Homemade Bagel Dogs

Here's the bagel dog recipe I used last night. It's still not perfect, but it's close enough. I need to work on the way I enclose the bagel, last night I enclosed it instead of spiraling it and I liked it better, but it was a bit lopsided in that there was more dough on one side than the other. And I want it a bit more eggy still - but that might do better once I can get the Farmer's Market eggs once more instead of store bought. Anyone that has questions can just ask. :)

Homemade Bagel Dogs
Makes 8
4 pts for the "bagel" and points for the hotdog you choose

I haven't tried freezing these myself, but I don't see why they wouldn't. For those that want to do a vegan bagel dog, I don't see why you couldn't use the appropriate "dog" and use the bialy dough recipe I've posted elsewhere on my site instead (or your own bagel recipe without eggs included).

Adapted from: http://diaryofthesuburbanhausfrau.blogspot.com AND http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2005/08/19/bagel-dogs/

For Bagels:
3/4 Cup Water (80 degrees F)
1 Egg
1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Cups Bread Flour
2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
For Water Bath:
2 Quarts Water
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
Egg Glaze:
1 Egg, beaten
1-2 Tablespoons Milk
Topping Ideas:
Poppy Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Dried Onion Flakes
Garlic Powder
Kosher Salt
Celery Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Hot Dogs:
8 Hot Dogs (any type you'd like)

For ABM: Combine ingredients in order recommended by your machine. Select dough cycle (makes 1 1/2 lbs). When cycle is complete, punch down dough and remove dough to lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces.

If making by hand: You will want the water warmer - about 110-115 degrees and will use all-purpose flour (bread flour is too high in gluten to knead easily by hand). In a small bowl, combine water, 1 tsp sugar and yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes until yeast is foamy. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, rest of sugar, and salt. Right before mixing yeast mixture into flour mixture, break egg into yeast mixture and combine. Add to flour mixture and add rest of flour to make a ball. Turn onto lightly floured surface, kneading by hand for about 10-15 minutes and adding extra flour if needed to keep from sticking, until the dough is smooth, shiny and elastic. Spray rising container with oil and let rise in a warm place 1-1 1/2 hours (until doubled, depends on temp of house). Punch down dough and remove dough to lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces.

For Food Processor: Use cooler water (80 F) and bread machine flour. Combine water, 1 tsp sugar, yeast and egg in a measuring cup. Put dry ingredients in food processor with blade attached and mix well with a few short pulses of the blade. Add wet ingredients while blade is running and process briefly just enough for dough to come together. Let rest for 15 minutes. Process dough again using quick pulses until it forms a smooth, soft ball. Add more flour or liquid if needed. Dough should easily come away from the sides of the bowl and the blades. Spray rising container with oil and let rise in a warm place 1-1 1/2 hours (until doubled, depends on temp of house). Punch down dough and remove dough to lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces.

For Stand Mixer: Use warm water (110-115 degrees) and bread flour. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl with 1 tsp sugar for 5 minutes. Add remaining liquids and dry ingredients -except last cup of flour. Using dough hook, turn to Speed 2 for about 1 minute, or until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Continuing on Speed 2, gently tap remaining flour around the sides of the bowl, 1/2 cup at a time, as needed. Mix until dough cleans to hook and cleans the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. When dough clings to hook, knead on Speed 2 for 2 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Remove dough from hook. Spray rising container with oil and let rise in a warm place 1-1 1/2 hours (until doubled, depends on temp of house). Punch down dough and remove dough to lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces.

There are two ways to make the Bagel Dogs: Spiral and Enclosed.

For the spiral - roll out each part into a snake that is twice as long as your chosen hot dog. With a rolling pin, flatten the dough snake in both directions- lengthwise and widthwise. Place your hot dog at one end of the flattened snake at approximately a 45 degree angle. Roll your dog, wrapping it up with the bagel dough, allowing the dough to overlap about 1/2 inch as it twists along the dog. Make sure that it is sealed well on each end, I like to dip my fingers in a bowl of water and use my wet fingers to squeeze the ends shut.

I tried the enclosed this last time, and while I need to work on it a bit more so that one side doesn't have more breading than the other side, I liked it a lot better. For this one I rolled out each piece a little longer than the length of a hotdog, but about double the width of one. I wet one side of the dough by dipping my fingers in a bowl of water and brushing them on the edge. I set the hotdog inside and sealed it, and then made sure it was sealed well inside, once more using wet fingers to make sure the edges were sealed well.

Place Bagel dogs on a baking sheet coated with vegetable oil or Silpat mat (this is what I use all the time anyway, it's also what I use to knead/roll out on) and cover with a light towel and let rest for about 20-30 minutes in a draft-free place. [I usually take this time to pre-heat the oven since it takes a while to warm up because of my baking stone, and get the boiling water ready.]

Get a large pot of boiling water ready. I like to add 2 Tbsp of brown sugar and 2 Tbsp of kosher salt to it (I do this for my bagels too) but you don't have to if you don't want to. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

When the rising time is up, boil the dogs in batches of 2, for 3 minutes. I try to turn them over at the 1 1/2 minute mark, but they don't always want to, it's not a big thing. Drain and place back on the oiled baking sheet. Continue like this with the rest of the dogs. Brush with the egg glaze (if using, I don't bother) and sprinkle with your choice of toppings on top of the boiled dogs.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving, and remember that these hold their heat really well and will be HOT!