Soft Pretzel Bites

First off, I need to say happy birthday to my little boy. He turns 2 today. Yep, I have a toddler now. Life is about to get crazy!

Have you ever had one of those days that it starts getting late and you realized you haven't eaten dinner and you really aren't that hungry but know you need to eat something. That was last was totally us a couple of Saturday's ago before the BYU vs Idaho game.  Since we weren't that hungry we decided we could at least make something snacky to enjoy during the football game. We got on Pinterest to look at good party foods. We didn't have any chips so a dip was out of the question. We did come across a recipe for soft pretzel bites from Two Peas & Their Pod. The hubby loves pretzels, so pretzel bites we made. The recipe made a ton of pretzel bites. Unfortunately, I'm still not used to my gas oven and burnt half of them.  Even with the burnt ones in the garbage we had some left overs that we threw in a Ziploc bag a stuck in the freezer to save for a later date. We salted half of them and sprinkled half with cinnamon and sugar. They were pretty good pretzels, well except for the burnt ones.

Soft Pretzel bites

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/2 teaspoons  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

Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. 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 very large pot over high heat and add the baking soda. (When I dumped in the baking soda it totally bubbled over the top of the pot for a couple of seconds. I probably lost about a quart of water and needed a bigger pot, but if anyone has tips on adding baking soda to boiling water they would be greatly appreciated)

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 (I think I only rolled them out to about 15 inches. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches about 15 bites at a time for 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 course salt (or cinnamon and sugar). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.