The Super Bowl is drawing close, not that I’m a football fan. In fact, till last year I knew squat about the sport, being Indian and all. To me football always meant soccer, much to the disappointment of my husband. You see, he’s a big fan of the sport. When I told him I had never watched a game , he reacted as though I said I was an Alien or something. Anyway, he sat me down and tried to explain terms like “the line of scrimmage”, “touchdowns”, “extra points” and why four 15 minute quarters last 3 hours, as I sat there getting more confused by the minute. Point is that I still don’t quite get the sport but when he mentioned game day tradition is to snack on finger foods all day it sparked my interest. Football I might not understand…but snacks I can do!
So every sunday while my husband plants his behind in front of the TV watching football, I try my hand at making some sports worthy snacks. Since the super bowl is coming up, whether you’re having a ton of friends over or it’s just your family, you’ve got to have a ton of snacks to last you the whole day. As my husband put it, there are 3 big eating days in America- Thanksgiving, 4th of July and the Super Bowl. So I thought I’d share some game day snack recipes that aren’t your usual chips and dip for either the Super Bowl, a sports meet, tailgating, kids sporting event…whatever the occasion.
So to start you off I had to do a soft pretzel recipe, since my husband loves them. But to spruce them up a little, I decided to stuff them with mini cocktail sausages otherwise known as Little smokies. I used Lit’l Cheddar Smokies, but you can use any kind you like or even stuff the pretzel with pepperoni and cheese or ham and cheese, or chicken….anything you want. Here’s how to make them…
Watch the Video Of This Recipe:
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cup warm water (80F-110F)
- 6 tablespoons butter (melted)
- 4 1/2-5 Cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon salt
- A Pack of Little smokie sausages
- 5 quartz water for boiling
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1 Egg beaten with a tbsp cold water (for egg wash)
- Kosher salt (for sprinkling)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch of Salt to taste
- – In the bowl of a stand up mixer add the yeast, light brown sugar and warm water together and let it sit for 10 mins.
- – Once the yeast mix is bubbly, pour in the melted butter.
- – In a separate bowl, add salt to 4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and mix.
- – Add all the flour to the yeast mixture and with the dough hook attachment, turn the mixer to medium speed until a smooth and elastic ball forms (about 5-6 minutes). If the dough seems too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough comes together.
- – Place the dough in a well oiled bowl and turn it over to coat the dough in oil. Cover with cling film and a cloth and leave the dough to rise for a couple hours (at least 1 1/2 hour)
- – Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 4 quarters
- – Roll each piece into a long rope around an inch thick and cut the rope into 2 inch pieces.
- – Roll out each piece with a rolling pin.
- – Place the little smokie sausage in middle. Roll the dough around it and pinch the ends shut. Do this with as many stuffed pretzels as you want, you can also keep some plain by cutting them into smaller pieces and follow the next step.
- – Pre-heat the oven to 425F. While that’s preheating, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the water and lower to a simmer. (Tip- Don’t fill the water right to the top cos it will spill over when you add the baking soda).
- – Carefully boil the pretzel bites in batches. Drop them in the water and once they rise to the surface on their own, remove them using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to dry.
- – Place the pretzels on well sprayed baking sheet. Brush the tops of each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle with kosher or coarse salt.
- – Pop them in the oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown and beautiful.
- – For the honey mustard dipping sauce…simply mix together the mayonnaise, honey, both mustards, lemon juice and salt.
- – Serve the Pretzels warm with the honey mustard dipping sauce
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This is really something perfect for game day! But of course, we can;t do without the chips and dips…I love your honey mustard dip! Great post! Touchdown!
These look amazingly cute! And delish. I definitely will try them!
Great idea! I’m trying to figure out a way to serve these without all the last minute work. Could these either be boiled, refrigerated and then baked right before game time OR formed, refrigerated early in the day and then boiled and cooked right before game time. Thanks
Hey Bonnie, to prep these before hand you’d have to wrap them then let them rise a little and refrigerate overnight. On game day you can boil them and bake them. Otherwise, boil and bake them and they keep for a couple days. You should however re-heat them through in the oven and not microwave them which will make them very chewy. Hope this helps!
All these need is some cheese. BTW, what team is your husband a fan of?
@Matt: I actually used Lit’l Cheddar Smokies, which are my favorite…so it did have some cheese. My husband says he’s a long time fan of the Patriots, however Eli Manning is having a great year so he’s kinda torn who to cheer for. =)
These look absolutely perfect! Love the step by step photos too 🙂
Agreed with Bonnie, is there anyway this can be prepped beforehand and then put into the oven on game day? Please let us know!
Hey Mindy, I would fully cook them and make them a day ahead then just re-heat in the oven before serving them.
Awesome recipe! Everyone loved it! I used pieces of bratwurst sausage instead of little smokies. Boiled them last night, then baked them this morning for an event at my son’s school. Yum!
Thanks!
Thats awesome Lisa, glad they worked out well for you!=)
Today I have prepared these mini pretzel and were absolutely delicious. Thank you very much for the recipe!
I’m really glad you liked the recipe Sonia! =)
I am excited to make these for my sons birthday. I couldn’t find the cheddar smokies just the plain ones. Could I add some cheese next to the smokie before I roll it up? Would that work?
Hi Hayley,
I’ve tried these with regular cheese and I found that most of the cheese managed to find it’s way out of the pretzel when I baked them. So I’d recommend just the regular smokies and then serve them with Nacho cheese dip or a cheese sauce, something like that. But that’s just me. Let me know how they turn out if you do try the cheese in them. =)
These are so good! I tested one when they finished, and now I want to eat them all! But I have to save them for the party I am taking them too.
Do you have to cook the sausages before you wrap them in the dough?
Yes, I would recommend cooking the sausages if they aren’t already precooked like the ones I used.
MINE WERENT FLOATING TO THE BOTTOM! THE DOUGH WAS STICKY AFTER I TOOK IT OUT THE BAKING SODA/WATER MIXTURE
Awesome Awesome Awesome!! Made these twice so far and they turned out great. I also had leftover dough and put in the fridge for two days, Took out and made these again dough was just like new! ha ha. thank you again for sharing.
Hi ! I’m french canadian and i don’t understand the expression “quatz water”. Can you explain me please ? Thank you !
Oops I think that was a typo. It’s 5 quarts. 1 quart is roughly a liter. Just a big pot of water is basically what you need…like you would boil pasta. It doesn’t have to be exact at all. Hope this helps Julie 🙂
I made these tonight for a church potluck and they were great! I think the kids ate them all up before the adults got to see them. I used costco weiners and cut them in half lengthwise, then into 3s. I kept some dough aside to make plain pretzel balls and they were awesome too. I think the plain ones tasted more like pretzels, but they were all amazing. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Love the recipe as i wanted to know how to make the pretzel dough…:) Please post more than often.. I am eagerly awaiting your recipes and shares noreen…:)
I was looking to make stuffed sandwiches and ended up here. Great dough recipe. I made roast beef and cheddar with a tsp of gravy. OMG they are delicious! But like you said, that cheese does find its way out, just before they’re browned!
ps I cut beef into bite size pieces, and the cheese was sliced off a chunk. That’s the size I went for, to match the cheese