Soft Pretzel Bites

Hmmm, what's there to say about these delicious little bites of goodness? Mine didn't turn out nearly as lovely looking as the original post at Two Peas and their Pod, but it was still good nonetheless. If you love pretzels, you'll love these. Since they're bite sized, you can choose to have a handful or just a few. I expect you'll be having more than a few though. I witnessed my little cousin gleefully popping one after another into her mouth and I'm sure you'll want to do the same once you've had a taste. Besides the ease with which you can consume these, the greater surface area per pretzel bite also provides a larger coating area for whatever you'd like, be it parmesan cheese as I've done here, cinnamon sugar, cocoa sugar, etc. The original recipe has a delightful looking cheese sauce that you could also serve these alongside.

I'd recommend not making them too small though because I found myself wishing there was a larger percentage of soft fluffy pretzel in the middle to the chewy golden brown exterior. Of course, that's just me, you can make them however you want. You can also use the same recipe for large pretzels. Although these take a bit of time, there's nothing like a fresh pretzel straight from the oven. Once these cool, you can reheat these in the oven. They may also freeze well, though I would recommend doing so without coating them so that the coating doesn't burn when you reheat them.

Soft Pretzel Bites
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod
Makes 5-6 dozen pretzel bites

1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115 deg F)
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) dry active yeast
3 ounces(6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt, halve if using fine table salt
4 1/2 - 5 cups(22 oz) all purpose flour
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
Egg wash (1 egg beaten w/ a tbsp. of milk or water)
coarse sea salt, parmesan cheese(optional)

Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a standing mixer with a dough hook. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.

Add about 4 cups of flour and the salt, mixing on low speed until it comes together. Add the remaining flour slowly as needed. On medium speed, continue kneading the dough for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball with your hands and place in an oiled bowl. Coat the dough with the oil and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size, about 1 - 1.5 hrs.

Preheat the oven to 425 deg F. In a pot, bring the water to a boil and add the baking soda.

Divide the dough into 8 parts. Roll each into a long rope, about 20 inches in length. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces to make pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in batches for about 30 seconds before removing and placing on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Try to spread the pretzel bites out so they are not touching. To make large pretzels, shape each rope into a pretzel shape and proceed in the same way. Brush the pretzel bites with egg wash and sprinkle with salt or desired toppings before baking.

Bake for 15-25 minutes until the pretzel bites are golden brown. Let the pretzel bites rest for 5 minutes before eating. Pretzel bites can be kept in an airtight container for a few days, reheat in a toaster oven before eating.