When a family as a unit unanimously agrees that hot dogs require cheese, assembling them upfront, then baking them all at once in the oven, as many as the family can eat at one sitting, makes short work of getting lunch or dinner for the entire family on the table. Once assembled and lined-up slightly apart on a baking sheet, it only takes 10-12 minutes in a 375° for the cheese to melt, the hotdogs to heat through and the buns to toast. When they come out, everyone gets to top theirs with their own personal-favorite toppings -- let the family-style funtime begin.
Ready, set, assemble & bake as many as you want to make!
1-2-3 high-quality Hebrew National all-beef hot dogs per person
1-2-3 top-split hot dog bun per person
1/2 cup shredded yellow cheddar cheese per hot dog
1-2 tablespoons finely-diced yellow or sweet onion per hot dog (optional)
~ Step 1. Preheat oven to 375°. Depending on how many cheese dogs you're baking, ready an appropriate-sized baking pan that has been lined with a sheet of parchment paper, or, in an appropriately-sized casserole that has a been sprayed with no-stick spray. Arrange the rolls, side-by-side, in the prepared pan, about 2" apart (so the bread will toast on the sides). Open each roll and place about 2 tablespoons shredded cheese in the bottom. Place a hot dog on top of the cheese in each bun.
~Step 2. Top each hot dog with a generous/heaping 1/4 cup shredded cheese and 1-2 tablespoons optional diced onion. Bake on center rack of 375° oven 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and buns are lightly-toasted. Remove from oven and add desired toppings.
Toasty, cheesy & steaming -- ready, set, add the toppings:
All in the Family Oven-Baked Cheddar Cheese Dogs: Recipe yields instructions to make as many baked cheddar cheese dogs as you want to.
Special Equipment List: appropriately-sized baking pan or casserole; parchment paper
Cook's Note: Cheesies. That's the name. If you're in your sixties or older, you know a slice of white bread is a perfect substitute for a hot dog roll. Truth told, sometimes I prefer the bread, and, cheesies, kid-tested mother-approved blast-from-my-past snack sandwiches are the reason. There's more. They're not just a blast from my past. My husband Joe told me when he was student at Penn State in the 60's, the lines were long in the campus' dining halls on the nights cheesies were served. For a variation on the baked hot dog theme, try my ~ Baked Hot Dog Cheeses & Creamy Tomato Soup ~ recipe.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2021)
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