Pretzel Dogs and Pretzel Bites

I flew out to Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with the family and  meet this little man....

Although I can't say I miss living in Vegas, I do miss seeing my sweet little nieces... and now my first little nephew.  He was even born a Broncos fan which makes him even more perfect if that's possible.  Since he's young and green though, we tried to shield him from the nausea  that tends to ensue when Brady gets a win.  I'm not going to lie to you though...Little Man spit up quite a bit during the game.  Seems he really was born with orange and blue blood running through his veins.  

When my family is together, it's pretty much guaranteed there's going to be some baking. This week's game was all about the pretzel....pretzel dogs and pretzel bites.

Love my sister's apple green mixer. 

I felt that I really needed to dirty up her mixer when she told me she's only ever used it to make fondant.  I'd call her crazy girl except she's kind of a whiz with fondant.  The patience amazes me.

Here's what came out of the mixer when I'm on the clock.  Don't worry, it tastes much better than it looks.

Boiling the pretzels is what gives them their chewy texture. Not sure what the baking soda in the water does specifically, but it makes soft pretzels taste like soft pretzels. 

While the pretzel dogs went quickly, I actually prefer the pretzel bites served with pizza sauce. 

So smushy.  My sister had major cheeks when she was little and she makes her babies that way too. Learning to hold your head up is really hard work. 

Soft Pretzels
adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 and 1/4 tsp yeast (or one packet)

1.5 tsp kosher salt
4.5 cups flour

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus additional for buttering bowl
1/2 c baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
salt for sprinkling

10 hot dogs cut in half (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 
2. Add the flour and butter and using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. 
3. Increase mixer to medium speed and mix until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. 
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and butter mixing bowl well. 
5. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place until double in size (or about an hour
6. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
7. Fill large stockpot halfway with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add baking soda. The boiling baking soda water can make quite a mess--definitely stick with a big pot filled halfway full if you can.    
8. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. 
9. Roll out each piece of dough into a 14 inch rope. If making pretzel bites, cut rope into 1/2 inch pieces.  If making pretzel dogs, cut rope in half and wrap around hot dog halves, taking care to press and pinch ends to seal well.
10. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan and continue with remaining hot dogs. 
11. Place the pretzel dogs/bites into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water with a large slotted spoon. 
12. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle with salt
13. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 15 minutes for pretzel dogs or 10-12 minutes for pretzel bites
14. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.