*from melskitchencafe.comThese are just about the best things on earth! They are buttery, salty, chewy, and delicious. I make them for late night snacks, parties with my girl friends, super bowl get parties, or any other excuse I can think of to make them!
Change it up by adding garlic powder and parmesan for something a little more savory, or sugar and cinnamon if you want them to be more of a dessert! You can't go wrong!
*Makes about 2 dozen pretzel bites (I always double this recipe. You won't believe how fast you eat these)!
Dough:
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tbs instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) very warm water
Topping:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse salt (optional)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
-Proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar (let it bubble and foam – maybe about 5 minutes)
-In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt. Mix to just combine. Add the yeast mixture and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. (I didn't need to add more flour) Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. The goal is to get a really soft dough that isn’t overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes.
-Preheat your oven to 500°F. Don’t be afraid of the high heat! (I lowered my oven to 475. 500 was so hot it was catching my parchment paper on fire and filling my house with smoke!) This is what will help those pretzels to brown up perfectly and stay soft on the inside. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or lightly greasing them.
-Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into about four strips of equal length. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda in a liquid measuring cup (deep enough to dip the pretzel bites into). Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved. Sometimes I have a hard time getting the baking soda completely dissolved, so I just lightly stir up the mixture right before adding each pretzel.
-Cut each strip of dough into about 6-8 pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in width. You don’t have to be completely exact, just eyeball it. Dip each pretzel bite in the baking soda solution (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
-Bake the pretzels for 7-8 minutes or until they’re golden brown. (I baked mine for 5 1/2 minutes and it was perfect!) Bake one sheet at a time – it won’t hurt the other pretzels to chill out for a little longer.
-Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave on low heat.
Comments