I ate a ton of pretzels growing up. When I was a child, my family would take my brothers and I to Kings Plaza Mall at least once a month. We would browse through different retail stores, work up an appetite, and head straight for the Cookie House & Pretzels on the first floor of the mall for a treat. My dad and brothers always headed towards the line for cookies. They would buy ½ a pound of macadamia nut and white chocolate chip cookies and ½ a pound of chocolate chip cookies to snack on throughout their shopping trip. I always headed straight for the line to get pretzels. I love pretzels in any form – twists, sticks, and bites. I alternated between getting a regular salted pretzel and a cinnamon sugar pretzel. Of course, I would always order a side of cream cheese or cheese dip with my pretzel. I actually love dipping my warm, soft pretzel in the creamy cheese dip. My family thought it was weird, but I absolutely adored the combination. I haven’t been back to Kings Plaza in nearly a decade, but I still think about the cookies and pretzels I had there growing up. Sometimes, I wish I could spend a week revisiting all of the places I frequented as a child. I may make a trip to Kings Plaza Mall again when I return back to Brooklyn at some point this year. Over the weekend, I really wanted a pretzel with a side of cheese for a snack. Yes, I do realize some of my cravings are very specific. I didn’t remember to pick up a box of SuperPretzel at the supermarket, so I decided to make my own mini pretzel bites. I had already started on my pizza dough recipe early in the morning to use for pizza at night, but I just could not resist using my pizza dough for pretzel bites instead. I ended up using the entire batch of pizza dough for pretzel bites. I did make another batch of pizza dough for pizza later in the evening. Pretzel bites are so easy to make and only require a few ingredients. I started by bringing a pot of water to a boil, adding some baking soda, boiling the rolled pizza dough in the baking soda water, salting the pretzel bites, and then baking the pretzel bites to perfection in the oven. Pretzel bites aren’t the same without a cheesy cheddar sauce, so I had to make a side of cheesy cheddar sauce to serve with the pretzel bites. The best part about these pretzel bites is the portability. It can be served as an appetizer or an afternoon snack. I may dress up the pretzel bites a bit more for a game day snack as the Super Bowl is coming up soon.
Pretzel Bites with Cheddar Cheese Sauce:
For the pretzel bites:
· 1 pizza dough recipe
· 4 cups of water
· 2 tablespoons baking soda
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the cheddar cheese sauce:
· ½ cup whole milk
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon mustard powder
· 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Directions:
1) Roll out the pizza dough into a log on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into ½ inch pieces. Roll each of the pieces into balls. Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3) Heat a Dutch oven pot on medium heat. Add four cups of water into the pot. Once the water begins to boil, add the baking soda and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Add in the dough balls 6-8 pieces at a time. The dough balls will begin to float after a couple seconds. Let the dough balls sit in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the dough balls from the boiling water.
4) Arrange the dough balls on the large baking sheet. Top the dough balls evenly with the remaining kosher salt.
5) Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven. Bake the dough balls for 17-20 minutes, until the balls develop a deep brown exterior. Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
6) As an optional step, you can make a side of cheddar cheese sauce to serve alongside the pretzel bites. To make the cheddar cheese sauce, heat a small pot to medium low heat. Add the whole milk, salt, and mustard powder. Once the milk begins to warm up, add the grated cheese a little at a time. Stir the cheese between each addition until all of the cheese is melted and a creamy cheese sauce is formed.
Takeaways: The pretzel bites can also be served with a side of cream cheese or honey Dijon mustard. To make the honey Dijon mustard, mix one part honey with two parts Dijon mustard in a small bowl. Serve alongside the pretzel bites.