Pumpkin Shaped Soft Pretzel Bites

Few days ago I came across these gorgeous Pumpkin Dinner Rolls by Holly over at Beyond Kimchee.

I love the look so much that! I spontaneously ran into the kitchen, took out my last packet of dry yeast and I kneaded soft pretzels into little pumpkins. Using Holly’s cutting technique I created Pumpkin Shaped Pretzel Bites.Aren’t they cute? I didn’t have any pecans so I used peanuts for the stems instead.

Pumpkin Shaped Soft Pretzel Bites

Yeast Dough
1 1/2 cup warm water
1tsp honey
1package dry yeast

2 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cup bread flour
1tbl kosher salt
6tbl melted butter

Baking Soda Solution
5cups water
1/3cup baking soda

Egg Wash for brushing
egg yolk
1tbl water

olive oil to coat the bowl

Toppings
pretzel salt
caraway seeds(optional)

Tools
pastry brush
board for rolling
parchment paper
kitchen scissors
slotted spoon

Make the Dough

Pour warm water into the bowl of your mixer, add honey and stir in
yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy. Make sure you use warm
water, not hot. Hot water will kill the yeast

Add 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 cups of bread flour, melted butter
and salt into the bowl with yeast and knead , using a dough hook
attachment. If dough is too sticky add additional 1/2 cup of bread
flour. This dough when kneaded is somewhat on a dense side. Knead for 5
minutes, or until the dough comes into a smooth ball.

Lightly coat a large bowl with the oil and put the dough into the
bowl.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for a
hour.

Preheat oven to 450F

Forming the Pretzel Rolls/Balls

Invert the dough onto a clean work surface(DO NOT USE ADDITIONAL FLOUR),
Roll the dough into a rectangle and using a knife or pizza cutter cut the dough into squares.
Using both hands, pull the dough together, form a ball from each square.

Dipping dough in Baking Soda Solution

I didn’t take picture of this step but you can view a picture tutorial of how this is done here.
Simply bring 5 cups of water to boil, add 1/3 cup baking soda. Stir well until baking soda is dissolved.”Blanch” the pretzel rolls in the baking soda bath for 30 seconds. Remove from the solution onto a tray or bare baking sheet and continue with remaining rolls.

Form a Pumpkin like Shape

Transfer pretzels onto a sheet lined with parchment paper, using Kitchen Shears, hold pretzel roll in your hand and using shears cut total of 8 cuts through the dough, all around, keeping the center of the roll intact.
Then using the wooden spoon handle press deeply into the center of the roll, leaving a small dimple.