Auntie Anne's Copycat Pretzel Dogs Recipe | Buns In My Oven (2024)

This pretzel dogs recipe is an Auntie Anne’s copycat featuring a simple homemade pretzel dough wrapped around juicy hot dogs and baked!

I made lunch. Then I ate it.

That’s about the end of that story.

Except for, you know, the part where I cried tears of joy because these pretzel dogs were ridiculous in all the right ways. They even made it to the Buns In My Oven Favorites Category!

While I love all of the recipes that I share with you, the Favorite Recipes section is where you’ll find the best of the best, those recipes that I make for my family as often as I can get away with!

Don’t be too intimidated by this recipe – it does look like a lot of steps, but it’s pretty straightforward and we think it’s totally worth the effort.

Working with yeast is one of my favorite things. If you also enjoy that, check out our one hour dinner rolls! A total family favorite!

Ingredient Notes:

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Hot Dogs – You can use any variety of hot dogs that you’d like for this recipe. All beef, pork, or whatever mix you like will work but I’d stick to using the regular sized and not jumbo sized hot dogs for this.

Pretzel Dough – You’ll prepare this homemade pretzel dough using flour, active dry yeast, warm water, sugar, kosher salt, and butter.

Baking Soda Water – This is just water mixed with baking soda. The baking soda is going to help add that deep brown pretzel color and crispy texture when baking!

Egg – Before baking the pretzel dogs you’ll brush them with an egg yolk and water mixture. It’ll help hold the salt in place and add a deeper golden color.

Pretzel Salt – This is my favorite part of a pretzel! You’ll sprinkle this on after applying the egg wash. Use as much or as little as you like! Kosher salt works just fine, too.

How to Make Pretzel Dogs:

Yeast: To begin you’ll need to activate the dry yeast by combining warm water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and then sprinkling the yeast on top. It’ll take about 5 minutes or so for it to begin foaming.

Pretzel Dough: When the yeast is ready add the flour, salt, and butter to the bowl and mix on low speed with a dough hook until well combined.

Next, increase the speed to medium and knead until the pretzel dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It may take about 4 to 5 minutes of mixing.

Cover: When the pretzel dough is ready remove it from the stand mixer bowl and place it into a clean, oiled bowl.

Cover it up with some plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Prepare: Mix 10 cups of water with the baking soda and bring to a boil. While the water heats separate the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll the pieces and stretch them into ropes about 12″ long.

You’ll also want to start preheating the oven now. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and brush it with oil.

Wrap: Now you can start wrapping the hot dogs with the pretzel dough! Wrap one piece of dough around each hot dog leaving just a bit of each end uncovered. Press the ends together to seal the dough in place.

Boil: When the baking soda water has come to a rolling boil start boiling the pretzel dogs, one at a time, for 30 seconds each. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water to the prepared cookie sheet.

Brush: In a small bowl beat together egg yolk and water and then start brushing the tops of each pretzel dog with the mix. Finally, sprinkle the pretzel salt over the top of each one after brushing.

Bake: To finish up place the sheet with the pretzel dogs into the oven and bake until they are a dark golden brown pretzel color. It should take approximately 12 to 14 minutes.

Transfer the pretzel dogs to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. You’re going to need some dipping sauce too, and I’d strongly recommend my homemade honey mustard sauce to go with this recipe! Other favorites include ketchup and mustard, cream cheese (sounds weird, but try it!), and our Carolina BBQ sauce! This Chick-Fil-A sauce or homemade ranch dressing would also be tasty!

FAQs:

• Hot Dog Chili
• Chili Dog Casserole
• Air Fryer Hot Dogs
• Cajun Andouille Hot Dog
• Fried Green Tomato and Pimento Cheese Hot Dogs
• Mac and Cheese Dogs
• Corn Dog Bites