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

(Printable Recipe)

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

Light Brioche Burger Buns

I'm sold! Sold on homemade hamburger buns that is. I've tried the homemade route before with real Brioche buns but found the process much too labor intensive for the end result. So, when I found the recipe for these Light Brioche Burger Buns I figured I would give it a shot one more time and if those didn't work out either, I would forever be buying overpriced, additive ridden supermarket buns.

Well let me tell you, this recipe did not disappoint. The buns smell incredible while baking and taste even better. These rolls are hardy and don't fall apart when faced with a big, juicy burger. They feel pretty heavy when you hold them, but the inside is light and fluffy like a good bun should be. The taste is like a cross between a french bread and a buttery brioche, but unlike "real" brioche buns there is only 2 1/2 tablespoons of butter in the whole recipe compared to 1 1/2 sticks in other recipes I have tried before.

This is not a recipe you can throw together in a half an hour, you will need time, but the actual time spent working is very little as most of it will be waiting for the dough to rise. I've made these buns a couple of times now, but had to experiment with different dough ball weights to find the perfect size. The original recipe made 8 buns, this bun size was just too big for our average burger. This time around I divided the dough into 10 equal portions, and it turned out to be the perfect bun to burger ratio for us. The recipe also says it can take up to 2 hours for the dough to rise, in my case, it took less than an hour each time, but keep in mind I do live in Arizona and it is quite a bit warmer here than the rest of the country.

This is a simple yeast recipe that I believe even beginning bakers would be able to master. It is straight forward; all it takes are some well floured hands (since the dough can be sticky) and some time to plan ahead. A stand mixer with a dough hook makes this recipe fairly easy and quick to put together, but elbow grease and several minutes of kneading the dough by hand will work just as well.

My family absolutely adores these buns. In fact, I usually make a double batch so I can freeze a few of them for easy weeknight meals. These buns are perfect for any kind of burger, they are also fabulous with pulled pork or beef, or sloppy joes. Another good use would be to simply top these buns with some ham and cheese and have a bowl of soup with them for a quick dinner. I really hope you give these buns a try in your kitchen and come to love them as much as we do. I don't think I will go back to the buns that come in a plastic bag at the grocery store after tasting these (unless I'm in a terrible bind) and I love that I have found such a wonderful alternative!

Light Brioche Burger Buns
(Adapted from the New York Times and as seen on Smitten Kitchen)
(Makes 10 burger buns)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

For the topping:
1 egg beaten and mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation:

In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, whisk one egg in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large other bowl) whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Add the egg and yeast mixture and mix with a dough hook in your stand mixer on low until combined. Continue kneading on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Alternately (if you don't have a stand mixer) you can knead the dough by hand on a well-floured counter until smooth and elastic, for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get.

Shape dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.

Punch down dough and let rest for a few minutes before proceeding. Divide dough into 10  equal pieces and shape into balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper two to three inches apart. Spray some plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and place over the shaped buns. Return to a warm place and continue to rise for an additional one to two hours.

Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.