Pretzel Nuggets

Hey all, it’s Alexis, to keep going on the masses of awesome food that we served at our Halloween party at the end of October is one more recipe, fresh baked pretzel nuggets.  It is really tough to beat a fresh pretzel, warm and soft, coming right out of the oven.  I first made this recipe with Lena in the beginning of September for some of our friends’ going away potluck party.  We had made these pretzel rolls a few inches in diameter, which was large enough for us to make mini meatball, roast beef, turkey or cheese sandwiches with them.  The rolls disappeared so fast at the potluck so we decided to make them again for the Halloween party but a little bit differently.

This time around we made the pretzels only about an inch in diameter so that they would be bite size nuggets and served them with a cheese sauce.  We had the timing down so that the pretzels were still warm when everyone started to arrive.  The recipe is a little bit more complicated but the pretzels are well worth the effort.  Plus once you get through the first batch it goes really quick.  This recipe is from the food blog Stresscake.

Pretzel Nuggets

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups warm water (warm to the touch)
1 Tbsp active dry yeast (1 pkg.)
2 tsp sugar
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup baking soda
4 cups water
1 egg, lightly beaten
coarsely ground sea salt

1. Combine the 1 ½ cups of warm water and the package of the active dry yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer.  The yeast should sit for at least 5 minutes to become actived.  When it is ready it should be foamy.
2. Add the sugar, flour, salt and butter and mix with a dough hook until thoroughly combined and the dough comes together.  It should be silky but not sticky to the touch.  Sometimes I will knead the dough a little bit more by hand once I take it out of the mixer to make sure it is consistently silky throughout the entire dough.
3. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour.  The dough should be doubled in size afterwards.
4. Punch down the dough and put on a light floured surface.
5. Cut the dough into about 1 inch diameter pieces and smooth the surface of the nugget by pulling the sides down from the top and gathering at the bottom.  Smoothing the surface as you do this.  This is an important aesthetic step because otherwise the nuggets come out kind of wrinkly.
6. Placing the nugget bottom side down on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Leave at least 1 inch in-between each nugget.
7. Allow the nuggets to rise, covered with a towel for another 20 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. In either a large saucepan or a frying pan bring the 4 cups of water to a simmer and then add the baking soda.
10. Carefully, place the nuggets (maybe like 8-10 at a time) into the poaching liquid (water and baking soda) and poach for 30 seconds before turning them over and poaching the other side for another 30 seconds.  It is easiest to remove the nuggets with a slotted spoon and put them back on the parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
11. Gently egg wash each of the nuggets and sprinkle with the course sea salt.  Finally slit the tops of each nugget before baking for about 10 minutes or until the rolls are light to dark brown.  The color of the pretzel after it bakes depends on how much baking soda is in the water and how long the pretzel nuggets are poached.

Again, I know this recipe is a little daunting but the pretzel rolls are awesome!  I think I burn my mouth every time I make them because I can’t wait until they have cooled.  You will not regret making them…happy eats.