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Kristy Denney

Food + Lifestyle from a mama of boys

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Whole Wheat Pretzel Bites

Soft pretzels.  They remind me of shopping trips to the mall with my mom when I was a teenager.  We lived three hours away from a decent mall, so going to the mall wasn’t an every day thing. It was more of an every-couple-of-months kind of thing.  And it was a big deal for my mother’s teenie-bopper only daughter.  Almost every trip to the mall included a stop at the Pretzelmaker.

The big, chewy on the outside yet soft on the inside, salty, and buttery twist of hot bread has always been hard for me to resist. 

These pretzel bites have all the same qualities of those mall pretzels I love.  I was skeptical that a whole wheat version wouldn’t measure up but I was pleasantly surprised.  They make for a fun snack for kids, or a great appetizer or party food.

Or you can call them your carb-loaded dinner.  When two of you eat a dozen each, you won’t have room for anything else. 

 

Whole Wheat Pretzel Bites
 
Dough:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup very warm water
Topping:
1/2 cup  warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse salt (optional)
  2tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix to just combine. Add the water and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. The goal is to get a really soft dough that isn’t overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 500°F. Don’t be afraid of the high heat! This is what will help those pretzels to brown up perfectly and stay soft on the inside. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or lightly greasing them.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into about four strips of equal length. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda in a liquid measuring cup (deep enough to dip the pretzel bites into). Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved. Sometimes I have a hard time getting the baking soda completely dissolved, so I just lightly stir up the mixture right before adding each pretzel.
Cut each strip of dough into about 6-8 pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in width. You don’t have to be completely exact, just eyeball it. Dip each pretzel bite in the baking soda solution (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Bake the pretzels for 7-8 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Bake one sheet at a time – it won’t hurt the other pretzels to chill out for a little longer.
Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave on low heat.
 

adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

*The only changes I made were using whole wheat flour and using slightly less butter. If you want to make the white dough version, use 2 1/2 cups white flour and 3 tbsp butter for the topping.

*Mel’s Note: if using active dry yeast, increase the yeast to 1 tablespoon. Proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar (let it bubble and foam – maybe about 5 minutes) before adding it to the flour and salt.

*Makes about 2 dozen pretzel bites

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Comments

  1. Oh man…I’m making these tonight! Thanks for the recipe. I love soft pretzels!!! (by the way, good job on your half marathon a while back)

    Reply

  10. Lovely… this looks wonderful.

    just found your blog and I am linking to it from mine. love your recipes.

    wecanbegintofeed.blogspot.com

    Reply

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