Sometimes it's nice to take a break from studying to spend an entire day in the kitchen. Well at least the second half of the day that you didn't spend sleeping in. A group of Lucas's college friends (and now my new friends!) threw a potluck on Sunday to toast our engagement, and I seized the opportunity to make my kitchen feel loved and wanted again. It'd been awhile since I coated every surface with flour and I could tell my KitchenAid was feeling neglected. So I threw on an apron first thing in the morning (read: 12:00pm) and got to work making these SUPER ADDICTING pretzel bites.
These bites of heaven were actually inspired by my fancy new serving dish. Back when Groupon was just getting popular - you know, when they'd offer Fandango movie tickets for next to nothing - I accumulated a bank of Groupon bucks for referring my friends. And now that Groupon's specialty is Lasik eye surgery and liposuction (both of which I'd be very skeptical to get a "deal" on), it's rare that I actually find something worth using my promo money to buy. So when I snagged this serving dish made by Core Bamboo with four little white asymmetrical bowls and accompanying teeny-tiny spoons, I was thrilled! More excuses to cook, and one more pretty way to present food. Without a proper excuse to use it, it's been in the box since it arrived...until now. What better to serve with a cute little platter than miniature pretzel bites served with a sampler of sauces?
As soon as the timer went off, Lucas popped a warm pretzel bite into his mouth and exclaimed, "WHAT makes these SO pretzel-y!?!!?" The trick, my friends, is a quick dunk in a boiling bath of water and baking soda before sticking them in the oven, and you'll wind up with a bite that puts all other pretzels to shame. Despite the spread of delicious eats on the table Sunday evening, all 160 of these pretzel bites disappeared within an hour. People had to get up from the couch and move across the room to refrain from dunking one fluffy bite after another into gooey cheddar cheese...and spicy Pale Ale mustard...and warm pizza sauce...and finally creamy melted chocolate for salty meets sweet perfection. And repeat. Like I said, dangerously addicting.
Pretzel bites with four distinct dipping sauces
Pretzel Bites (recipe slightly adapted from Bobby Flay)
Makes about 160
- 1½ cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 4¾ cups all-purpose flour
- Vegetable oil
- 12 cups water
- ¾ cup baking soda
- 1 egg, beaten
- Salt (I recommend using pretzel salt or coarse sea salt, but I only had kosher salt, so that's what I used and they were still delicious)
- Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the dough hook. Once combined, let sit for 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low-speed until combined.
- Increase the speed to medium until the dough is smooth and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the bowl and knead on a flat surface for an additional minute.
- Grease the inside of the bowl with vegetable oil and return the dough to the bowl, turning until coated with oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for an hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the dips according to the recipes below.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Bring a large pot full of water mixed with baking soda to boil over high heat.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and on a flat surface, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- One at a time, roll each piece into a long rope about 22 inches. Cut each rope into 1" pieces.
- Working in batches of about 22 pieces, boil the pretzel bites for 30 seconds, being sure to stir the pot so all sides are covered. Use a strainer to remove the bites from the water and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet so they aren't touching. Repeat with all pretzel bites.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with salt.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes, until golden brown (Be careful not to over bake, or the bottoms will start to burn).
- Remove from oven and let cool on a baking rack.
- Serve with mustard, pizza sauce, cheese dip, or melted chocolate. (I used store-bought pizza sauce and Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale mustard)
Cheese dip
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup milk
- 8 ounces of cheddar cheese, grated (grate it yourself)
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly, until it begins to brown.
- Add the milk, slowly, and cook, whisking, until it begins to thicken.
- Add the grated cheddar cheese and stir until melted.
- Remove from heat and add the cayenne, salt, and pepper. Serve warm. (If it begins to harden before you're ready to serve it, just zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again)
Chocolate sauce
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon chocolate extract (optional, but it tastes so good!)
- Boil an inch of water in a small/medium saucepan over low heat. Place a heat-proof bowl over the top, so the bottom of the bowl is not touching the bottom of the pan.
- Add the chocolate chips to the bowl and stir until melted. Add the heavy whipping cream and chocolate extract and stir until combined. Continue cooking until warm.
- Remove from heat and serve warm.
Tina -
YUM! Definitely making these soon! <3
dena @ohyoucook -
I love home-made pretzels of any shape, and yours look gorgeous!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! I could definitely eat a crazy amount of these in one sitting.
Colette @ JFF! -
Pretzel & chocolate...I like it!
Katie (The Muffin Myth) -
Woah. Pretzel bites? I've made pretzels before, but never thought to break them into little dunkable bits. Total genius! This is the kind of thing I know I'd need a crowd to make for. Me home alone with a big batch of fresh pretzel bites? Danger.
Sarah Menanix -
Definitely dangerous! But also totally delicious. If you eat 100 pretzel bites an no one is around to see, does it really count? :)
Susan B. -
I want to make these, have you ever made them the day before you served them? Just wondering how they hold up for a day. Thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
I actually saved about 10 (I was running out of light and thought I might want to photograph them the next day instead). They were not nearly as delicious as they were the night before. I just had them in a bowl covered in foil, so perhaps that might have contributed to it. If you do make them ahead, maybe try putting them in an airtight Ziploc bag?
Melissa -
I know this comment is really old now, but for anyone making this for the first time...
I found through trial and error that if you bake them and then flash freeze them and store them in Ziploc bags, you can reheat them in a 425 oven for 5ish minutes until they are hot again, and they taste just about as good as when they are fresh.
Great recipe, BTW! They've been a hit at two parties already, and I'm gearing up to make them again for this weekend!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much for your note about the freezing! Such a great tip!!
Juanita -
I freeze mine pull out and thow put in toaster oven or toaster there great
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com -
These look so good! Would love to have these for my dipping sauces instead of chips!
Sarah Menanix -
I think they'll pair nicely with almost any dipping sauce in place of chips - yummy!
Russell van Kraayenburg -
Ooh. I am loving this. So much deliciousness!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks!
jaime @ sweet road -
What a great idea. I have a feeling this would be perfect for parties - low key enough but retaining some foodie flair with the different sauces!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! I agree - simple, but still impressive for foodie guests. In fact, someone at the potluck asked me where to buy the pretzel bites and was completely surprised to hear they were homemade.
Veronica -
I want some now!I love the idea of the sweet and salty with chocolate dipping sauce!
Dvanthiel -
I'm an American living abroad and made these for my homesick family to nibble on while watching NCAA football on ESPN Europe... They were great!! I would love to keep a few batches in the freezer as they are at their best when eaten fresh out if the oven. At which point do you think I could best freeze them?
Thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
Oh geez I'm a little late on replying! So sorry. I haven't tried freezing them, but I found this awesome experiment someone did (here: http://www.savvyeat.com/brain-food-101-freezing-soft-pretzels/) and she discovered it was best to cook them all the way through and letting them cool before freezing them. I hope that helps!
jessica holmes -
Can these still be made with just a regular hand mixer?
Sarah Menanix -
If you don't have a stand mixer with a dough hook, it's totally fine! However, I'd recommend mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients first with a wooden spoon and then kneading it by hand rather than using a hand mixer. Let me know how it turns out!
jessica holmes -
Alright!
jessica holmes -
How much water is mixed first? 11/2 warm? When is 10 cups of water needed...somehow im confusing myself
Sarah Menanix -
Hey! Sorry for the confusion. When making the dough, the first step is to combine the 1.5 cups of water with the sugar, yeast, and butter.
Later you'll need to bring a big pot of water to boil with the baking soda - I'll change it to clarify that it's an entire pot of water.
Not sure where 10 cups is from, but I'm wondering if somehow my 1/2 symbol got rendered as a '0' on your computer? HMMM.
Anyways - hope this helps! Goodluck:)
jessica holmes -
I am making (attempting) to make these right now..can i use wax paper instead of parchment paper?
Sarah Menanix -
Hope I'm not too late in responding - I was making dinner myself:) If you don't have parchment paper, I would recommend using a nonstick baking sheet or spraying PAM on a baking sheet. I imagine the wax paper might melt in the oven, which might affect the flavor of the pretzels.
Juanita -
10 cups is used to dip pretzels in backing soda bath for 20 seconds us 2/3 cup baking soda to about 4 cups water you don't need 10 cups
jessica holmes -
Thanks! Wax paper is definitely not a good substitute lol
Nicole -
This was great but mine came out very lite colored.. Any idea what I did wrong?
Sarah Menanix -
I bet that your oven is just slightly different than mine. Mine tends to run a little hot (although I keep a thermometer in there because of my over enthusiastic oven), and it's possible yours runs a big cooler than mine (probably more accurate to the real temp that mine!). Next time, try baking them a little longer until the tops turn golden brown. I'm moving into a new kitchen in March and I'll re-do this recipe to check the baking time with our brand new oven - Thanks for letting me know!
Juanita -
brush with whipped egg
Hollie -
I made these for my Oktoberfest Party last weekend. They were delicious. I did need to add a bit more flour, but I live in Florida and maybe that is why. I actually made the dough and then covered it and refrigerated it overnight.Then boiled and baked them before the party, and they still turned out great.
http://hollieshobbies.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/roll-out-the-barrel-oktoberfest-party/
Thanks for the recipe!
Amber -
Can I eliminate the egg wash? Substitute water? My Lil one can't have eggs, but recently discovered soft pretzels and loves them!!! Thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
It's totally fine to skip the egg wash. Instead just sprinkle salt on them right when they come out of the boiling water so it sticks. They won't have the glossy shine, but they'll still be tasty!
Katie Benney -
Awesome! My sister recommended this and I am totally using this for an upcoming potluck.
Sarah Menanix -
Yay! I hope you love them!! <3
Alex harwood -
Wow! This a a great recipe! They don't taste far off from Auntie Anne's products. However, I tried making the cheese sauce but it didn't quite turn out for me. anyway, thanks for the recipe
Juanita -
brush with whipped egg