dough Archives - I am a Honey Bee

I kinda felt that if I called this recipe Everything Pretzel Bites that it wouldn’t make sense exactly.

You see, instead of just topping them with the traditional salt I decided that the everything bagel topping would be the best thing ever.

When I was little I would not touch anything besides a plain bagel so an everything bagel was totally out of the question. But then time went on and I got some smarts and realized how amazing they are. If I could eat an everything bagel every day of my life I would.

Anyway, since I love all things ‘everything’ and carbs in general I made these rocking pretzel bites for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks. How can I ignore pretzels when this weekend’s race is at Pocono?!?! Exactly, I just can’t ignore those Pennslylvania Dutch and their love of pretzels.

Oh man, let me tell you that these pretzel bites rock! They were easy to make and the resulting pretzels were to yummy. The perfect amount of chew and great pretzel flavor. Just love how the baking soda skinny dip makes pretzels, well pretzels. And if you love salt on your pretzel then just stick with topping it with that but I swear the everything bagel topping is a fun twist.

We enjoyed the pretzel bites with a caramelized onion dip from Trader Joe’s and a pretty spicy brown mustard.

They disappeared quickly…

Everything (Bagel) Pretzel Bites

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups + 1 tbs hot water
1/4 cup everything bagel topping (to sprinkle on top)

Process

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the oil and yeast mixture.
Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes or use a stand mixer with the hook attachment. While the dough is coming together, watch it to see if it is looking dry so you can add a tablespoon+ of water. (I added about 2 tablespoons)
Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Lightly coat the dough with oil as well. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 – 2 hours.
When the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Put the risen dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope (do not re-knead) and cut into 1″ – 1 1/2″ pieces.
Once all of the dough is all shaped, dissolve the baking soda in very hot water in a bowl.
Dip each pretzel bite into the baking soda mixture and place on a generously greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with the everything bagel topping.
Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve warm with dip or mustard. Best the first day.

Adapted from Lily Shop

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Calzones are pizza’s well packed cousin. Everything fits nicely into the crusty pocket. Once you break into time you watch the lovely, melted cheese coming flowing out. You can just have a cheese calzone but it’s like cheese pizza- very lonely. So along with the cheese you can add in pepperoni, mushrooms, ham, jalapeños, olives, sausage…. the possibility are endless.

Personally, I love them because you dip pieces into tomato sauce. And since I LOVE ketchup I think this act of dipping into another tomato medium is pretty damn awesome. Because you are dipping into the sauce you want to make sure it stands up again the rest of the calzone. You can use a home made sauce or a jarred sauce. The real key is to get something thin so it evenly coats the calzones, instead of a chunky sauce.

I go as far as to add a tiny bit of sauce in my calzone. I know, so crazy! I

The same goes for the dough… both store bought or home made works perfectly. If you are pressed for time just get store bought. I think that the key thingwhen you are using store bought it so let it sit out and get warm. Messing with chilly dough just results in holes since the dough has not loosened up yet. That goes for homemade as well, but I think it’s even worse with store bought.