Soft Pretzel Bites

I LOVE SOFT PRETZELS! I just do. They are perfect when they are warm and toasty with speckled white salt. Yum. John doesn't like salt- what a weirdo, right? When he gets a pretzel he asks for no salt. Yuck. Weirdo. I think the salt makes the experience. I have been meaning to make soft pretzels for awhile now since I have begun to conquer my fear of yeast. When we got invited to a Superbowl party I knew I was making soft pretzels. I ran across this recipe and instantly bookmarked it. It looked easy and delicious. Sure enough it was! This was the easiest yeast recipe I have made to date and was thrilled with how they baked up. They were so delicious that I seriously had to put them out of sight before I ate them all and had nothing to bring to the party!

To all my lovely Weight Watcher friends, I unfortunately did not calculate the points for these guys. However soft pretzels are typically 3 points for one pretzel, so I just guessed it was about 6 pieces for 3 points.

Source: Two Peas and Their Pod, originally from Bobby Flay

Soft Pretzels:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher 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
Coarse sea salt

Directions:
Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.