Molly Spencer | Crumbs
Molly Spencer | Crumbs
Have you ever wondered what it is about Mrs. Fields pretzel bites that makes them golden brown on the outside, but light and fluffy on the inside? With the right amount of patience, TLC and boiling baking soda water, you can make pretzel bites that taste as good, if not better than Mrs. Fields. If there is one thing I would change to make these tasty bites even tastier, it would be to aqcuire that hot, melty warm cheese you can buy to go with your mall pretzel. Once you have mastered the pretzels themselves, you can get creative by making different flavors of pretzels. For example, instead of drizzling melted butter over the pretzels when they come out of the oven, I added garlic spread to the melted butter and as a result — garlic pretzel bites.
Ingredients
- 1 package of instant yeast (this makes the process a little faster)
- 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water (do not boil)
- 1 cup warm milk ^
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour depending on consistency of dough
- 1/2 cup finely chopped ham (I just used lunch meat)
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice
- 6 cups water
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1-2 tablespoons coarse salt
Steps
- Combine flour, brown sugar, yeast, warm water and warm milk together in bowl.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Add the remaining flour as needed. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times, forming a smooth ball.
- Brush the inside of a large clean bowl with olive oil (or veggie oil). Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm, draft free area for 5 to 10 minutes, or until dough has risen.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Lightly dust your hands and rolling pin with flour. Roll one of the four sections into a 12×4-inch rectangle. With the long side facing you, gently press 1/4 of the ham and cheese into the bottom third of the dough, and roll as tightly as possible, starting with the end that has the filling. Cut into 12 1-inch pieces and transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining 3 portions of the dough.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add baking soda to water and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Boil pretzels in batches, cooking about 20 seconds each, turning once. They should be slightly puffed. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them back to the baking sheets.
- Bake until puffed and golden-brown, about 15 minutes.
- Brush warm pretzel bites with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Serve warm or at room temperature. For some extra flavor, I added garlic spread to my butter before drizzling over the pretzel bites.