snacks — Housewife's Whimsy

We have a weekly game night with some friends and this last week I really wanted to kick out snacks up a notch. One of our favorite special snacks to make are soft pretzel bites, but since I’m trying to eat gluten free I needed to find a new recipe to make.I recently got Nicole Hunn’s book “Gluten Free on a Shoestring”. She has fantastic recipes in her book that make cooking gluten free easy. If you haven’t heard of the book you should check this one (and her others) out! This was the first recipe I had made from her book and I’m looking forward to trying more recipes.I used King Arthur Flour’s Gluten Free mix for this recipe, I found that it worked fairly well. Next time I go to make this recipe I will probably try the flour mix I made on my own. I served this with a cheese sauce made from Velveeta, cheddar and parmesan cheeses mixed with a little butter and milk. You can make whatever cheese sauce works for your family. If you want an even better flavor coat the pretzel bites with butter before you serve them and sprinkle with a little bit of additional kosher salt.

Soft Pretzel Bites2 Cups Gluten Free Flour Mix1 ½ Teaspoon Xanthan Gum1 Tablespoon Yeast2 Teaspoons Brown Sugar¾ Teaspoon Kosher Salt¾ Cup to 1 Cup Warm Water1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil2 Cups Warm Water plus 2 Tablespoons Baking SodaKosher Salt (for sprinkling)

Combine the flour, xanthan gum, yeast sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor.

Slowly add ¾ Cup of water while pulsing the food processor until the dough comes together in a ball. If the dough is still dry add up to an additional ¼ Cup of warm water.Press the dough into a disk.

Place the dough disk into a medium bowl and drizzle olive oil over it to coat it.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for approximately 1 hour, or until its doubled in size.After it has risen, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for at least an hour.While the dough is chilling, take the remaining water and the baking soda and bring it to a boil. Preheat the oven to 450.

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into pieces. I find it best to cut the disk into pie shaped slices, then roll those slices into logs and cut the logs into bite sized pieces.

Place in the boiling water/baking soda mixture, poach for approximately 30-45 seconds.

Remove from the water and place on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher saltBake for 8-10 minutes or until the pretzel bites are golden brown.Serve with cheese sauce.

Source:Adapted from: Gluten Free on a Shoestring by Nicole Hunn