Mini Homemade Pretzel Dogs

My church held their second annual Highrocktoberfest last week and asked me if I could provide some snacks again.  Last year there was a competition for best cornbread, which I won with my Elote-Style Cornbread Waffles.  This year there was no such competition; I was just told to make something that would go well with beer.  Since I'm not a big beer drinker I wasn't really sure what that would be, but then I took inspiration from the fact that this was a riff on the German Oktoberfest. What could be more German than sausage and pretzel?

I pretty much followed Alton Brown's soft pretzel recipe but decided to skip the salt in the pretzel dough since the sausage would provide enough salt.  I also threw in some diastatic malt powder since I had a lot left over from making croissants.  You can use cocktail weiners for this, but I was able to find mini kielbasa sausages at my grocery store so I went with those.  And instead of buying pretzel salt, I just used a flaky sea salt.  I wouldn't suggest using regular table salt for the topping, and even regular kosher salt might be too fine.

Mini Homemade Pretzel Dogs
makes about 48 dogs

2 1/4 cups warm water (about 110-115°F)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
33 oz. (about 6 3/4 cups) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon diastatic malt powder (optional)
3 oz. butter, melted
48 cocktail weiners or mini sausages
2/3 cups baking soda
1 large egg
Pretzel or flaky sea salt

Mix the water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, then sprinkle on the yeast.  Let sit for about 5 minutes until foamy.

Add the flour, malt powder (if using), and melted butter and mix to combine on low using the dough hook.  Once the dough comes together, adjust the speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes.  Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Divide the dough in half, then each half in half, each quarter in half, and each eighth in half.  You'll end up with 16 pieces of dough.  Divide each of these pieces into thirds so you end up with 48 pieces of dough.  One at a time, roll the dough into a long snake about 9" long.  Starting at one end, wrap the dough around a weiner until it is completely encapsulated, sealing the ends.  If you have leftover dough, just pinch it off and reserve*.

In a large pot, mix the baking soda with 10 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Working in batches, add the pretzel dogs to the boiling water and cook for 30 seconds.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet, 1" apart from each other.

Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water.  Brush each of the pretzel dogs with the egg wash and sprinkle with the salt.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until dark golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.  Serve with honey mustard dip (recipe below).

*If you have enough extra dough, you can try making some traditional pretzels!

Honey Mustard Dip
makes 1 1/2 cups

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard (I used a mix of yellow mustard and whole grain mustard)
1/4 cup honey

Mix together and serve with the pretzel dogs.

I made this dip to go with the pretzel dogs, but after all those were gone, they put out hard pretzels to snack on and it went really well with those too!

Next:  Pad Thai
Previously:  Pasta con le Sarde
Last Year:  Mochi Donuts and Pon de Rings
Two Years Ago:  Bahian Style Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)
Three Years Ago:  Magical Cold Brew Coffee

Pretzel Ice Cream Pie with Homemade Magic Shell

Can you handle one more pie from Momofuku Milk Bar?  Because I think I've done the impossible:  I've improved a recipe from the Momofuku Milk Bar.  Yeah, I know, right?

This Pretzel Ice Cream Pie is pretty similar to the Cereal Milk Ice Cream Pie except that, you guessed it, you substitute the cornflakes for pretzels.  This time I actually followed the Preztel Ice Cream recipe from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook because I had all the ingredients, and the best part is, it didn't use any eggs.  Instead, it thickens the ice cream base with gelatin.

The only thing is, after tasting the ice cream, it tasted a little too salty for me.  Now I'm all for salty sweet combos, but this was just a little too much.  But then I thought, what if I added some chocolate, like chocolate covered pretzels?  (It's kind of funny because chocolate covered pretzels were my first introduction to salty sweet snacks, and now I add salt to almost every sweet, even chocolate ice cream!)

I remembered that an easy recipe for homemade Magic Shell, that liquid chocolate sauce you pour on top of ice cream which hardens into a "magic shell", had made it's way around the internets a while back and thought it would be a perfect topping for this pie.  And it was!  In fact, if I were to make this again, I might pour a layer of Magic Shell on top of the Pretzel Crunch pie crust before adding the ice cream because it would help keep the pie crust together better, I think.

 
Pretzel Ice Cream Pie with Homemade Magic Shell (from Momofuku Milk Bar)
makes 1 pie

Pretzel Crunch Pie Crust

• 2 cups pretzels (about 1/4 of a 16 oz. bag)
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup milk powder
• 1 tablespoon malt powder (if you can find it; if you can't, like me, substitute with flour)
• 9 tablespoons butter, divided 
•  

Heat the oven to 275°F.

 
Pour the pretzels in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size. Add the sugars, milk powder, and malt powder and toss to mix. Melt 7 tablespoons of butter and add to the pretzel mixture, tossing to coat.

 
Spread the clusters on a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Cool completely.

Using your hands (or a food processor if you prefer), crumble the pretzel crunch clusters to half their size.

 
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and toss into the crumbled pretzel crunch, mixing well. Using your fingers and the palms of your hands, press the mixture firmly into a 10-inch pie tin, making sure the bottom and sides of the pie tin are evenly covered.

 
Pretzel Ice Cream

• 6 cups pretzels (about 3/4 of a 16 oz. bag)
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon powdered gelatin
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 1 1/2 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Heat the oven to 300°F.

 
Spread the pretzels on a sheet pan and toast for 15 minutes, until the pretzels have slightly darkened in color and your kitchen smells pretzely. Cool completely.

 
Put the pretzels in a large bowl, pour the milk over them, and stir while steeping for 2 minutes.

 
Strain the milk mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and discard the soggy pieces of pretzel.

Bloom the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of cold water.

 
Warm a little bit of the pretzel milk and whisk in the gelatin to dissolve. Add the remaining pretzel milk, corn syrup, brown sugar, cream cheese, salt, and baking soda and use a hand or immersion blender to whisk until all of the ingredients are fully dissolved and incorporated.  Chill the mixture.

 
Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

 
Use a spatula to spread the ice cream into the pie shell.  Put the pie in the freezer to chill while you make the magic shell.

 
Homemade Magic Shell
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

 
Combine the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small bowl and microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds.  Stir, and continue to microwave at 50% power, stirring every 15 seconds until thoroughly melted.

 
Drizzle over the pie and then freeze the pie for at least 3 hours, or until the ice cream is frozen hard enough so the pie is easy to cut and serve. Wrapped in plastic wrap, the pie will keep for 2 weeks in the freezer.

 

Next:  Corn Souffle

Previously:   Grapefruit Pie