I’ve had this little recipe idea kicking around in my head for a while now, and I finally made Pretzel Wrapped Lit’l Smokies yesterday! AMAZING!!! I used my favorite pretzel recipe from Martha Stewart. The pretzel flavor wrapped around the smokey little beef hot dog is a match made in heaven. It was all I could do to stop myself from eating the entire batch.
They are perfect to make for a fun New Year’s Eve snack. My kids have been begging me to make them again….little do they know I already have them on the New Year’s Eve snacks menu.:)
Instead of dividing the dough into 16 pieces and forming each piece into a pretzel, I ripped off small chunks and rubbed them back and forth in my hands until they turned into long snakes (about 6 inches long). Then I started at one end of the Lit’l Smokie and wrapped it down.
If you have never made pretzels before, you might be surprised to see how easy it is. The dough is very similar to pizza dough. What gives it the pretzel flavor is the step of boiling them in baking soda water for one minute before baking.
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how to make pretzel wrapped lit’l smokies
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, combine warm water and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved, and then sprinkle yeast on top of the water. Let stand 10 minutes.
- Add salt and 1 cup flour to the yeast mixture. Stir well.
- Add 4 more cups of flour and turn the mixer on medium-low for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Adjust the speed to low and continue kneading for one more minute. Add a little more flour at a time up to 1 cup, if the dough is sticking to the edges of the bowl.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and hand knead for 3-4 minutes.
- Use the 2 tsp of canola oil or cooking spray to generously grease a large bowl.
- Place dough in the oiled bowl, cover it, and let rise until dough has doubled (about 1 hour).
- When the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Next, fill a large pot with 2 inches of water and 2 tbsp of baking soda. Bring to a boil.
- Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray and begin wrapping the Lit’l Smokies with the dough. Set wrapped smokies on cookie sheet.
- When you have finished wrapping half of them, place approx. 12-14 in the boiling water for 1 minute. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and put them back on the cookie sheet.
- Repeat until all the pretzel dogs have been boiled.
- Brush them with egg wash and then sprinkle lightly with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes in the 450-degree oven.
- Serve with honey mustard, ketchup, or your favorite dipping sauces.
Tips for making Pretzel Wrapped Lit’l Smokies
- If you don’t have time to make your own pretzel dough, buy a ball of pizza dough at your local grocery store and start on step 8 in the recipe.
- The prep time for making them will vary depending on if you make your own dough or not. Wrapping the smokies and cooking them will take you about 45 minutes to an hour. …unless you have a helper rolling the dough into snakes for you.
- To speed up the rising time of the dough, turn the oven on to 200 degrees while you are making the dough. Place the dough in a greased glass bowl, put it in the oven, and then turn off the oven. Using the oven method only takes 20-30 minutes for the dough to double. If you use this method, make sure to place the dough in a greased glass bowl, not a metal one.
- I use my largest and deepest frying pan for boiling the Lit’l Smokies in water.
- While the first batch is baking, prep the other half of the smokies so they will be ready to go in the oven when those come out.
- If you have leftover dough, use it right away. The dough does not keep for very long. I usually make pretzels with the leftover dough.
Sweet Appetizers
Pretzel Wrapped Lit'l Smokies
Cook time
Total time
The smokey sausage in the soft, salty dough is an addictive combination. Kids and adults love them!
Author: Maria
Recipe type: Appetizer
Serves: 56 pieces
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 5-6 cups flour
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 2 packages Lit'l Smokies (I like all Beef)
- coarse sea salt
- 2 tbsp baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, combine warm water and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved, and then sprinkle yeast on top of water. Let stand 10 minutes.
- Add salt and 1 cup flour to yeast mixture. Stir well.
- Add 4 more cups of flour and turn mixer on medium-low for 1½ minutes.
- Adjust mixer speed to low and continue kneading for one more minute. Add a little more flour at a time up to 1 cup, if dough is sticking to the edges of the bowl.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and hand knead for 3-4 minutes.
- Use the 2 tsp of canola oil or cooking spray to generously grease a large bowl.
- Place dough in the oiled bowl, cover it and let rise until dough has doubled (about 1 hour).
- When dough has risen, preheat oven to 450 degrees and fill a large pot with 2 inches of water and 2 tbsp of baking soda. Bring to a boil.
- Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray and begin wrapping the Lit'l Smokies with the dough. Set wrapped smokies on cookie sheet.
- When you have finished wrapping half of them, place approx. 12-14 in the boiling water for 1 minute. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and put them back on the cookie sheet.
- Repeat until all the pretzel dogs have been boiled.
- Brush them with egg wash (beat the egg with 1 tbsp water) and then sprinkle lightly with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes in the 450-degree oven.
- Serve with honey mustard, ketchup, or your favorite dipping sauces.
This sounded like an awesome recipe. Followed the recipe and ended up with what looked like awesome wraps but the bottoms were burnt beyond use for a party. Very disappointed. Made many pizza’s that had the bottom turn out much better.
I am sorry to hear that Glenn. I have made these multiple times and never had the bottoms burn, maybe in your oven they need less cooking time or you could turn the heat down by 25 degrees next time to see if that would make a difference.
Maria
It’s also possible Glenn’s pan was too close to the bottom of the oven?
I just made these for the first time… they turned out perfect… just fyi, my son is allergic to eggs so I used melted butter instead of egg wash… but I do have a question. I did not use all of my dough, I wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator, will it still be usable and for how long? I may use some for a pizza but have to find something to do with the rest…it makes quite a bit of dough… Thank you for sharing the recipe !!!
The dough doesn’t keep very long. I usually just turn what is left into regular pretzels. I would use it asap. I am so glad you liked the recipe. We love them.
Would I be able to put these in the fridge after boiling them and bake them the next day?
Hi Darcie, I have never tried it so I can’t say. I have a feeling it would make them very tough though.
I’ve made these multiple times and my family just LOVES them!! I’ll be making them again tonight to go with the rest of our Super Bowl munchies! Thanks for a great recipe!
Yay! So glad, my family loves them too, I always make them for New years and if they are lucky once or twice during the rest of the year.
It’s no fair for this recipe to only have one star simply because someone burnt their pretzels… that says nothing about the quality of the recipe itself except that temperature/cooking times may need to be adjusted or relativity to heat inside the oven or even the baking sheet used! In my opinion though, this is a great easy to follow recipe!
Dianna! You’re my new favorite! Thank you for coming to the cute little pretzel smokies defense. 🙂 I am so glad you liked them and found the recipe easy to follow! Thank you for taking time to leave a comment!
Sincerely, Maria
I gave these a try for New Years Eve and am back to use the recipe for super bowl Sunday! My family has begged for these since first trying them, they turned out great! This time, I’m doubling the batch! Thanks for this great recipe!
Hi Jessica! I should make these for the super bowl too! My kids would be so happy! I am so glad you love the recipe!
I love this recipe. The Perfect appetizer.
#decembergiveaway #bestfood
Me too! Thank you!
I never thought I’d be making anything homade that has to do with bread, let alone Pretzels. My grandson loved pretzel bites and hotdogs so when I saw this, anything for my grandbaby! These turned out amazing and he wants these all the time for a snak. They are great!!
Yay! This makes me so happy Sheila! I love that you made them for your grandson! So sweet!
My kids are huge fans of this recipe! We make them every year for New Year’s Eve (and, to be honest, as often as they can talk me into it). They love to help wrap the li’l smokies, and they always disappear in a flash. A great party food. Thanks for the recipe–it’s served us well for many years!