• 6-12 hours (at least 6-8 hours in warmer months, 10-12 in cooler months) before you make your dough, mix together 60 grams of all-purpose flour (7 T.) and 60 grams of water (1/4 cup) with 20 grams of sourdough starter (about 1 T.) in a glass jar or clean container. Let this sit at room temperature to become active for 6-12 hours.
• Once your sourdough starter is active, prepare the milk. Add more whole milk than the recipe calls for to allow for evaporation. Heat the milk over medium to medium-high heat until it is steaming and proteins begin to stick to the pot. Temperature will be 130 to 140 degrees F. Don't let it foam. Transfer 100g of your scalded milk to the bowl of a stand mixer, large bowl, or a separate glass carafe to cool down to 90-100 degrees F.
• Once your milk is cooled and in the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add the water, the sugar, 100g of the active starter, and flour mixture. Stir with a dough hook attachment about 4 times around the bowl or with a large spoon if you are mixing by hand for 1 to 2 minutes until ingredients are beginning to combine and it looks like a shaggy dough mixture. Add the vanilla and egg (if you'd prefer to omit the vanilla for this savory recipe, you can. It won't impact the texture of the final dough). Continue mixing the dough until it becomes completely combined and soft. Make sure to scrape your mixing bowl with a bench scraper at various points.
• Once all the ingredients except the softened unsalted butter are added, it is time to knead your dough into a smooth, soft ball. When using a stand mixer, use low to medium-low speed (I recommend the lowest 2-3 speeds) to knead your dough. It will take 5 to 8 minutes to get combined and soft until it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Kneading by hand will take 8 to 12 minutes. Now, it is time to knead in the softened unsalted butter. Add it one tablespoon at a time with kneading in between each addition. Continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated into your dough and it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl or kneading surface and is a soft smooth ball.
• Place the dough in an airtight container or cover a large bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 4 to 8 hours until it doubles.
• Prepare the mini hot dogs by draining out the excess liquid and placing them into a bowl. Prepare two baking sheets by lining each baking sheet with parchment paper.

Shaping Sourdough Pigs in a Blanket

• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal halves.
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour (I like using a flour dusting shaker for this) on top of the dough.*
• Use a rolling pin to roll out each half of dough into a circle that is about 11-12 inches wide.
• If you are using two packages of hot dogs (mini dogs), you'll use the rolling pizza cutter to cut each round of dough into 20 wedges**.
• Take a mini hot dog and place at the wide end of the bottom of one of the wedges of dough.
• Then holding the bottom of the dough and the hot dog, roll the hot dog into the dough. Press the point of the triangle securely to the roll of dough and place on the prepared parchment lined pan.
• Repeat with the remaining hot dogs. Keep 2-3 inches of space between each hot dog wrap. Cover with plastic wrap.
• Let the covered hot dog rolls sit at room temperature for the proof or second rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour*. If you aren't baking right away, place covered hot dog rolls into the fridge and then take out 1 hour before baking. Dough should rise to create more volume and the dough should feel soft to the touch, enough for a finger to leave an indentation when poked.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F***. ​Place the hot dog rolls onto the center rack (if you can't fit both trays, place the second into the fridge until the first batch is done). Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool 10 to 15 minutes before enjoying. These yummy snacks are best enjoyed warm. Serve your homemade pigs in a blanket with ketchup and mustard.