My Friday Night Adventure - Soft Baked Pretzel Bites

I love to cook and I love to try new recipes - the problem is, that many recipes can be intimidating, difficult and have more steps then needed.  It is usually my goal to discover many recipes, experiment and make them as easy as possible.  This is what I did with this recipe.  Every recipe I found was different, each recipe had a lot of steps, that seemed harder then it really should be.  So I took all the recipes and made my own... and it turned out great if I can be the judge!

My Friday Night Adventure - Here is the pretzel bites recipe...

Melissa's Soft Pretzel Bites

Step 1 Ingredients - 

1 pkg dry active yeast

1 1/2 Cups of Warm Water

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1.  Preheat Oven to 425 degrees.

Place 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water in a bowl.  Stir in 1 package of dry active yeast until dissolved.  Approximately 2-3 minutes.

Add 1 Tablespoon of sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add in 4 cups of flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt and mix (If you have a dough hook - that works... of course we don't -  I used a spoon)  Mix together...It may be crumbly and that is okay.  

Remove the dough from the bowl, place on flat, floured surface and knead with your hands until smooth.  Grease the ball with vegetable oil and set aside in a bowl to rise.

Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a towel.  Set aside until the dough doubles in size - about an hour.

Step 2 Ingredients -

4 Cups Water

1/2 Cup Baking Soda

2.  Bring a pan of water to a boil.  Add 1/2 cup of baking soda.  Stir until dissolved.

Step 3 Ingredients -

1 Large Egg - whisked

Kosher or Sea Salt

3.  Lightly whisk large egg and set aside.

Take dough ball  and cut into 4 equal parts.

Roll between hands into a long rope and then cut into 1 inch bites.

Drop 1 inch bites into the baking soda water for 30 seconds (About 15 bites at  time).  Remove from soda bath with a large slotted spoon.

 Place on baking pan and wash with egg.  You do not want your dough to touch on baking pan.   Sprinkle liberally with kosher or sea salt.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.  Remember oven times may vary.  You want a golden brown color.

Step 4 Ingredients - 

1 Cup Real Butter (1 stick) - Melted in Microwave for 30 seconds.

Kosher or Sea Salt

4.  Remove from oven.  Brush with real butter, sprinkle with kosher salt or sea salt and enjoy.  If you are making these for later, do not store in an air tight container.  It will cause the pretzel bites to be soggy. (I learned this the hard way!)

Brennon and I had a lot of fun with this recipe and it was really fun to experiment and cook together.  I would love feedback good or bad about this recipe.  I am always looking for a way to make it better - so if you have suggestions - please comment here.  :)

Come back and visit my blog soon ----  PICTURES AND BAKED PEPPER JACK CHEESE DIP RECIPE TO BE ADDED LATER! :)