Stuffed Soft Pretzels

I grew up in a family of pretzel people.  I remember snacking on pretzels at the beach, getting chocolate covered pretzels for Christmas, buying soft pretzels at the town fair, and i'm sure my first charcuterie board was made of Hammond's pretzels, Cracker Barrel cheese, and Kunzler Sweet Bologna.  Our local Walmart even had an Auntie Anne's and to this day I can't go to Walmart without craving a cinnamon sugar soft pretzel.  (enough reminiscing - i'm drooling)

I did a little research this week to help understand why we are so obsessed: 

• It was the Pennsylvania Dutch (my family's origins) that brought the pretzel to North America from Germany
• Soft pretzels are a staple of Philadelphia and PA produces 80% of the nations pretzels (my family's stomping grounds)
• Hard pretzels originated in Lititz, PA (15 mins from my hometown)

Clearly, we didn't choose our love for pretzels... the pretzels chose us..

When my parents visit from PA, i usually ask them to bring pretzels because i miss them so much, but this week, i decided to make some.  Because i had leftover cheese & pepperoni from pizza night, i decided to add a fun twist and let me tell you, they turned out so good that Asher ate 5 of them in no time!  While i don't necessarily recommend that, you do need to try them.  They are fluffy, cheesy, salty and great with a dip of mustard.

1. Combine water, sugar and salt in stand mixer bowl and sprinkle in the yeast; let stand about 5 mins or until it starts to foam
2. Add the remaining dough ingredients and mix with a dough hook until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl (it will form a ball around the hook and the bowl will look clean)
3. Place the dough ball in a bowl that has been greased with oil or cooking spray, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place for about an hour 
   • Pro Trick:  on cold days, i heat water in the microwave while i'm mixing the dough to create a nice warm place for the dough to rise
4. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper; grease the paper with oil or cooking spray
5. Boil a large pot of water (~10 cups) with the baking soda
6. Pour the dough out and split into 8 pieces
7. Working one at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a long skinny rectangle (~14 inches by 3 inches), fill with a line of cheese and pepperoni, and roll the dough around the filling into a long rope shape.  Hold the ends of the rope, make a big U shape, cross the two rope ends over one another and then press them into the bottom of the U to make a pretzel shape and place them on the baking sheets. 
   • It always help to study the pretzel picture before you start so you know what shape you're looking for...  but there really isn't a wrong answer here, whatever you create will taste great
   • The pretzels will rise, so having four per sheet works well.....  i'm telling you this because i've tried to fit it all on one sheet and had one mega pretzel..  don't do it :)
8. When the pot of water boils, drop each pretzel in one at a time for about 30 seconds or until it puffs up, then return it to the baking sheet.  When all the pretzels have been dipped in the water, brush the tops with the egg yolk and water mixture and then sprinkle with the pretzel salt.
9. Bake until they are golden brown (~13-14 minutes)
10. Let them cool for at least a few minutes and then enjoy them warm with mustard

Okay.. if you are feeling like that was a lot of steps and it might not be worth it, let me just say this.  Asher says they are the best thing i have ever made and he has already made me promise to make them on his birthday.  They are worth it!

The whole process takes about 2 hours and 1 hour of that is letting the dough rise.

They are perfect as an appetizer and would also be great with tomato soup!

What other toppings would you like to see in a pretzel?

Fun fact: Wikipedia says that pretzels used to be hidden instead of eggs on Easter.. sounds much better to me!