Pretzel bites
We do love traditionally shaped pretzels, but we have to say that these cute little pretzel bites are what we tend to make most often in our kitchens.
Pretzel bites are not just irresistible, but they are also adorable and perfect for sharing. We love that they have more of that crispy golden crust in each bite.
This is the appetizer you can wow your guests with. Perfect food for a picnic, or for a road trip. This appetizer will satisfy kids as well as grownups. You can be creative with combinations of filling.
Why not to try…
mozzarella with prosciutto
cheddar with olive
Gorgonzola or Roquefort cheese
If you are preparing this appetizer for a picky eater, you can use different seeds like sunflowers feels, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds (golden or black) or even poppy seeds for decoration, so they can recognize different kinds of cheese. You can also freeze pretzel bites (which contain hard cheese).
Ingredients
225ml milk room temperature
14g fresh yeast or 7g dry yeast
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
340g all-purpose flour
30g of soft/softened butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1egg yolk
Sesame or pumpkin seeds
Different kind of cheese. We used parmigiano, cheddar and Roquefort. You will need around 100g of cheese in total.
Optional – anchovies, olive, nuts, prosciutto, mozzarella, bacon
For cooking pretzel bites
1 ½ litter of water
64g g baking soda
Ingredients for dip
60g sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional – ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder and chives
Directions
1. In a bowl combine milk (should be lukewarm), yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let stand for 5 mins or until you see little bubbles.
2. Add 340 g all-purpose flour.
3. Add 30 g of soft butter and 1 teaspoon of salt into the mixture. Stir until combined.
4. Turn out onto a floured kitchen counter. Knead for 5 to 7 minutes or until a soft dough forms, adding additional flour as needed (dough should remain a little sticky).
You can also use robot for kneading.
5. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel and place at a warm place. Let rise for an hour or until the dough is twice its size.
Preheat oven to 230 degrees.
6. Punch the dough and turn onto floured kitchen counter.
7. Split the dough in 8 equal ropes (it’s better to check the weight so the size is more accurate).
Cut each rope into 4 pieces.
8. Flatten each piece and top it with your favourite cheese. Bring up edges of each circle around filling and pinch to seal.
9. Boil 1 and half litter of water. Once the water is boiling put aside and slowly add baking soda. Be really cautions – baking soda will cause the reaction with water that’s why it is important that you will be adding soda gradually. Once everything is mixed, bring the pot back on the stove and boil on lower heat.
10. Put (slowly) balls into the pot. We would recommend adding 4-5 balls at the time and cook them for 10 seconds. Take out of the water with slotted spoon and put on the baking tray lined with a baking paper.
11. Beat the egg yolk in a small bowl. Brush pretzel balls with yolk.
12. Sprinkle some seeds on each ball and bake for 8 minutes. You could distinguish different filling with different kind of seeds.
Bake for 8 minutes on 230 degrees. Don’t overbake otherwise pretzel bites will be dry.
