With the Super Bowl (a.k.a the Rihanna Bowl) just around the corner, this means game-day snacks need preparing.
While I’m not a fan of watching grown men tackle each other for four hours, I will be tuning in to watch Rihanna perform, of course.
That being said, I am going to need a snack while doing so. And what’s the best finger food for any TV watch party? Pretzel bites and cheese sauce, duh.
My favorite pretzel bite recipe is from Sally’s Baking Addiction, where she also includes a spicy cheese sauce recipe.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water (360 ml)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1tbs melted, slightly cooled unsalted butter
3 3/4 cups - 4 cups AP flour
Baking soda bath
1/2 cup baking soda
9 cups water
Instructions
Whisk warm water, yeast, and sugar in a stand mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a regular, large bowl with a whisk.
Cover yeast mixture until it becomes foamy on top, around 5 minutes. Add salt, butter, and 3 cups of flour and beat on low speed until combined, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula frequently. Add in the rest of the 3/4 cup of flour.
Beat the dough on low speed for another 2 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. If it’s still really sticky, add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Continue to beat the dough for another 2 minutes on medium low.
Cover the bowl of dough with a damp cloth for 30 minutes. While it’s rising, prepare the water and baking soda bath and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Sprinkle a work surface with flour and place the dough on it. Cut the dough into 6 pieces and roll each into 20 inch ropes. Let each rope rest for 10 minutes, the cut them into 1.5 inch pieces.
In the boiling baking soda water, add 8-10 pretzel bites for 10 seconds. Lift the pretzels out of the water and let the water drip off; place the bites on the baking sheet with an inch of space between each one. Sprinkle the bites with kosher salt and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Enjoy the pretzel bites, but most importantly, enjoy Rihanna.