Friday, July 18, 2014

Baking Friday - Bread # 7

Pretzel dog anyone?

Cause July is National Hot Dog Month!  And that's a MAJOR reason to celebrate, right?!
I'm in a hurry today for a variety of reasons, so I'm going to let the pictures do the talking for me since there is no recipe to share.  I used this mix, given to me by a new friend through work...and it's a good mix!  I was able to put these pretzel dogs together, start to finish, in just under an hour and a half, and I could have done them quicker if I'd used the only 25 minute rest time directed on the package.  So these could easily be a weeknight supper!
And I used some higher quality hot dogs and cheddar brats, cause we're celebrating National Hot Dog Month!  (PS - I rarely buy hot dogs, so when I do get some, I try to get better than the "normal" hot dog, if you know what I mean.  One of my taste testers knows what I mean.  She said "I don't even like hot dogs, but I LOVED the pretzel dog!")

As for comments on the pretzel part only - one taste tester said they were ok, but he prefers a sour dough pretzel, and this dough is definitely not a sour dough flavor.  Another taste tester did a mini-throw down with a famous local pretzel provider, and she graciously gave the nod to these pretzel dogs, saying that they were the perfect texture and chewiness and flavorful  She was very surprised to find out it was a mix!

So I simply followed the instructions on the package...mixing together the dough package with the yeast and 3/4 of water and 1 T. of oil.  It came together so easy with my hands.
I covered with a towel and let the dough rest about 40 minutes instead of the 25 minutes stated on the box, just because I was busy with other things.  Can you see the difference between the before (above) and the after (below)?  It doesn't double, but it does expand a smidgeon..
Next I cut the dough into 9 parts...
...and rolled each part into a long rope.

I cut each dog in half and each rope in half and then twisted a rope around a dog.  Look how cute!

Lather, rinse, repeat and we get this!
Meanwhile I put about 6 cups of water to boil with the baking soda provided.  It didn't really foam up like I was expecting, so I added more baking soda right before giving the dogs a bath.
I set each dog in the bath for 10 - 15 seconds and then put them back on the parchment.  This was a new technique for me, since I'd never made pretzels before.  But it worked great!  No troubles at all!  And then I sprinkled on the pretzel salt provided in the package.  (They thought of everything in this mix!)
Bake at 400 for about 12 minutes, and we have gorgeous, golden brown, salty, chewy Pretzel Dogs!

I piled them on a platter and offered some tasty mustard options to choose from...
And we had our July bread for National Hot Dog Month!  Hope you try these some time!

Thanks for stopping by, and seeya again soon!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment