Receta Soft Pretzel Bites
While I was browsing through Foodgawker the other morning at work on one of the days I was there at 7 (yea, I was at work at 7am 3 days last week.. kid has review classes for math and science) I saw a pic of these little pretzels and I couldn't wait to make them! I'm not a huge pretzel lover, but every once in a while I like a good soft pretzel with some cheese or some good mustard.
These were really pretty easy to make and The coolest thing happened while I was waiting for the yeast to bloom.. there was a just a minute or two left and I peeked into the bowl and was all "hmm, it's not bloomed yet, I hope the yeast is good" when BAM!! it started to bloom right before my eyes. I've never seen that before and it really was cool. (Yes, I'm a dork... so?)
The Original recipe that I sorta followed called for Much more salt than the one I'm going to post here.. and these IMHO are just salty enough before being overly salty.
Soft Pretzel Bites
- Ingredients:2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 T light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
- Vegetable Oil (for the bowl)
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- coarse sea salt
Directions:
Combine the yeast, brown sugar and warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
Add the melted butter and salt to the mixture and combine. Add the All Purpose Flour while the dough hook is going then add the Whole Wheat flour and mix until the dough has formed a large ball.
Remove from the bowl and let rest in an oiled bowl for an hour, covered with a kitchen towel.
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Place a large pot with 10 cups water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the baking soda. Be careful because it looks like it's almost going to bubble over, and it WILL if your pot isn't big enough.
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 12" long. Cut the rope of dough into little bite sizes pieces about 1" long.
Using a slotted spoon, add about 10 to the boiling water at a time. Once they rise to the top of the water, about 30 seconds, remove with your slotted spoon to a paper towel to dry. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
Transfer the bites to parchment lined baking sheets.
Sprinkle with sea salt. Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.
I stuffed a few with cheese, by The Kid's request I used Pepperjack cheese and it was.. ok, but I probably will use another cheese next time.