Homemade Bagel Dogs - Tasty Tuesday!

I love the Super Bowl. I haven't actually seen it yet. Or at least not 90% of it. Why? As much as I love football (and this is why I DVR it), I love hosting my annual Super Bowl party, more. This year, we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 people, and it was a blast. Hosting that many people of course means that I have to provide food, and I did my duty - cooking from 9am until the first guests were arriving.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. The surprise hit of the night appeared to be my homemade "bagel" dogs. I can't buy the real ones because they now have dairy (Little Miss is again off dairy), but these ones taste better and are super easy to make. I made 72 of them, and there were maybe eight left at the end of the night. So fun. But shhhh, don't tell me about the commercials because I haven't seen most of them yet.

Homemade Bagel Dogs

Ingredients:
1 package all beef Kosher hot dogs (mine come in 8 packs)
1/3 c water
1 t yeast
pinch sugar
1 t olive oil
1/4 t salt
1 c flour (or less if it's not at all humid - flour needs to be adjusted based on the humidity in your house)

Directions:
Place 1/3 c hot (but not steaming - just really warm to the touch) water into a bowl. Add the yeast, sugar and oil. Add 1/2 c flour and stir well to combine. Add the salt and stir again. Slowly add more flour until it comes together and doesn't stick to your fingers. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth and nicely pliable.

Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel, and let it rise for an hour.

Cut the hot dogs into three pieces per hot dog (giving you 24 total, if you use my kind of hot dog).

Gently punch down the dough. Break off ping pong ball sized pieces, and roll them in your hand. Flatten slightly with your thumb. Pick up a piece of hot dog and roll the dough around the hot dog. Use your fingers to pinch it together at the seam and then to spread it so that it covers the entire length of the hot dog.

Repeat for all 24 hot dog pieces. As you finish each bagel dog, place it on a sil pat on a jelly roll pan. Once they are all completed, cover the pan with your kitchen cloth and again let them rise for an hour.

(See, much more puffy now - they're ready to be cooked!)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Remove the towel and bake them for 10 minutes until golden brown and yummy. Serve warm - some people will want ketchup and/or mustard, but they're pretty darn good all on their own.

Enjoy this and more at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday with Blessed With Grace!