Homemade Pretzel Bites with Honey Mustard Sauce

You know what the best part about having a boyfriend fiance who loves to cook is?

Fun homemade snacks just because.

Oh yeah, and there’s that whole he does more of the cooking so I can exercise and blog all the time thing. That too. But I totally benefit when Tim just feels like experimenting in the kitchen.

Homemade Pretzel Bites with Honey Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

For making the dough

• 1 cup warm water (around 100 to 110 degrees F)
• 1 envelope of active dry yeast (1/4 ounce)
• 3 cups whole wheat flour + a little extra for work surface
• 1 tbsp gourmet salt
• 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + a little extra for the bowl

For baking the pretzels

• 8 cups water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• gourmet salt

For making the honey mustard sauce

• 5 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Directions

To make the dough

1. Stir together warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand until a creamy foam appears on the surface. This should take about ten minutes, but if the mixture doesn’t foam you should start over with a new yeast.
2. In a smaller bowl, stir together the wheat flour, salt, and light brown sugar.
3. Add the flour mixture and 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon and then your hands until it forms into dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth. This should take about another ten minutes, and you should dust with more flour as needed if the dough sticks to your work surface.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and make sure it is all coated with the oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until it is double its original size. This takes 2-3 hours. You could also let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes, transfer to the oiled bowl in the same way, and let rise in the fridge overnight.
5. Once the dough rises, punch down and divide into quarters. Form each quarter into 4 balls. Roll each ball into a 12 inch long rope. Cut each rope into six 2 inch pieces, and transfer to wax paper lined rimmed baking sheets.

To bake the pretzels

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F with the racks in the upper and lower thirds.
2. Oil two large baking sheets.
3. In a 4 to 5 quart saucepan, bring the water and baking soda to a boil. The mixture will be foamy at first, but it should go away. Add 12 pretzel bites and cook for 30 seconds. They should rise to the top immediately, and then you can transfer to the baking sheets with a slotted spoon. Quickly sprinkle pretzel bites on both sides with the salt before they dry. Repeat with the remaining pretzel bites, making sure to return the water to a boil between batches.
4. Bake the bites in the oven, switching the sheets between the racks and rotating them halfway through. They should be deep chestnut brown after 8-10 minutes, but watch them in the oven toward the end so they don’t overcook. Immediately transfer the bites to wire racks to cool.

To make the honey mustard sauce

1. Combine the honey, mustard, and rice wine vinegar in a bowl.
2. Whisk until smooth.
3. Serve with the pretzels and enjoy!

These were the perfect Sunday-night-lounge-on-the-couch-not-wanting-to-go-to-work-on-Monday kind of snack. But they’re really only good for one day, so if you plan on making them, plan to gobble them up right away. These aren’t necessarily the healthiest of snacks, but they aren’t terrible for you either. Tim did use whole wheat flour in lieu of regular and the oil in lieu of butter, so an attempt at healthier swaps was made!

–Let’s chat–
Do your significant others cook or experiment in the kitchen? What’s a fun snack you’ve made or enjoyed lately?

P.S. The winner of my New Balance giveaway is Janice @ Cappytweet! Congrats, Janice! Please email me at fitnessandfeta@gmail.com to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone else who entered the giveaway and left such nice comments for my three-year bloggiversary. You guys rock!