Pretzel Pigs in a Blanket

Pretzel dough:

1. Combine: Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Very gently, heat milk and sugar; it should have about 97°F/ 36°C (body temperature). Pour the milk into the flour mixture and knead.2 cups all-purpose flour/ 250 g + 1 packet active dried yeast + ½ teaspoon fine sea salt + a pinch of granulated sugar + ¾ cup milk/ 175 ml
2. You can knead the dough with the handheld mixer fitted with dough hooks or in a kitchen machine fitted with dough hooks (2-3 minutes). If you knead the dough by hand, you should do it for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Let rise: Place the dough into a bowl and let rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place, it should double in size.

Pigs:

1. Preheat the oven to 360°F/ 180°C.
2. Make alkali solution: While you wrap the pigs, bring the water to a boil. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the water and let boil for about 3 minutes.6½ cups water + 3 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda
3. Cut dough: After the dough has doubled in size, knead it briefly on a floured surface. Roll the dough to a rectangle and cut it. Once vertically in half and then horizontally to obtain 12 smaller rectangles. Cut the edges of the dough all around so that the rectangles are regular.
4. Add sausages: Cut each sausage in three pieces that would fit into the dough rectangles. If making the pigs with weisswurst, start by removing the peel of the weisswurst. Half the weisswurst horizontally and cut the halves in two vertically as well. In the end, you will have 4 pieces out of one weisswurst.4 sausages
5. Make pretzel pigs: Place one piece of sausage in the middle of each rectangle and roll the dough around it.
6. Use the dough scraps to roll and cut a few more rectangles, I had 3 or 4 smaller extras. Wrap a sausage piece in these extra pretzel dough rectangles as well.
7. Boil pretzels: Carefully place some of the pretzel pigs into the boiling water and let simmer for about 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, shake shortly to remove the excess water, and place the pigs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.Repeat with a second batch.
8. Bake pretzel pigs: Brush the pretzel bites with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.1 egg + coarse sea salt
9. Serve with sweet coarse mustard, the typical accompaniment for weisswurst or curry sauce/ curry ketchup.