Pretzel Bites

Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend, and while I am not a huge football fan, I can appreciate the commercials and food that come with watching the game! I absolutely love sports bar food! Wings, nachos, potato skins...anything bite size, I'll order it! So, this year, I decided to make some yummy bite-size pretzels for our celebration. I have been in love with pretzel bread recently. One of my New Year's Resolutions for this year is to make more bread. I know this seems contrary to what most resolutions consist of (i.e. dieting) but I love bread and if I can make it with less salt, additives, and healthy flour options, then I have no problem keeping it in my diet. Making pretzel bread was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be! One loaf of dough yields dozens of these bites, so don't worry - this recipe makes plenty of bites for your friends. In fact, I had so much leftover dough, I made pretzel buns with them for burgers. They didn't turn out as photogenic as the bites, but nonetheless, they were tasty! Below you can follow my steps on how to make your own pretzel bites. This recipe makes about 6 dozen bites.

Once your dough is ready to go, pinch a ball and roll it into a rope.

Cut the dough into one inch pieces.

Add baking soda to a large stockpot, and bring it to a boil.

Drop your bites into the water. I boiled about 15 at a time.

Boil for about 30 seconds, then using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 425F. Brush the bites with egg wash, top with sea salt, and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Pretzel Bites

Preparation:  1.5 hr Cook Time: 18 min Total Time: A little less than 2 hours

Ingredients

        

          1  1/2 cups warm water

          1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)

          6 tbsp butter, melted

          2 tbsp light brown sugar

          4  1/2 cups flour
          2  1/2 tsp salt
          1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp cold water
          1/2 cup baking soda
          Vegetable oil
          Coarse sea salt

Instructions

          1) In the bowl of a stand mixer, using your dough hook, combine water, sugar, yeast and butter. 

               Make sure the butter is warm, not hot. Blend until combined. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.

          

          2) Add salt and flour and mix until combined. Once the flour is blended in, increase your speed 

               to medium and blend for 4-5 minutes, or until the dough begins forming into a ball. 

               If the dough appears wet, add more flour, 1 tsp at a time.

          3) Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, and form it into a ball. Turn to coat the dough with the oil.

          4) Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for an hour.

           5) Preheat the oven to 425F. Then bring your water to a rolling boil with the baking soda.

           6) Pinch a ball of the dough, and roll it into a rope. Cut one inch pieces and drop them into the water.

           7) Boil the bites for 30 seconds, boiling about 15 at a time. Remove with a slotted spoon and 

                 transfer to a cookie sheet.

           8) Brush the bites with egg wash, and follow with a few pinches of coarse sea salt so that the 

                 salt adheres to the egg wash.

            9) Bake the bites for 15-18 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Serve with honey mustard.

Enjoy!