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Pepperoni Pizza Pretzel Dogs

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Pepperoni Pizza Dogs

 

Omg! These were soooooo good! And I had a blast making them! I don’t know which was more fun. Eating them, or playing with the dough and watching the “pretzel magic” happen in the oven!

They actually did have quite a “pizza flavor”, too! What a fun day! And much needed!

I decided to make these on a complete whim after not only seeing that I had a loaf bread dough in the freezer, but also a package of Nathan’s all-beef hotdogs and a big bag of pepperoni in there to boot!

I almost sent my hubby to the store for some cheese, when I decided to excavate a little deeper one last time….and wa-lah! One pound of fresh, pre-sliced mozzarella cheese was soon to be chiseled out of the bottomless pit!

Game on!!!!

 

pizza dog collage

 

“Pretzel everything” seems to be all the rage, so what the heck. I decided to see if it would work with bread dough, and yessirree Bob it sure does! So now you know that you can use either bread or pizza dough for this!

I used Rhodes, but you can of course make your own dough. Just make sure it’s chilled so that it doesn’t start to rise while you’re trying to work with it.

So, I started by slicing pockets into the dogs, not all the way through and a good 1/2″ from each end, and stuffed in some spicy pepperoni slices. Then came some mozzarella cheese strips, a pretty sprinkling of pizza seasonings, and lastly, I wrapped them tightly with rolled and stretched ropes of dough!

Easy-peasy, right? It really was!

Next, I got a pot of water boiling, stirred in some baking soda, gave each dog a bath, and placed them onto a sprayed baking sheet.

Lastly, I brushed them with an egg white wash, that I seasoned nicely, with pizza seasonings all over the tops and sides well.

I decided to give them one last, extra sprinkling of more seasonings; and, of course, some chunky chips of salt to have that whole “pretzel thing” goin’ on, and popped them into the oven to bake!

 

pizza pretzel dogs to pin

 

I baked these beautiful dogs until deep, “pretzel brown”, just until the cheese started to ooze and they were all melty delicious!

Remove these babies with a sharp spatula to your dinner plates, and serve with whatever kinds of sauce or sauces that you like! Pizza or marinara would be the ideal and obvious choice, but since the foundation of this concoction was hotdogs, I simply seasoned a little ketchup with garlic powder, oregano, basil, and a tiny pinch of coarse ground black pepper!

That worked really well, actually! Like a kicked-up italian-style ketchup that was perfect for italian-style hotdogs!

So if you’re looking for a super fun way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon with the family, whip up a batch of these Pepperoni Pizza Pretzel Dogs for lunch!

Your family will flip over these! Enjoy!!

 

 

Pepperoni Pizza Pretzel Dogs
Yield: 8 servings

Pepperoni Pizza Pretzel Dogs

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. pizza dough or a 1 (lb.) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
  • 8 all-beef hotdogs
  • 48 slices spicy pepperoni
  • 8 thick slices fresh mozzarella, cut into strips
  • 8 small pinches dried oregano
  • 8 tiny pinches garlic powder
  • 8 tiny pinches crushed red pepper flakes, optional
  • 5 cups boiling water
  • 1/4 cup baking soda
  • 2 egg whites, beaten until frothy
  • 1 Tbl. cold water
  • 2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • coarse sea salt
  • (no-stick spray for baking sheet)
  • pizza, marinara or spaghetti sauce for dipping, optional (*or whip up an italian-style ketchup!)

Instructions

  • Thaw dough overnight wrapped in plastic wrap.
  • Slice a pocket into patted dry hotdogs almost all the way to the bottom and 1/2" from the ends.
  • Tuck 6 slices pepperoni into each dog.
  • Press thin strips of mozzarella into pockets over pepperoni. (As much as you like, ok to over-fill).
  • Sprinkle top of mozzarella with a little oregano, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.
  • Cut thawed dough into 8 pieces, stretch into skinny, long ropes about 3x's the size of the dog. Wrap tightly around each dog tucking each end ender dough so it won't unravel.
  • While you're working on wrapping dogs with dough, bring a saucepan with the water to a boil. Add baking soda, stir, and lower heat to just a simmer. (Medium to medium-low heat).
  • Add two filled and dough-wrapped hotdogs to the saucepan of simmering water and gently turn for 30 seconds. Remove with a fish turner or slotted spoon to a nicely sprayed baking sheet.
  • Continue with rest while oven is preheating to 375º F.
  • When all dogs have had a hot bath, in small bowl whisk egg whites with cold water. Add oregano, basil and garlic powder, whisk to mix. Brush dogs well on the top and sides with egg white mixture. You can sprinkle tops of each with more dried herbs if you like.
  • Sprinkle each dog with coarse salt. As much or little as you like.
  • When oven is fully preheated, bake for about 18 - 20 minutes until deep brown on top and cheese is just starting to ooze out. *Watch towards end, as they brown quickly during the last few minutes.
  • Remove with spatula to plates or serving platter.
  • Serve hot with pizza, marinara, spaghetti sauce (or kicked-up ketchup!) for dipping if desired.
  • Notes

    *You can also make mini ones for appetizers if you'd like, using 24 cocktail weiners or sausages, instead of full-sized hot dogs. (They should be about a third of the size so use 2 slices pepperoni per dog and cut dough into 24 pieces). The amounts will be the same, you'll just end up with 24 small ones instead of 8 large ones in other words.


     

     

    Joanne

    Sunday 28th of August 2016

    Fabs recipe <3

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