Even though I forgot the kosher salt before baking, they were still delicious! And, they freeze very well.
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| Sprinkled a little kosher salt on the plate since I forgot to sprinkle before baking |
Ingredients – makes 15
- ¾ cup warm liquid, such as beer, water, low fat milk - I used wheat beer
- 1 full teaspoon yeast
- I tablespoon sugar substitute, like Splenda or Truvia
- 1 cup whole-grain flour + more for dusting
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt + more for pretzel tops
- 4 oz. low fat/neufchatel cream cheese
- 1 cup low fat shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh jalapeno or other pepper - I used 3 habaneros
- 4 to 5 slices cooked turkey bacon
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
Directions
Pour liquid into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, sprinkle yeast over top, add sugar substitute, and stir. Let set until foamy—5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine cheeses, chopped bacon, and chopped hot pepper in a medium sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
Add flours and salt to yeast mixture. Knead with mixer until the dough comes together into a ball—3 to 5 minutes. Add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time as needed, if bread is too sticky to come together. Dough should be tacky, not sticky.
Place dough on floured counter and knead in flour by hand until it is no longer tacky, just a minute or two. Form dough into a ball. Then divide dough and make into 15 golf ball sized balls. Cover balls loosely with plastic wrap and let rest while preparing work area.
Preheat oven to 450°. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray, or cover with parchment paper. I used paper, because I thought the cheese might ooze out and make a mess; however, there was very little cheese that leaked. Fill a medium bowl with 2 cups of boiling hot water and add baking soda. Set aside.
Prepare the dough balls in batches of 3: Flatten each dough ball and roll into a thin circle. Add 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture. Carefully pull dough over the cheese, pinching the edges to seal, and then roll into a ball. Set aside and repeat until you have 3 stuffed dough balls. Transfer 3 stuffed dough balls to hot water mixture and prepare the next 3. After next 3 dough balls are prepared, remove dough balls from water with a slotted spoon and place on prepared baking sheet. Place 3 newly prepared balls into the water and repeat until all dough balls are on the cookie sheet. Arrange all pretzel balls so they are not touching.
Brush tops with egg wash, if desired. This will make the final product more golden and shiny - I skipped this step. Sprinkle with course (kosher or sea) salt.
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| Ready for the kosher salt |
Bake until the tops are browned—8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm; freeze leftovers.
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| This is the most cheese that oozed out. I will not forget the kosher salt next time! |
Enjoy these delicious snacks, and feel free to share this post for others.
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