Pretzel Bites
Courtesy of Sally’s Baking addiction
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/soft-pretzel-bites/#tasty-recipes-74980
Yield: 60-70 pretzel bites (I like to double this recipe)
-single recipe makes 2 baking sheets worth
1 ½ c warm water (360ml)
2 ¼ tsp instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet, 7g)
1 TB brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TB unsalted butter, melted and slightly cool (14g)
3 ¾ – 4 c all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), (469-500g)
topping: coarse salt/coarse sea salt
BAKING SODA BATH
½ c baking soda (120g)
9 c water
Make the dough:
Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer (dough hook). Cover yeast mixture and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until foamy on top (yeast is activated).
Add salt, melted butter, and 3 cups of flour. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if needed, then add ¾ cup of flour. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. (if dough is super sticky add 1 TB flour at a time until it isn’t as sticky (up to 4 TB)
Knead the dough:
Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 tsp of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough.
-After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise.
Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rest for 10-30 minutes and get baking soda bath ready
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats (or greased parchment paper.)
Shape:
With a pizza cutter, cut dough into 6 equal pieces. Sprinkle work surface very lightly with flour. Roll each piece of dough into a 20-inch rope. If the ropes keep shrinking and stretching the dough becomes difficult, stop what you’re doing, lightly cover all of the dough, and let it rest for 10 minutes so the gluten can relax. Then, return to rolling it into ropes. Cut each rope into 1 – 2 inch pieces to make bites. (I like to fit all the cut pieces from 1 recipe on 1 baking sheet for ease of putting them through the baking soda bath)
Baking Soda Bath:
Mix water and baking soda together in a large sauce pan or fry pan (low sides). Bring to a boil.
Place 2-10 pretzel bites into the boiling water for a quick 10-15 seconds. (Any longer and your pretzels could take on a metallic taste.) Using a slotted spatula or spoon, lift the pretzel bites out of the water and allow as much of the excess water to drip off. Place bites onto prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt while they are still wet or leave plain if using cinnamon sugar topping. Repeat baking soda bath with remaining pretzel bites.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
-you can serve with:
Queso
Pato dip
Spinach artichoke dip
Nacho cheese dip
Pizza sauce
Pretty much anything!
(If needed, you can cover and refrigerate the boiled/unbaked bites for up to 24 hours before baking. You can also refrigerate the dough before shaping. Just shape and allow an extra 30-60 minutes to come to room temp once shaped before baking.)
Cinnamon Sugar option: Bake the pretzel bites completely plain without salt in step 7. As the pretzel bites bake, melt 4 TB unsalted butter. Set aside. Combine ¾ c granulated sugar and 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon. Set aside. Once the pretzels are done and still warm out of the oven, brush each with melted butter then generously dip into cinnamon sugar. Cinnamon sugar pretzels are best served that day because the melted butter topping causes them to become soggy after a few hours.
