For years it has been a tradition in our home that every six months we make these Chewy Pretzel Bites when our family gathers to watch General Conference (a broadcast from the leaders and Prophet of our church). This is a favorite weekend to spend time as a family and sit and watch hours of inspirational messages. Besides the time together, we also love the food we get to enjoy.
These pretzel bites are one of our favorites. I use Mel’s Kitchen Cafe’s recipe but triple the recipe instead of only one batch. My kids would cry if I only made one batch since we eat them so quickly we’re always sad when they’re gone.
Mustard Ranch Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 1 package dry ranch seasoning mix
- Dash salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
With the pretzel bites, we serve them with this Mustard Ranch Dipping Sauce. My friend made this for us the other day and it was so good we had to make it again with these pretzels. It was so good we even dipped dry, store-bought pretzels in it and it was even great. I used the leftover mustard sauce on sandwiches for the next couple days and it was awesome. Really, I’m sure a lot of things would be great in this sauce 😉 Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs. active dry yeast
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the yeast, sugar, and water together. Let it sit and proof for 5 minutes. Add the flour a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the salt. Knead the dough for 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. 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 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.
- Cut each strip of dough into 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. Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter.
