A pretzel bite recipe

This past weekend I posted a few photos on Instagram of these pretzel bites that we made .  I got more than one request for the recipe.

I was feeding a large crowd so we quadrupled the recipe.  One batch will yield about 60 pretzel bites.

Soft Pretzel Bites
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 ounces melted butter
large stockpot full of water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk
Kosher salt for pretzels

Combine water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle with yeast.  Allow this to sit for 5 minutes until foamy.  Add flour and butter and mix with a dough hook.  Once mixed, knead on medium for 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth and a bit shiny.  Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size (usually an hour or more depending on how warm your kitchen is.)  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Add the baking soda to the stock pot full of water and bring to a boil. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Turn the dough out push into the shape of a rough, large log.  Divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each of these 8 pieces into a rope shape that is 6-8" long.  Then cut each of these ropes into bite sized pieces.  Place about 8 bite sized pieces into the boiling water solution at a time and boil for approximately 30 seconds.  Remove from the water and place on the parchment lined baking sheets.  Brush the tops with beaten egg yolk and then sprinkle with Kosher salt.  Bake until dark golden brown -- 14-16 minutes.

-dana

P.S. I'd love to know if you make them.  And if you'd care to share what kind of dipping sauces you make to go with them, I'd love that too!