Hot Dog Flowers

  • Level: Intermediate
  • Yield: 4 jumbo or 8 regular-sized hot dog flowers
  • Total: 2 hr 30 min (includes rising time)
  • Active: 30 min
These are inspired by one of my favorite things ever to get at a Chinese bakery, hot dog buns! When I was growing up, the kind that I would get would simply be a puffy round bun with a hot dog in the center. But recently on Instagram, I've been seeing them shaped like these beautiful flowers and fell in love immediately! It's basically a bunch of pigs in blankets stuck together. And they are such cozy pigs because the dough is really soft and a little sweet. In a nod to my Chicago upbringing, there's some mustard in the dough, which adds a nice zing.
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Ingredients

Dough:

2 3/4 cups (385 grams) bread flour, plus more for dusting

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 

2 teaspoons mustard powder 

2 1/4 teaspoons (6 grams) instant yeast 

2 teaspoons kosher salt 

3/4 cup (178 grams) warm water 

1 tablespoon yellow mustard 

1 large egg

1/4 cup (50 grams) refined coconut oil, at room temperature (soft, not melted) 

Neutral-flavored oil, for greasing

Flowers:

4 jumbo Vienna beef hot dogs (or 8 regular-sized hot dogs from another brand)

1 large egg

1 tablespoon mustard seeds 

Chinese hot mustard, for dipping 

Directions

  1. For the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the bread flour, sugar, mustard powder, yeast and salt and whisk together. In a liquid measuring cup, add the water, yellow mustard and egg and whisk together. Add the wet ingredients and the coconut oil to the dry ingredients and stir to form a ball.
  2. Attach the dough hook to the mixer and knead for 7 to 10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the hook once or twice. Form the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let sit on the counter until the dough has puffed up by about half, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and divide into 4 pieces (or 8, if using regular-sized hot dogs).
  3. For the flowers: Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Flatten each piece of dough and roll it all the way around a hot dog. Cut each dough-wrapped hot dog crosswise into 6 pieces and arrange in a flower design on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow to proof in a warmish place for 30 minutes (they should be a little jiggly).
  4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  5. Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush each flower with the egg wash, then sprinkle with the mustard seeds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and eat warm with Chinese hot mustard.

Let's Get Cooking!

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LINDA L.

Just made these following recipe. Had to add another 1/2 cup flour. Used butter instead of coconut oil cuz I didn’t have that. Delicious. After brushing with egg, sprinkled with a touch of everything seasoning. Will make these again.

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