Pretzel Bites

The first time I had these babies my daughter was having her Girl's Night Out party in our cabin.  I watched her make these pretzel bites, then bit into one and fell in love!  (that's Brandi, second from the left- love her too- AND her friends!)

When I was going through my Pity Party (see my regular blog entry the other day) and having a cooking frenzy, these are one of the Rhodes dough variations I made.  The first one is the cheesy savory one Brandi did (a little garlic and Parmesan cheese and salt.)

This is the cinnamon and sugar one that had me going the other day.  So good.  So addictive!

Pretzel Bites

Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed & risen as directed on package
melted butter
 {cinnamon & sugar, Parmesan cheese,  asiago cheese, whatever you like on your pretzels!}



After your rolls have thawed & doubled in size cut into bite size pieces. (I use scissors)  Bring a pot of water to a boil with 1/2 cup baking soda.  Sounds weird but the baking soda is what gives your pretzel that outside pretzel crunch and shine.  Place a few dough pieces {do not crowd}  into boiling water for 30-45 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon and put on paper towel (I put a cloth towel under the paper towel to drain better) to drain. Repeat with remaining dough. Place dough pieces on parchment lined {or greased} cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 min. While still warm place in bowl and toss with melted butter or  sprinkle Kosher salt {or topping of choice} and serve warm.  If you are making asiago or salted pretzel bites, sprinkle with cheese or salt about 5 minutes before they are done.

Zesty Lemon Rolls

Even though these delicious rolls have lemon zest in them, they really aren't that tart or strong...but totally delicious.  Next time you need a good roll, try these:

Zesty Lemon Rolls

Rhodes frozen bread rolls, thawed
sugar
zest from 1-2 lemons, depending on how many rolls you are making
sugar (maybe 1/2 cup for 12 rolls)
butter, melted
Lemon juice/powdered sugar glaze

Dip the rolls in butter, then top with a mixture of sugar and lemon zest.  Save some of the sugar mixture.  Let the rolls raise, then sprinkled the tops again with the mixture.  The first mixture kind of sinks in while rising.  Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.  Serve warm with/or without a powdered sugar/lemon juice glaze.

Cheesy Feta Breadsticks

I love a good break stick and actually make a variety of them with Rhode's frozen dough...but this one had a twist that I couldn't wait to try.  Totally a winner especially with Italian food or a good Olive Garden salad!

Melt butter and pour in the bottom of your pan.  If you are using a cookie sheet, about a whole stick melted. (Okay, I didn't say this was low-cal....or low fat....)  Then cover the butter in Parmesan cheese.  Even the stuff in the green can works just fine.  Roll your thawed Rhode's dough into what size bread stick you would like.  Let raise awhile. You know the drill.   Drizzle with left over butter (I know, quit rolling your eyes), sprinkled with crumbled Feta cheese (yumo!) and a few sprinkles of Salad Supreme.

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  These are so good I think Italian  just rolled off my tongue.  (Oh wait, that was cheesy feta breadsticks....)