miniature soft pretzels (2024)

I wish I had something more eloquent to say about the miniature soft pretzels I made for the two Super Bowl parties we attended on Sunday, but every time I look at them, intelligent words escape me: they’re sooo cute! Are they not the fattest, more adorable little things you have ever seen?! They were so plump, all their holes closed up and while I tried to twist them into the traditional pretzel shape, as if all they really wanted to be when they baked up was a dinner roll. With turkey and mustard, I believe they requested.

Ever since I made bretzel rolls (something I just learned are actually called Laugenbrötchen, such a cooler name) in October, I have been looking for excuses to do so again (and not leave them to stale and condensate in a plastic bag this time). It hasn’t helped that I am suddenly seeing varieties freshly-baked pretzels in all sorts of places, above and beyond the stale street cart fare. First, there was an impulsive trip to the Schaller and Weber store on East 86th Street two weekends ago, where the most gorgeous soft pretzel sticks were sold in threes, clamoring to be dipped in something fantastic and spicy. Then, I saw them again at the Garden of Eden by us last night. And, could fuel for my pretzel obsession not get any stronger, there is apparently a place called the Columbia City Bakery in Seattle whose charming s-shaped pretzel slits might alone be enough reason to visit.

This time, I used Martha Stewart’s recipe, mostly because her 1-2-3 easy diagram for making the pretzel twists alone make it a worthwhile click. The recipe barely differs from the bretzel one in proportions, though a less-speedy yeast, less glutinous flour and slightly more salt and sugar are used. However, the one place with a noticeable variation — her boiling bath calls for just 2 tablespoons of baking soda and no sugar versus 1/4 cup soda and 2 tablespoons sugar, though equal poaching times — my best educated guess tells me is the part the made a difference I didn’t want. I had really hoped for that dark, stunning and shiny brown exterior I had last time, but even with several extra minutes in the oven, these remained lighter in color, like the ones bought on the street. Their flavor was spot-on, however, I just might revert to the more soda-heavy poaching liquid next time.

As I learned last time, store these open and uncovered for up to a day or two, though they are best eaten soon after they are baked. Storing them, however, is really a non-issue because they barely made it to halftime, which is a shame because I bet they would have loved the Prince-in-a-doo-rag show, too.

Finally, because something I made last week too just doesn’t warrant a separate post, I also made icebox cakes in cupcake form on Sunday. Just like the cake, they were super-easy to make, but be wary! It uses even more cookies. From three packs of Nabisco Chocolate Wafers, I was able to make about 22 cupcakes (5 cookies high) before running down to just the broken ones in the pack. Another trick: always use way more whipped cream than you think you’ll need (the cookies should stack, freshly made, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart). Once it sits overnight, much of it gets absorbed into the cookies (yum), so if you put too little, you end up with a stack of cookies, and no white ribbon-ed effect.

I expected that we’d have to eat them by fork or spoon, but they were surprisingly easy to eat by hand, or, really no more messy than picking up one of those abundantly-frosted cupcakes from Billy’s or Magnolia bakery.

Finally, the discs are slightly big for a standard cupcake liner. I centered them over it, flattening the paper a little, but if you have any big muffin liners, this is a good time to use them. Oh, and if you want one for yourself it’s best to grab these, too, in the beginning of the party. But you already knew that.