Pages

Thursday, March 24, 2011

German Soft Pretzel Bites



I grew up eating pretzels from a young age. Us Germans start early on with cultivating our love for certain foods, in fact, even young babies around 1 year of age tend to have their first pretzel experience by being handed a piece of pretzel to chew on. There are so many ways to enjoy a good pretzel in Germany. In Bavaria for example, a good pretzel or "Brezen" is enjoyed with beer, a pair of Weisswurst and German sweet mustard on the weekends for brunch. While the soft pretzel shape is very popular in Germany, the same dough is also formed into rolls or bread-sticks, before being immersed into a lye mixture which will give the pretzels their typical color and taste. For the "home-baker" though, a baking soda/water solution will produce a similar result.

You would think with eating pretzels all my life I would be an expert on making them as well, but forming a decent one is more difficult than it looks. I've tried it many years ago and while they didn't look half-bad, it is much easier to purchase them, especially when living in Germany. You can find great bakeries on almost every corner. Their prices are great and most of these bakeries still produce their daily offerings on site. Unfortunately, the closest thing I've ever found to an authentic tasting German pretzel here in the United States happens to be at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia where some of the Amish vendors sell them and they taste almost like home.



While browsing blogs, I happened to come across these Pretzel bites on Two Peas and Their Pod and was instantly intrigued by the color of these little gems along with the ease of the recipe. Would I be able to produce a similar tasting experience I grew up with? The dough is a simple yeast dough which comes together with ease, especially when using a Kitchen Aid or a bread-maker. The dough then sits to rise for about an hour before being formed into long ropes. The ropes are cut into 1 1/2 inch size pieces before being immersed into a water/baking soda mixture for 30 seconds. Finally, the nuggets get a brushing with egg-wash and a sprinkle of Kosher salt before being baked.

These little guys are perfect! The do taste very similar to the pretzels I remember and I was instantly thrown back to my childhood. As soon as I pulled one tray out of the oven my husband and kids kept nibbling away on them and I had to remind them that I still needed a few to take pictures with. I served my pretzel bites with assorted mustards and they were simply fantastic. These nuggets would be fabulous served at any time and a glass of cold beer on the side makes them even better. Now I wish I could just get my hands on a pair of those Weisswursts.




German Soft Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
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 Kosher Salt

Preparation:
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 4 1/2 cups of 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 yo 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 large 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 oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to boil in a pot over high heat and add the baking soda (be careful while you do this as your pot will start to bubble over very easily).

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (I ended up with 9 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 1 1/2- inch pieces to make the pretzel bites (a bench scraper works wonderful for this). Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches (about 15 pieces at time). Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooing 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 minute or until golden brown. (The color of my nuggets is pretty much spot on with a German pretzel).

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

Adapted from: Two Peas and Their Pod

38 comments:

  1. I definitely want to try this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are perfect little bites to munch on!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love soft pretzels, but never considered that they could be do-able to make at home. These would be so great for a party since they're bite-sized!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Okay, saving this for sure. My husband the pretzel freak will love these

    ReplyDelete
  5. These looks fantastic..I wanted to make them for few month now and some reason always think that they are so hard to make! You made it to the perfection! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks so awesome and the the sauce possibilities have me drooling

    ReplyDelete
  7. My kids keep bugging me to make pretzels and I keep putting it off, but these look so easy and tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  8. They look perfect, I made pretzel bites a few weeks ago and I had never seen or eaten them before and I wasn't sure why I put them in the boiling bi-carb mix, thanks - now i know! (though i did suspect. I bet these were delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can't get over how deliciously golden brown these look! I can't remember the last time I nibbled on these salty treats. Definitely have a hankering for them now, though! Dipped in mustard and honey...mmm...

    ReplyDelete
  10. I will have to make them for Saturday for our next blogger meeting. Die Maedels finden das bestimmt klasse. Danke fuer das Rezept, Susi.
    Also bei uns gibt es in Colorado Springs (ca 50 Minuten von mir) eine deutsche Baeckerei/ Metzgerei. Frische Bretzeln gibt es dort immer, auch Salz- oder Mohnbroetchen.
    Machmal kaufe ich dort auch Wienerle oder grobe Leberwurst. Die haben sogar Weisswuerste. Wie frisch die sind? Keine Ahnung.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I need to make these for my youngest...he still begs me to make the pretzels he made in preschool (and he's now 17!). I know your recipe will be a hit~

    ReplyDelete
  12. Totally not surprised you found authentic pretzels in Philly! I'm from Lancaster County, PA, (home of lots of Amish :) and I agree- those are the real things! The BH and I ate boter-bretzels (sorry for the butcher job) at the train station in Koln and I am still dreaming about them!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've tried to make pretzels at home once before, and they didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped (though the flavor was there). One look at these makes me want to give it another go :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm sure I've never had an authentic pretzel, but these look delicious! I can tell by looking at them that they'd be seriously addictive. :) Glad you're feeling better!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh pretzels...who doesn't love them? I think this 'bite' version is actually the best I've seen so far

    ReplyDelete
  16. These make me want a big ol' pot of mustard!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I LOVE pretzels!! :) Your pretzel bites look sooo good. I can't wait to try this recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Beautiful pretzel bites...there is no way I could be left alone with these....I would consume the entire batch...ehehehe.

    ReplyDelete
  19. wonderful little bites looks soft too

    ReplyDelete
  20. holy cow! These made my tummy instantly start to grumble!! I want one, or some :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh goodness Susi-you mastered this recipe. Gorgeous little salty bites! I need to have a bowl now:)

    ReplyDelete
  22. These look wonderful! I am soo making these.

    ReplyDelete
  23. These look amazing, are you sure you haven't mastered these. I've never made pretzels at home, you are giving me an idea.
    Hope you have a great weekend.
    -Gina-

    ReplyDelete
  24. What delicious and addicting little pretzel bites Susi! I'm glad you were able to recreate them! I've been wanting to make pretzels forever - I'm inspired now.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I think you're being to hard on yourself. You mastered these bites very well. They look perfect.
    Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am in Munich now and would love to send you some weisswurst but unfortunately they throw them out here if not eaten by 11am! These pretzel bites look wonderful. Perfect snack food.

    ReplyDelete
  27. These pretzels look so good, and I love mustard:)
    Looks like these pretzels are spot on. Perfect for a party!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love these cute little nugget shape soft pretzels...just don't put them in front of me, I would not be able to stop eating them.
    Such an amazing snack, to sit around watching a great movie, and snacking on these, instead of popcorn.
    Great results, very tempting!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  29. yum! been craving pretzels like this. i bookmarked this with my cookmarked.com account!

    ReplyDelete
  30. These look fabulous. Good job. Pretzel bites are so addictive!

    You are lucky to have been exposed to such an awesome food at a young age. I only learned of pretzels when I moved to America at 9 years old. I ate so many of them at the time, that to find me eating one now is a rarity.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I just made your recipe for pretzels and these are quite delicious. I hope you don't mind, I made a blog post out of them. Come take a look if you like! sconeandkettle.wordpress.com

    Thank you for the recipe, I did give you credit!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great share!

    I love this bucket list and you know you're right. sand blasting machine manufacturer. We all have the same amount of hours in a day so put them to good use. We all have to start somewhere and your plan is perfect. I understand the way of the attractive to the customer with the products sand blasting machine.

    Sand blasting machines like shot blasting machine, sand blasting machine, and grit blasting machines, Wood Working Machinery Dust Extraction unit, Abrasive Blasting Media and various others. Keep it works and share with us your latest information. My time will come but I know I'm on the right path.

    They are similar to small communities that you own - check them out if you haven't already. It's all got a lot better than before!t. Value that list of thousands but I'll get there.

    Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead.
    Visit at : www.gritblast.co.in

    Regards,
    Ankit Manawat.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Great Share!

    First off, congratulations on this post. If You are searching for latest government jobs in India. Vacancysquare provides you upcoming government jobs information like - Railway, Police, Banking Job, Defense, SSC, UPSC, UPSSSC, teacher jobs and other department for state and central government job. This bucket list for you to know the right jobs details.

    This is really awesome but that's what you always crank out my friend. Reading your story got my face leaking and my heart singing. Find qualification based government job and vacancies with employment news at: "www.vacancysquare.com". Also check govt jobs, private jobs, latest jobs, teacher jobs, bank jobs, railway jobs, police jobs, UPSC jobs, SSC jobs, UPSSSC jobs, sarkari result with employment news.

    Great posts we can share to our users. Check the latest government job vacancies, upcoming government Indian jobs, latest notifications for government jobs, today government jobs notifications or sarkari naukri now. Just visit our website www.vacancysquare.com to get your dream job notification today.

    Get a complete information about Government jobs in India, Latest jobs in India, admit card, exams, results, answer key, admission and syllabus of jobs.

    If you are interested in free guest post, advertising with us, writing for us and paid guest post service to contact us & about OR visit on our job notification portal www.vacancysquare.com.

    All the best, I’m excited to watch your journey! Keep it works and share your amazing thoughts.

    Great share and thanks again for the mention here,

    Thanks and Regards!
    Priya Singh.

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment and make my day