These challah dogs are always a huge hit. I get hot dog specials from my butcher, whip up a batch of my challah dough, roll handfuls of the dough into strands, wrap the strands around the hot dogs in a spiral, then bake till golden brown. The combination of thick, juicy hot dogs and fresh challah spirals is simply divine!
Ingredients
- 6 – 12 hot dogs
- 1 pkg. yeast (I use Fleischmann’s Active Dry 1/4 oz pkg—make sure it’s not rapid rise)
- 1 Cup warm water
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 Cups + 1 tablespoon bread flour (I use King Arthur’s unbleached bread flour)
- 1/4 Cup sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons oil (I use canola oil)
Glaze
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
Topping
- Everything
- Sesame
- Poppy Seed
Before you begin, make sure to have a food processor on hand. Line an insulated cookie with parchment paper.
Place yeast in warm water with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and allow to proof (to bubble up a bit so you know that the yeast are alive) 5 to 10 minutes.
Place flour, 1/4 Cup sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
Beat egg and oil in a small bowl, then add to water/yeast mixture.
Start food processor. Pour in liquids. Combine for about 15 seconds. It should be well combined.
When all combined, process for another 40 seconds. Dough will be more sticky than when you knead by hand.
Remove from food processor, place on a pastry or cutting board sprinkled with flour, knead just a few times, adding a little more flour if necessary to prevent sticking.
Place in bowl which has been lightly greased with oil and allow dough to rise until doubled in bulk. This usually takes a couple of hours. Make sure to cover the dough and leave it in a warm place to rise.
Punch down, divide the dough into 6 to 12 2.5 ounce pieces (depending on how many hot dogs you have). Roll each piece into a strand 8” to 10” long, then wrap each strand around the hot dogs, in a spiral. Place the wrapped hot dogs on the prepared insulated cookie sheets. If you have any challah dough left—you can braid it and glaze it and bake along with the hot dogs.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cover the hot dogs and allow the dough to rise again for about 45 minutes.
Beat 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water and, with a pastry brush, brush the glaze gently on the dough. Sprinkle with your favorite topping.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 35 minutes.
Challah dogs should come out burnished to a deep golden brown.
Some tips for success: Make sure the oven is preheated and it is calibrated to the correct temperature. You can buy an oven thermometer—it will let you know if your oven is at the correct temperature. If not, you can adjust it. Make sure to use bread flour—it has a higher protein content and consequently a higher gluten content which provides the structure needed for a good bread.
Recipe developed by Judy Elbaum
Copyright 2016
