This weekend, that same friend and I were planning for a New Years Day cheese fondue party at her house and inspiration struck! What if we made THE PRETZELS, as we've come to call them, but in a more dipping-friendly form?
PRETZEL BITES!
I was charged with whipping them up and, to ensure freshness, I decided to do it the same day (neglecting to take the inevitable New Years hangover into account ... ahem ...). I made the recipe the exact same way through to the dough rising. Then, instead of dividing into 12 parts and rolling and forming the pretzels (something I SUCK at), I floured my hands and pulled off bits of dough, rolling them between my hands to form .75"-1.25" balls. I dipped them in the baking soda solution, same as the recipe, and put them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (oh god I love parchment paper ...) and baked for the same amount of time. When they were done, because I was in a hurry, I just put them in a big bowl, dumped in some melted butter, and kosher salt, and shook them around. I still prefer the pastry brush method for aesthetic purposes (plus I just love pastry brushes), but this worked just as well in flavor.
And you know what? I think I'll make these WAY more often now that the hard part of getting the stretchy, sticky, unwieldy dough to form pretzel knots is out of the way! The possibilities for party food are endless! I mean, everyone does mini-quiches and pigs in a blanket, right? Well let's make pretzels and pub cheese the next big thing!
(note, these are on a tiny app plate, not a full-sized plate! They're about 1.5-2" diameter)
I should note that if you want TRULY bite-sized pretzels, stick to the .75" ball of raw dough. These puff up pretty well.
Thanks again to Jessica at Food Mayhem for this insanely popular recipe. And go check out her far superior blog!
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