, you can use either all-purpose or bread flour in these. Bread flour will result in a slightly chewier pretzel which is never a bad thing!
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1-Hour Pretzel Hot Dogs
These 1-hour pretzel hot dogs are an easy, kid-friendly recipe with juicy hot dogs wrapped in buttery pretzel dough and melty cheddar cheese. Perfect for game day or a quick snack when you’ve got hot dogs and cheese on hand.
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Servings: pretzel dogs
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough
- 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast one (0.25 oz.) Packet
- 2 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- coarse pretzel salt or sea salt for topping
- salted butter for brushing on top
Water Bath
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda (not teaspoons!)
For Assembling
- 8-10 hot dogs thawed (not frozen)
- 4-5 cheese slices
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 cup), active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (2 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet - no need to heat it up more. Let sit for 10 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.*See notes below if your mixture doesn't foam or bubble.
- While the yeast is proofing, mix together all-purpose flour (3 cups) and salt (1 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture.After the 10 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture and pour into the crater you created in the flour bowl.
- Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
- Grease the bowl with oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl, coating the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean dish towel) and let sit for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
- Preheat oven to 375℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pat hot dogs dry.
- Divide pretzel dough in 8-10 pieces (based on how many hot dogs you have in the pack) and roll into a long rope, about 12-14" long.
- Wrap half a slice of cheese around the hot dog then wrap each with a pretzel dough rope.
- In a medium bowl, mix together warm water (1 cup) and baking soda (1 tablespoon). Be sure to use a tablespoon and not a teaspoon!
- Dip each wrapped hot dog in the baking soda bath, place on a prepared baking sheet, then sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake for 12-16 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Use a pastry brush or spoon to brush warm pretzel dogs with melted salted butter. This is what truly gives it that mall pretzel taste - don't skip the salted butter!
- Enjoy warm with cheese sauce or your favorite dipping sauce!
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Notes
Yeast isn't foaming or bubbling? If your mixture doesn't foam or bubble after 10-20 minutes, your yeast is likely dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast.
Nutrition is just an estimate and auto-calculated from a directory. Based on 2 dozen pretzel bites and does not include dipping sauces.
Nutrition
Serving: 1pretzel dog | Calories: 422kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 760mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 229IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 164mg | Iron: 2mg
Geraldine says
Love them made with jalapeño cheese, bratz they came out absolutely delicious
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Geraldine!
Tomma Marcincuk says
You will never go back to hotdog buns once you’ve made this pretzel dough !
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review on this recipe, Tomma!