I am going to give you the recipe. It comes straight from the blog; with one or two changes that I made.
Pretzel Bites
For the dough:
1 1/4 cups warm water (70-80 degrees F)
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (Here I use bread flour, it gave it a better texture)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Pinch of granulated sugar (Splenda works well too)
For the bath:
2 quarts water
1/2 cup baking soda
For the finish:
coarse salt
1/2 cup cinnamon-sugar mixture
a few tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
I normally use just the salt, and table salt works just as well. If you want to make it a little healthier, use warm olive oil. It is so good!
In a small glass container, warm the water. Sprinkle yeast on top. Add a pinch of sugar. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. (You should be able to see a bit of foam at the top.)
In a large bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Whisk together. When yeast mixture is ready, pour it into the flour and mix with a wooden spoon. When a dough seems to be forming, remove it from the bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Knead until the dough is smooth and springs back when you poke it. (This should take approximately 10 minutes. Don't give up too early. The dough will not taste as good as it is meant to be if you wimp out. Remember, knead with your arms and not your wrists.) Trust these words. My arms killed after kneading.
When you finish kneading, place the dough in a large, lightly-greased (with cooking spray or oil) bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Put the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until it has doubled (about 1 hour).
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into four pieces. Roll each piece into a 18-inch to 20-inch long rope. Using scissors, cut each rope into 2-inch pieces. (It's not a big deal if they're not all perfectly the same. I had a few odd ones and they survived.) Set pieces aside and let them rest for 5 minutes.
While the pieces are resting, in a medium pot, bring the water and baking soda to a boil. Drop the dough pieces into the water, no more than five at a time. Boil them for 10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen towel.
Place boiled dough pieces on two lightly-greased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. (They will brown-up nicely at the very end of the baking process. Don't be like me and remove half of your batch a bit too early.)I noticed with every batch I put in the bites baked faster. So I learned with my oven to decrease the cook time with each batch. Remove them from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Brush pieces with melted butter and sprinkle with salt or dip them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. These would also be delicious with a warm cheese sauce or even some plain, old peanut butter. Enjoy!
These are such a huge hit with my family that I have to double the entire recipe just so I can have a few. This is a really good recipe to get the kids involved or little siblings and friends to help. They can help you roll and cut the pieces as well as butter and sprinkle the finished product. They can also help you eat them :)
