Soft pretzel bites, with optional cheese sauce. Using coarse sea salt allows guests to pluck some off if they want less seasoning, a feature appreciated by several Times Leader Taste Testers.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
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The ingredients for some fairly easy soft pretzel bites. Just be sure you buy a can of biscuit dough that does not promise “flaky layers.” I used that version the first time and while they were good, they lost shape, sopped up too much of the baking soda bath, and overall were less satisfying to me than the ones made with Pillsbury original dough, shown here.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
I made this first batch of pretzel bites after unwittingly buying Pillsbury biscuit dough that promised “flaky layers.” While they tasted OK, they lost shape instantly in the baking soda bath and lost more shape when plopped on the baking sheet. I also thought they absorbed more of the baking soda flavor. Mind you, MT & I still finished them fairly quickly, but the second batch made with “original” biscuit dough was better all around.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
To salt or not salt? To dip or not dip? These were some questions in my first foray into home made soft pretzels, something I’ve wanted to try for years and finally tackled — in a literally small way — with this recipe.
Why now? When MT said she planned to make “mini grasshopper pies” for a St. Patrick’s Day-themed test kitchen, I figured I should do something as well. I Googled “St. Patrick Day apps” (as in appetizers) and scrolled down a list on delish.com until I found this.
I don’t think of pretzels as an Irish food, yet they pop up on several lists for the holiday. There was another down the list that involved Guinness Stout and a filling inside the pretzel ball, but that seemed too complicated for my first attempt — maybe a future test kitchen.
Turned out even this fairly simple concoction can go awry. I made a fundamental flub on my first foray. The shortcut here involves using a can of refrigerated pre-made biscuit dough, and I inattentively grabbed one promising “flaky layers.” After noticing this at home I hesitated to use it — “pretzel” and “flaky” are not friends in my book. But I tried it anyway.
The flaky dough started to fall apart in the baking soda bath like balled-up tissue paper (well, maybe not that bad, but it made a mess). And while the finished product from the oven tasted tolerable, I felt the dough had absorbed too much of the baking soda flavor. I scuttled plans to have MT take some to the newsroom taste testers (along with the optional cheese dip). Instead I went out a few days later and bought a can of Pillsbury’s “Original Grands!” biscuit dough and tried anew.
Much better, in my mind, but here’s MT’s report from the TL denizens:
“I give it an 8 out of 10,” self-professed “pretzel fanatic” Liz Baumeister said, explaining that what set the bar for her idea of the perfect pretzel was the kind she enjoyed at the Berlin Farmers Market in New Jersey, where her father took her when she was very young, and she was able to watch the dough being twisted before the fresh pretzels were baked.
Sam Zavada liked the large grains of salt. “Something about that drew me in.”
Showing the flip side of coarse salt, Jen Learn-Andes appreciated how easily she could remove them, her usual pre-munch ritual with salted pretzels. Sans salt, “They have a good homemade taste.”
Intern Carrie Wagner compared them favorably to Auntie Anne’s, which she likes.
Most tasters didn’t bother to try the cheese dip. Bill O’Boyle tried it and said he liked the pretzels but not the sauce.
“Huge salt pretzel fan” Margaret Roarty said she liked both the pretzels and the dip.
If you make the dip, consider cutting the recipe in half, not just because some people may not want it, but because it seemed like a lot for the number of pretzel bites (a 16.3-ounce can of dough made 32.)
And as the comments from the tasters suggest, coarse salt with large grains work best for these. In fact when I made the first ones I used a fine sea salt because the droopy shapes coming out of the baking soda bath didn’t look like they could hold large grains. Coarse salt gives a bit more of a pop, a little more texture, and the option for guests to remove to taste.
Dobru chut!
Soft Pretzel Bites (delish.com, Lauren Miyashiro)
Cooking spray
1 (16.3-oz.) can refrigerated biscuit dough
4 cups water
¼ cup baking soda
1 large egg, beaten
Coarse salt
For the cheese sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
Heat oven to 425°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
Quarter each biscuit, then roll each piece into a ball. Using a knife, carve a shallow X into the top of each ball. In a medium saucepan, combine water and baking soda. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer. Add balls and cook for 30 seconds (dough will float to top.) Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to baking sheet, making sure the pretzels aren’t touching. Brush each pretzel with beaten egg over each pretzel and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
For the cheese sauce, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in milk and bring to a simmer. When milk begins to thicken, stir in cheese, whisking constantly until sauce is smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Serve with the pretzels.
