Mini Pretzel Bites,Pizza Swirls,Mini Bagel Dogs, and Parmesan Cheese Swirls...All made out of one Dough!

Mini Pretzel Bites, Pizza Swirls, Mini Bagel Dogs, and Parmesan Cheese Swirls...All made out of one Dough!
Here we go, again...working with bread dough:). This was actually really fun. Seriously. It was fun to come up with different ideas for all the bagel dough I made. I love using ingredients that I have around the house...its always more challenging. It saves you money, as well as a trip to the store. For the filling ingredients, I used sausages instead of hot dogs, leftover homemade spaghetti meat sauce, and cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella, etc...
My inspiration for this post was a memory of eating bagel dogs with my oldest brother. He was the one who actually introduced me to the BAGEL DOG. Have you ever had a bagel dog? Well, it took a visit to the to the mall one day, to make me appreciate what he liked about them. I figured bread and a hot dog together...no big deal. I've had that before. But a bagel dog...now, I've never had that before. The hot dog(more like a polish sausage), encased in chewy bagel bread, with a bit of mustard on the side, was just mmm,mmmm, good! It was only after I had eaten my bagel dog, that I understood why my brother liked them so much. That bagel dog was something else...! Sweet, sweet memories... Ok, so you have to like hot dogs/sausages to appreciate where I am coming from. I know many girls wouldn't dream of enjoying a bagel dog as much as I do. But, you know, I am thankful I grew up with plenty of brothers who broadened my outlook on things:)....
But, I haven't had a bagel dog in a VERY LONG time. I don't know if they have them at the malls anymore. I just know they don't have them where I live... and I wanted a bagel dog. I thought, why not...I could make my own. I searched through my freezer and found NO hot dogs. But I did have some sausages...that would work , wouldn't it? I decided to make do with what I had. I realized after making 2 regular-size sausage dogs, that they were going to be too much. I mean, I could have eaten a whole one ...but knew I shouldn't. So I changed my plan, and made them into smaller bites. I think that was much better:). Since I had a lot of dough left, I decided to do other things with it....pizza swirls, pretzel bites, and some Parmesan/ham swirls. By the way, I used my Best-Ever Bagels dough for all of these recipes. Please click on the link to see my original post and then proceed to make one or all of the 4 recipes. Actually, if you have a different idea you would like to try, feel free. These are just ideas... I used what I had on hand. I like the fact that the bagel recipe makes quite a lot of dough. This gives you enough dough to make quite a few recipes. You can freeze these goodies ...just re-heat them in the oven. It crisps them up nicely....they are just wonderful! What was my absolute favorite?...why, the bagel dog, of course! The pizza swirl came in at a close second:)...Kids will love the pizza swirls. Put them on a stick and they will be really happy...well, most kids will:) Hope you enjoy...

For the Mini Pretzel Bites:

Take an orange size chunk (or smaller) of dough and roll it in a thin round log/strip.

Using the kitchen shears, cut about 1 inch chunks.

Let rise for about 20 minutes. Boil the pretzel pieces for about 1 minute in simmering water(with baking soda/sugar...check out the post on the bagels.)just like you would boil the bagels.

Brush with beaten egg.

Bake at 400 deg for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Eat them plain...or dip in a honey mustard sauce, plain mustard, marinara sauce, balsamic/olive oil/parmesan dip, cheese sauce, etc.

FOR THE PIZZA SWIRLS:
Take a chunk of dough and roll into a rectangular shape. Spread a layer of pasta sauce onto the dough.
I had some meat sauce, so that is what I used. But feel free to use regular pizza/pasta sauce. If your sauce is on the thinner side, you can cook it down some to thicken a bit.

Sprinkle some chopped Canadian bacon/ham along with some cheese. I ran out of mozzarella and had to use some Colby/Cheddar cheese.Roll the dough jelly roll style and pinch the end.

Cut in 1-1/2 inch slices(or thereabouts) and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can brush the sides of the dough with some beaten egg if you like. I didn't...but it will give it some nice golden color.

Bake in a preheated 400 deg oven for 10-12 minutes.Some cheese/sauce will ooze out. Just let it cool down a bit.

FOR THE PARMESAN HAM AND JALAPENO SWIRLS:

Basically the same idea as above(pizza swirls), except you don't use any sauce. I substituted some Parmesan cheese and added some diced pickled jalapenos.This was more "plain" flavored. You can definitely be creative...try adding some Alfredo sauce with a bit of roasted garlic, etc...

FOR THE BAGEL DOG/SAUSAGE ROLLS:

You will need some hot dogs... or in my case, some sausage. I didn't have any hot dogs, so I used what I had. The casing from the sausage will make you pull at it a bit, unlike a regular hot dog... but, the flavor was incredible!

Cut sausage into 1 inch(or so) slices. Set aside.

Take a chunk of bread dough and roll into a rectangle. Using a 2-2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out circles.

Wrap the dough around the sausage slice and pinch the dough to encase the sausage. Make sure it is completely closed/pinched(Otherwise it will open as you boil them). Then gently form the dough around the sausage piece....basically to get the dough evenly distributed around the sausage.

Let it rise for 20-25 minutes. Boil as you would bagels. See my bagel recipe post.

Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or leave plain.

Bake in a pre-heated 375 oven for 10-12 minutes or until nicely golden brown.