Accidental Sourdough Pretzel Dogs

So do you know what happens when you mix up a batch of yeast dough and then don't get around to it? You end up with sourdough. :)

I made these pretzels a few days ago (courtesy of my favorite site, of course!). They were fantastic, but it made a TON of dough, and in the middle of making them I realized I needed to stop and make dinner. So I put the rest of the dough in a bowl and put it in the fridge to slow the yeast down some, fully intending to get back to pretzel making that night, or at least the following morning.

Instead, it sat in my fridge for 3 days.

So when I took it out to make lunch today, it had the most amazing smell - if you've ever made sourdough, you know it well! Not only do I LOVE sourdough, but the other plus side is that I ran out of yeast while making it, so I didn't have as much as the original recipe called for. Giving it a few days in the fridge let the yeast I did have reproduce like little bunnies, assuring that I didn't end up with a brick instead of a pretzel.

I let the dough warm up a bit on the counter while I put our groceries away and the oven preheated to 350. Once it was soft enough to be workable, I took off a lump (about 1/2 to 3/4 of the size I use to make pretzels) and rolled it into a "snake" just like making a pretzel. Then I took some hot dogs and rolled the snake around. Put them in the oven for 20 minutes, then put a good layer of melted butter on once they were done. Add some coarsely ground sea salt, and they were fantastic. (And I didn't even end up using the ketchup).