Sometimes you just need something small to snack on. Or maybe dip in something. Or put jam on – so that the mix of sweet/salty comes through. These pretzel bites (though mine ended up more like small buns) had an incredibly spongy quality that reminded me of bagels. (Not so strange, considering that they went into a pot of water, like bagels do.)
If I would have made it differently, I wouldn’t have skimped on the salt. (I was afraid of overdoing it.) The ones where we could really taste the salt were the best ones.
Ingredients
3.8 dl warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
approx.. 660 g all-purpose flour
75 g butter, melted
Vegetable oil
2.2 litres water
200 g baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Sea salt
How-to
1. Combine the water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Pour the yeast on top. Let it stand until the top becomes foamy.
3. Add the flour, and the butter. Mix on low speed until the flour has been mixed properly in.
4. Change to a higher speed to knead the dough until it is smooth and there are no “leftovers” of dough on the side of the bowl.
5. Take the dough out, and oil the bowl with vegetable oil. Return dough to bowl, and cover the bowl.
6. Let the bowl sit in a warm place for about an hour until it has doubled in size. (I let mine sit for longer, in the sun from the window, while I was doing chores)
7. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees C.
8. Like baking pans with baking/parchment paper.
9. Add the water and baking soda to a saucepan (at least 3.5 litres) and bring to a boil.
10. Turn the dough out on a work surface (Add additional oil if the dough sticks) Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
11. Roll out the 4 pieces to longer “sausages”. Cut into even lengths. (If you want smaller or larger bites, cut according to preferences. Mine were about 4 cm)
12. Roll these bits into balls. Place onto the baking pan once you roll them.
13. Using a sieve, place the bites into the boiling water. They should be in about 30 seconds. (The original recipe advices putting one at the time in the water. I tried that in the beginning, but figured that 3-4 at the time worked best for me.) Remove them using the sieve when the time is up, and place them back on the baking pan.
14. Once finished with all the bites, brush them with the beaten egg/water-mix, and sprinkle the sea salt on top.
15. Bake until golden brown. Approx. 10 minutes.
16. Let cool on a rack prior to serving. (I wouldn’t cool them completely, as eating them while slightly warm was also quite delicious).
From A Cozy Kitchen.
