I love kitties! They’re so cute! I haven’t made a yummy treat for a while and my brother wanted pretzels, so I decided to make these Kitty Cat Pretzel Bites for him! You can find a food coloring pen to make it easier to draw on the faces, we didn’t have time to go to the store so I just used a paint brush and some gel food coloring.

Watch the video above to learn how to make it!

Visit the YouTube description page for more info: https://youtu.be/P38fwKXD7KQ

And keep reading on for the step-by-step instructions!

Step 1: Ingredients

You will need:

1/2 cup milk
2 TBSP of brown sugar – packed
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 pinches of kosher salt + extra salt to put on top of the pretzels
1 1/4 cup of flour + extra flour to put on your table and hands
1 TBSP softened butter for the pretzel dough + a few TBSP of melted butter to toss the pretzels in after it’s done
1/4 cup of baking soda mixed with 3/4 cup of water
food coloring pen or tiny paint brush and some gel food coloring
mixing bowl
plastic wrap
spatula
cookie sheet

Step 2: The Liquids

Microwave the milk for about 20 seconds. If you have a thermometer, make sure it’s around 108 degrees. Add the yeast, mix and wait about a minute. Then add the brown sugar and mix it well.

Step 3: The Dry Stuff

In your mixing bowl, add about half of your flour and the milk/yeast/sugar mix from above. Mix well, then add 2 pinches of salt and 1 TBSP of butter. Mix it again. Once it’s mixed, add in the rest of the flour and knead it with your hands until it’s slightly sticky. Roll it into a ball and put it back into the center of your mixing bowl. (You can also use a little butter to rub the bottom of the bowl to make it easier to get out later.) Cover the ball of dough with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place. Wait about an hour and 15 minutes.

Step 4: It Rose!

After 1 hour and 15 minutes, check the dough, if it looks like it’s about double the size it was before then you’re ready to make the pretzel bites! If it’s not, put it in for another 30 minutes. (Make sure it’s in a warm spot, or it won’t rise very well.) Then preheat your over to 425 degrees F.

Step 5: Make and Bake the Kitties!

(If you haven’t yet, make the baking soda water from the ingredients list.) Now pull out your cookie sheet and set it in front of you. (If you don’t have a non-stick sheet, grease your pan with some butter.) Put some flour on your table and take the dough out of the bowl and put it on top. Knead the dough again. Once kneaded, take small pinches of dough and roll it into a ball. Dip the ball into the baking soda water and cover it completely. Shake the excess water from your pretzel and put it on the cookie sheet. Pinch some ears on each side of the head to make the pretzel into the shape of a kitty’s head. Repeat until you use up all of your dough. Sprinkle some coarse/kosher salt all over the pretzels.

Bake the pretzel bites in the middle rack for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Depending on how big you made your pretzels, it might be less. Keep an eye on them and pull them out when they are golden brown. Let them cool before you proceed to the next step.

Step 6: Add the Faces!

Once they’re cool enough to touch, draw on your kitty faces! This is the fun part. You can make any type of kitty face you’d like. You can even make them have different expressions! Once you’re done drawing, let your food coloring dry a bit. Then toss the pretzel bites with a little bit of butter.

Step 7: Done!!

Done! Aren't they adorable? They taste like the stuff you can get at the mall except it's cuter!

Scroll to the top to watch the video tutorial or visit my YouTube for more DIYs! (While you're there, hit the subscribe button please!) http://www.youtube.com/diywithollie