Pretzel Bites. A perfect snack.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been in the baking mood lately.  It's super rare, but I've been home a lot the past couple of weeks.  I'm usually, on a good week, home maybe 1 day out of the week.  With commitments at my kids school, meetings, or appointments, my week gets filled FAST!
Thankfully, I've had some down-time, which has allowed me to really tackle my house cleaning, organizing, and has even left some time for a little reading and baking :)
On Sunday I made these little pretzel bites which were a HUGE hit with the family!  I was a little uncertain if they'd notice that I used whole wheat flour, but thankfully no one said anything!!  The recipe really isn't difficult, maybe a little time-consuming, but not difficult at all!  If you've never tried making homemade pretzels, I highly recommend it. Your family will thank you :)

HOMEMADE SOFT PRETZEL BITES {recipe by Two Peas and their Pod }


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water {not hot}
• 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast {I used perfect rise yeast}
• 3 oz. unsalted butter,  melted {I used salted butter}
• 2 1/2  tsp. kosher salt {I reduced the salt to 1 1/2 tsp. because I used salted butter}
• 4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour {I used about 2 1/2 cups of TJ's White Whole Wheat Flour}
• cooking spray
• 3 quarts water
• 3/4 cup baking soda
• 1 whole egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. cold water
• coarse sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

  Combine the warm water, brown sugar, yeast and butter together in a bowl with a stand mixer.  Mix with the dough hook to combine and let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until combined.  Increase the speed to medium and continue to knead until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 minutes {mine didn't take that long}.  If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour 1 Tbsp. at a time.  Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball with the palm of your hands.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray, add the dough and turn to coat with oil.  Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm spot until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Bring water to boil in a large pot over high heat and add the baking soda.

Have a couple of baking sheets ready, sprayed with cooking spray.

 Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface.  Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/2 ounces each.  Roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces to make the pretzel bites.  Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches, about 15 bites at a time.  Boil for about 30 seconds.  Remove bites with slotted spoon and place on prepared baking sheet.  Make sure the pretzels are not touching.  Brush the tops with egg wash and season liberally with the coarse sea salt.  Place into the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.

 Serve with mustard or make your own cheese sauce.  The original recipe over at Two Peas and their Pod has a cheese sauce to go with the pretzels.