Seriously, it doesn’t get any better than this! It’s a hot dog rolled in challah dough, quickly boiled so it gets a bagel-like shiny, chewy exterior, baked immediately, and best eaten hot from the oven covered in mustard. The recipe is inspired by the Modern Jewish Baker cookbook by Shannon Sarna. Make these anytime you need to win points with your friends and family!

TIP: As soon as the bagel dogs come out of the boiling water, sprinkle with the topping before boiling the next batch—topping will only stick while the bagel dogs are still wet.
TIP: You can use this same method to make bagel challah. Using any challah dough, braid the dough as usual and let it prove for a second time. Just before baking, drop the whole braided loaf into the pot of boiling water. Pull out the now-boiled challah, sprinkle immediately with topping, and bake. I recommend doing this with smaller loaves, as fishing out a big loaf from a pot of boiling water is cumbersome.

INGREDIENTS:

• A portion of any challah dough you like (this is my go to challah recipe)
• However many packages hot dogs or vegetarian hot dogs you like (I usually do 18 hot dogs and I need about 1/4 of my challah dough recipe)
• Pot of boiling water
• Heaped teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Everything bagel topping

METHOD

1. Divide the dough: After making your challah dough, cut 30g–35g (1 ounce) pieces of dough (enough to cover all the hot dogs). Let them rest for about 5 minutes.
2. Wrap the hot dogs: Roll the dough pieces into thin ropes. Wrap each rope around a hot dog, leaving both ends of the hot dog sticking out slightly. Place them on a baking paper–lined tray.
3. Preheat the oven: Set the oven to 190°C (375°F).
4. Prepare the water bath: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the baking soda and salt.
5. Boil the bagel dogs: Once all the hot dogs have been wrapped, dip them into the boiling water for 30 seconds each. Return each boiled hot dog dough parcel to the lined tray and immediately sprinkle with everything bagel topping.
6. Bake: Once all are topped, bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes until golden brown and puffed up.

MAKE AHEAD:

You can make these ahead of time—after all, it’s just challah and hot dogs—but be forewarned: they come out of the oven puffed and golden, but deflate soon after. (In the image above, these were made the day before the photo shoot.) They tend to shrink into themselves, and the dough doesn’t hold onto the hot dog for long. That said, they still taste amazing! I often make these as a pre-Shabbat treat on a summer Friday, when Shabbat comes in late but everyone is still hungry and it’s hours to go before we sit down for dinner.