I love shopping. I love it even more when I'm out shopping with my little girl, and she suggests that it might be nice to stop and get a pretzel. The nice thing is that she is fairly reliable, so as long as we are shopping at the right mall, I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy a warm, soft, buttery pretzel.
So what's better than a pretzel while you shop? A pretzel in the cozy comfort of my own home. I've wanted to make pretzels for a long time, but the several step process always stops me. I was a bit intimidated by the thought of making dough without my breadmaker, then boiling, shaping, etc. The recipe for Homemade Pretzel Dogs was just enough for me to get over my hesitation.
The pretzels take a little work. It's nothing hard, but since there are a few different steps, you have to plan out the amount of time you'll need to get everything in. And because they are so delicious, totally worth it.
The boiling step of pretzels had always stopped me before, because I couldn't figure out how that would really work. Here's what the pretzel dogs looked like after boiling for 30 seconds.
Then they bake, and this is how they come out. Yum!!!! So good and irresistable.
I really followed the recipe very closely for this go 'round. I was so nervous about messing things up that I just wanted to get every little detail correct. Since I was using salted butter in the dough, I reduced the salt in the recipe by a half teaspoon. Everything else was done as instructed. The next time I make these, I will separate the dough into more than eight sections. There is far too much dough in a 24" "snake" than you need to wrap one hot dog, at least the ones I buy.
These pretzels would make a great snack, Super Bowl treat, and accompaniment to steaming bowl of cheesy soup. Don't be worried about all the steps either, you can do this!
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