Pepperoni and Cheese Stuffed Pretzel Bites

I found this recipe on Sweet Pea's Kitchen  blog and I have always loved her ideas and inspirations. She inspired me to make these because I love pretzels, all kinds of pretzels from Rold Gold to Auntie Ann's. Whenever they are at a party my hand is always in the bowl.   I had not made pretzels since 7th grade in Ms. Strayer's HomeEc class....that was 15 years ago. I also remember the pretzels looking very anemic and tasting like salted pizza dough.....This pretzel challenge changed my mind-Yes I can make real looking and great tasting pretzels! I will be repeating this recipe again in the future. I want to try stuffing with cheese, sausage, maybe even chocolate.  Here is how mine turned out. 

Recipe: 

Dough: 

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 pkg dry yeast 

2 Tbls brown sugar 

3 Tbls melted butter 

2 1/2 tsps salt

4-5 cups flour ( depending on stickiness of dough) 

( olive oil) 

Stuffing:

1 package sliced pepperoni 

1 bag shredded mozzarella

Topping:

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup water 

rock salt 

pizza sauce

Other:

1 large pot boiling water 

1 cup baking soda

Directions:  

1. Place warm water, yeast sugar and butter in mixing bowl and use your dough hook. Let rest for 5 mins. 

2. Add flour and salt until dough sticks to your dough hook. ( 2-3 mins) if needed add more flour 1 Tbls at a time.  

 3.  Remove and dough and place in a well oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and place in warm draft free spot in your house for 1 hour until dough doubles in size.  

4. Turn dough onto an floured surface. kneed until not sticky and divide into 8 equal parts. 

5. 

Roll each part into a long rope about 18-24 inches long.  Then cut each rope into 3 inch pieces. 

roll each piece into a flat round ( see below) 

6.  Fill each flattened round with mozzarella and pepperoni and fold into a little round/oval ball. 

7. Preheat your oven to 425.  Now here is where it gets weird.  Take  large pot of water ( I used this 7 qt cast iron pan) filled it with about 6 cups of water and 1 cup baking soda. The water will be milky. Once water starts to boil put your stuffed bites into the water.  Boil for about 30-40 seconds until they puff up and float to the top.  This seals the pretzel and make the pretzel have that chewy outside ( the missing step from my 7th grade ) 

8. drain bites with slotted spoon and brush with egg wash

9. bake on a cookie sheet for 15-20 mins. Remove when golden brown. 

10. Serve warm with warm pizza sauce.  These are amazing. Totally worth the prep and effort.  Well received by everyone. 

**Note** These are pretty time consuming. I made the dough at 7 and after the dough is risen ( about 8:30)  the prep time for 4-5 dz pretzel bites is about 2-2 1/2 hrs.  I was not done with my last batch until almost 11 on a weeknight.**