Homemade Pretzel Bites

I brought home some pretzel bites yesterday from the mall, after John finished them he wanted to make more...so today we took on that task. Here's what you need to know before taking on this little "project":

1. You'll need time! It takes about 2 hours from start to finish (An hour of that is waiting for the dough to rise)
2. You'll need a kitchen aid mixer (There may be recipes that don't require one, but this one does)

This recipe makes about 75-100 pretzel bites...which is A LOT! I decided to use only half he dough and I froze the other half so that I can make more later.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 oz. unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions:

1. Add water, sugar, yeast and butter to your mixing bowl. Using the hook attachment, blend these ingredients. Then, let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.

2. Add the salt and flour to the mixing bowl. Mix on low until all is combined and a ball of dough is formed.

3. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface, add some flour to the ball of dough if it is too sticky. 

4. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

5. After your hour is up, take it out of the bowl and separate it into 8 smaller balls.

6.  Mix the 3 quarts of water and 3/4 cups of baking soda in a big pan and bring to a boil. .

7. Take one of the balls and roll it into a long thin tube of dough. Cut the tube into inch-size pieces, then pinch them into shape.

8. Mix your egg with the 1 tbsp of water in a small bowl. 

9. Now that your water it boiling, drop 5 "bites" at a time in the water and let them boil for 30 seconds (time it!). 

10. Remove the bites using a slotted spoon and drop them onto a greased cookie sheet. Space them about 1 inch apart from each other. 

11. Bake them 13-15 minutes. Cover the sheet with tin-foil for the last five minutes so they don't get too browned. 

12. Enjoy! Serve with a cheese sauce, or mustard :)

The original recipe I used can be found here. I tweaked it a bit but it's basically the same. It took a long time but they turned out really delicious! I think it would be a fun activity to do with kids too!