Pretzel Bites

I so love soft pretzels, and the homemade ones are better than the Mall versions, in my opinion.  For a great snack that disappears very quickly, no matter how hot they are, we make Pretzel Bites.  These are very easy especially of you use frozen roll dough.  I made my bread dough from scratch, to make them soy free for my little grandson.  He ate his share.  You may use any bread dough you choose.  They just turn out really yummy!  Here we go.

Step 1:

Ingredients:
1 loaf bread dough (thawed frozen dough or your homemade dough)
Water
Butter (melted)
Kosher Salt (shown is sea salt, but Kosher salt is better)
You may use any other topping, such as cinnamon sugar, parmesan cheese, garlic etc.

2 qt pot (to boil the water in
Towel covered with paper towels
Slotted scoop or spoon
Bowl
Pastry brush
Parchment paper
2 Baking sheets

Step 2:

Pre heat oven to 375°F (190°C)
Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper.
Take your bread dough and break it into roll size pieces then cut those pieces into fourths.  Place them on the parchment paper and let them rise until double.   Lay out the dish towel and cover with paper towels.

Step 3:

While the bites are rising, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Once risen, drop 6-8 bites into the boiling water.  Make sure they are poached on all sides, about 45 seconds.

Step 4:

Use the slotted scoop to lift the bites out of the water and onto the paper towel to drain.  Boil all the bites you have made. They may look a little wited, but that will be taken care of when they bake.

Step 5:

Place the drained bites back on to the parchment paper covered baking sheet.  Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Step 6:

Remove from the oven and place the bites in a bowl, where you will cover them with the melted butter, using a pastry brush. 

Step 7:

Add the salt,

Step 8:

or parmesan cheese, or garlic,

Step 9:

or cinnamon sugar, or whatever else you would like. 

Step 10:

Serve while still hot.  The little kids took forks and stuck them into the bites so that their fingers won’t be burnt; then they were able to keep up with the adults.  YUM! Enjoy!