Ways to Ruin Your New Year's Diet: Soft Pretzels

Pretzels and cheese! It can't get any better.

I made the stupid decision to get in shape for the New Year. This was partly because it was New Year's and I needed a resolution, and mostly because I just bought a new swimsuit and I didn't want to look like a beached whale. I've been good about going to the gym, but when I get back I am just SO HUNGRY. I could eat anything and everything and basically just want to stuff my face with carbs. Stop judging me.

You know when you go to the mall and you smell that amazing smell of soft, buttery pretzel wafting through the Macy's, calling your name? Yeah. As a way to ruin my diet with the promise of warm carbohydrates and straight up melted cholesterol, I decided to make pretzels. Hey, the machine said I burned 600 calories today! I deserve it! The pretzel dough has to rise, so it does give you some time to really think about if you want to eat them or not, but I can pretty much guarantee that you will devour them the minute you smell them in the oven.

Don't forget it has to rise!

The egg wash is necessary so the salt sticks.

It's pretty easy to find a recipe by searching around online. I didn't really want to make the giant pretzels, just pretzel snacks, because I felt better eating just a few little ones instead of the big one, although I'm pretty sure that I ate enough small ones to equal 2 or 3 big ones. I took a recipe from allrecipes.com (here) and adapted the baking technique from Two Peas & Their Pod (here) to make my perfect pretzel snack.

These are best served warm, but if you want to keep them around for longer, store them in a sealed plastic gallon bag. Take them out when you want and microwave them on a plate for about 15 sec to re-live the warm deliciousness. If you want a more dessert-type pretzel, you can top the pretzels with cinnamon and sugar instead of salt after you put on the egg wash.

These are definitely tasty with dips of all kinds. There are lots all over the internet, but here are a few links to get you started:
Warm Beer and Cheddar Dip from Williams and Sonoma
Creamy Pesto Dip from Rachael Ray
Hot Mustard Pretzel Dip from Taste of Home

Beer, pretzels and cheese dip! The Williams and Sonoma Warm Beer and Cheddar dip is shown here.

Pretzel Bites
(adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod and allrecipes.com)

1 package or 2 1/4 tsp bakers yeast
2 tbl brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water at 110 deg F
1 1/4 tsp fine salt
4 cups flour, plus some extra for kneading
1/3 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten with about 1 tbl of cold water to make an egg wash
Coarse sea salt

Dissolve yeast and brown sugar in warm water. Proof the yeast by letting it sit for about 10 minutes, or until nice and foamy. Add salt and flour, and stir until it forms a soft dough. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth, about 5 minutes or so. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. Put in an oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 deg F.

Once dough is risen, roll it into 6 equal sized balls. Take each ball and roll the dough into a long rope. You want the rope to be thin. Cut the rope into approximately 1 inch pieces. Repeat with remaining balls.

Fill a medium size saucepan with water about 2/3 of the way. Bring it to a boil, and add the baking soda to the water. It will foam up so be careful. Bring it back to a boil and drop in your pretzel bites, about 10 at a time. Boil until they float up to the top, about 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining pretzel bites. Place boiled bites on a well-greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake bites at 425 deg for 9 min or until golden brown. Serve with dip and cold beer!