Pretzel Bites

Pretzel bites have been our favourite since when my elder one was about an year and a half old. Roaming around in the mall on lazy evenings doing window shopping, then grabbing a small serving of pretzel bites for each of us and spending time chatting and giggling over something silly was so much fun. My younger one missed all that fun though. 

Here we dont get pretzel bites much. I am sure if I have had any in Chennai, probably I never tried looking for it. Me and kiddo was missing it so much that we decided to try making it. The process looked very basic and easy so we learnt how to make it. I dont make it often though but yes whenever we do we enjoy making and eating it :)

Serves... 4-6 ppl

Serve option... Hot

This is what u'll need....

All-purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cup
Active dry yeast - 1 tspn
Sugar - 1 tspn 
Egg - 1
Butter / Oil - 1 tbspn
Coarse salt - as needed
Baking soda - 1 to 1 1/2tbspn

Here is the stir.... 

• Take 1/4 cup lukewarm water in a cup. Add sugar and yeast to the water and stir it for a few seconds. Keep this aside and let it rest for about 10-12 minutes. Make sure the water shoud not be too hot or cold. For detailed instructions follow the step-by-step instructions here -> How to Proof Yeast

• The yeast will turn frothy if it has activated else start with a fresh batch

• In a wide bowl measure in 1 1/2 cups of flour. Add a teaspoon of salt to it. Add butter or oil to the flour. Now pour in the activated yeast mixture into the dry ingredients mix

• Pull everything together. Add another 1/4 cup of water little by little till it looks like a soft sticky mass. Add little more water if needed

• Knead it for about 5 mins till it turns into a soft and non-sticky dough

• Shape this into a ball and let it rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes

• After the dough has been resting for 30 minutes, knead the dough for a minute. Divide it into three pieces

• Roll out each dough into a 1-inch thick long rope. Now cut each rope into 1.5 inch pieces. I did the other way though :)

• Pour 6-7 cups of water in a wide non-stick pan. Let the water come to a rolling boil

• Spoon in 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda into the water. Be careful when you do this as the water will bubble up very fast when you add the soda

• I remember the first time we made this it was a disaster as the recipe called for 1/2 cup of soda and without a second I did add the entire amount. The bites tasted too much of soda and we did not like it. I stick to using 1 to 1 1/2 tbspn and  1 tbspn most of the time

• Drop in 10-12 bites into the boiling water

• Let it sit for around 20-30 seconds in the boiling water. Remove it using  a spatula

• Place these bites on a greased baking sheet. Just make sure that the bites dont touch each other as they tend to stick

• In a small bowl whisk one egg with a tablespoon of water

• Brush each bite with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sea salt for that perfect mall-style effect

• Bake this in a 180 degrees preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until they turn golden brown

• Remove them from oven and let it sit for just a couple of minutes 

• Serve hot with your favourite cheese sauce

Note:

• You can use 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda. If you feel you smell the soda too much then add little more boiling water to the pan before adding the bites
• Drop bites in boiling water only
• Make sure the bites dont touch each other when they are placed on the baking sheet