Pretzels Ingredients:
- One box of Potato Dumplings thawed or 1 bag of Mini Soup Potato Dumplings thawed
- 12 cups water
- 1/2 cup baking soda for boiling the pretzels
- 1 whole egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
- Coarse sea salt
- nonstick spray
Cheese Sauce Ingredients:
- ½ Tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ Cup milk
- 8 Ounces grated cheddar cheese
- vegetable oil
Pretzel Steps
*If you are using the Traditional Potato dumplings, then cut each large dumpling into 8 pieces and roll them.
- Sit the dough balls out not touching and lightly coat with oil, you may want to cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for about 15 minutes until the dough is slightly defrosted and softened.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bring the 12 cups of water to a boil in a stockpot over high heat and carefully add the baking soda. It will boil over, so add slowly and be careful!
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Make sure the dough is still in separate balls.
- Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches (15-20 pieces) Boil for about 1 minute. Remove with a large, handled strainer.
- Place pretzel bites on the baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the chunky sea salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, toss and then another 5 – 10 min’s or until golden brown. (I like to try one) 15-18 minutes total if you like soft pretzels.
- Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating. Serve with cheese sauce.
Cheese Steps:
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the flour and cook 1 minute.
- Whisk in the milk and cook until slightly thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar cheese until smooth and all of the cheese is melted.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
*If you want to make cinnamon and sugar pretzel bites-instead of adding salt, sprinkle the bites with cinnamon and sugar.
* For the frosting mix-soft cream cheese-about 3 T, powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a little bit of milk.
Whisk together. Add more milk if it is too thick, if it is too thin, add more powdered sugar. I don’t measure. I just guess until the consistency is right.