Stuffed Pretzel Bread & Calzones

There are few things in this world I love more than fresh baked bread.  I know that is not a huge or surprising confession but it does help to explain my complete and utter obsession with this recipe.  When I was a kid, I would go to the mall with my sister and she would always make a point of getting us a warm pretzel with cheese sauce.  You know the ones that are dipped in butter and covered in crunchy salty goodness?
::: drool ::: Yup, those are the ones.

We'd sit next to each other with all of our packages piled up at our feet and we'd laugh and giggle as we pulled off pieces of the warm yeasty dough and dunked it in the cup of hot gooey cheese sauce.

It really is the small pleasures in life, isn't it?  Such good memories.  :)

When I first saw this recipe on Girl Versus Dough, I knew I had to try it.  She really is a genius and these are just so delicious I had to share them with you.  Up until I found this recipe I always thought you had to use lye to make pretzels - - and that is a pretty scary prospect if you ask me! But nope, this recipe couldn't be any simpler (or safe) to make and it is equally as delicious - - albeit a bit more refined -  as those pretzels I remember eating as a kid.  What you end up with from this recipe could be called a bunch of different things - - stuffed pretzel rolls, mini hand pies, calzones.  It doesn't really matter what you call them, they are all delicious.

Portion out the dough into 8 pieces for
making larger calzones.

I tweaked the original recipe by substituting in some whole wheat flour which provides additional texture, a deeper brown color and a more "pretzle-ly" flavor.  I know that isn't a word…but you know what I mean.  Once you have the dough recipe and the technique down, you can do any number of delicious things.  The flavor combinations are endless.

And, as if you needed another excuse to make these,  they all freeze beautifully. So you can just grab them out the freezer, warm them through in the oven, toaster oven or microwave and have a tasty dinner or snack in just minutes.  So, let's get started!

Raspberry Jam and Creamy Brie
make a delicious filling

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water, sugar and yeast.  Let it sit for a few minutes so the yeast can start to do its magic.  You will know it is ready when it starts to get a bit foamy.

Use the dough hook attachment for your mixer and add in the melted butter, both kinds of flour, and 2 tsp kosher salt and knead on a medium speed for about 5 minutes or until the dough starts to pull away from the sides.  If you don't have a mixer you can turn the dough mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it by hand for about 10 minutes until it is smooth, elastic and slightly tacky.

Use a fork to tightly crimp the
edges closed

While you are waiting for the dough to come together, grease a large bowl.  Pull the dough out of the mixer, shape it into a ball and place it in the prepared bowl.  Cover it tightly will plastic wrap and leave it on the counter to rise for about an hour.  The addition of the whole wheat flour does mean you need to give it a bit more time to rise than if you were using all white flour, so you are really just looking for the dough to double in size.

When the dough is ready, you can prepare the "magical pretzel water bath" by simply bringing the water and baking soda to a boil.  This is what is going to turn our regular old boring dough into PRETZELS!

Just pile the ingredients
in the center

These little guys are stuffed and ready
for their bath

Prepare your baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or Silpat and pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  From this point forward, how you prepare the dough is going to depend on what you want to make.  For the calzones, place the dough on a floured surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces, roll each piece into a ball and then flatten them out into an 8 inch circle.  If you want to make smaller hand pies or stuffed rolls you roll out the entire ball of dough on a floured surface to about a 1/4 of an inch thickness and use a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out small circles.

The baking soda makes the water
cloudy and leaves a bit of residue on
the side of the pot.

Don't have a biscuit cutter? No problem, just use a large drinking glass with a floured rim to cut out the desired size and shape.  Place the desired filling in the center of the dough, fold one end of the circle over to the other and pinch the ends tightly.  You can use the tines of a fork to get a good seal around the edge to make sure the filling stays put inside the calzones.

If you are making the little rolls, you just add the filling to the very center of your circle and then close up the dough around it and roll it into a ball, making sure to seal in the filling on all sides.

Brush the boiled dough with some egg wash
and sprinkle liberally with salt.

Once you have the delicious little packages all prepared, use a slotted spoon to carefully lower them, one at a time, into the hot water bath.  Don't put more than a couple in the water at a time or they will tend to stick to each other.

Boil each one for about 30 seconds, turning them over half-way through. Remove them from the water using the slotted spoon and place them on your prepared baking sheets.  Brush each one with egg wash (1 egg yolk beat together with 1-2 Tbsp of water) and sprinkle the tops liberally with salt.

They bake into delicious
golden brown pretzel pockets!

Bake in a 400 degree oven until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes for the larger calzones or 10-15 minutes for the hand pies and rolls.  You only want to use ingredients for the filling that are already cooked so you aren't worrying about anything being underdone.

I've listed some combinations that I have tried and think are delicious but the sky is the limit.  Anything you can think of that would be good stuffed into a pretzel and baked to golden deliciousness would work.  I even took some of the dough by itself and rolled it into little balls and baked off some plain pretzel bread dinner rolls which were moist and delicious all by themselves.

Warm marinara sauce with the
cheese filled pretzel rolls

I like to serve warm marinara sauce with the stuffed cheese version, but you could also dip them in more cheese sauce (hey! why not?) or even Ranch dressing would be good for the Broccoli, Ham and Gouda calzones.

Colby Jack cheese melts beautifully
in the rolls

Next time I may get adventurous and twist these up into actual pretzels, melt some cheese sauce and call my sister over for a visit so we can sit around dunking our hearts out and pretending we are kids again.  :)



Pretzel Bread recipe adapted from Girl Versus Dough
Ingredients for Dough:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 packet Active dry yeast (2 1/3 tsp)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp kosher salt
10 cups tap water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
Kosher or Maldon salt for topping calzones

Fun Filling Combinations:
Ham, Gouda and Broccoli
Brie and Raspberry Jam
Colby Jack Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese and Dried Italian Herb

The larger calzones are definitely big enough for a meal.