Recipe Courtesy of Laura of JOY food SUNSHINE

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

For a single batch

Pretzel bites:
2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water 105-110 degrees
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons whole milk room temperature
3 Tablespoons salted butter melted
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
8 ounces cabot sharp cheddar cheese cut into ½” cubes

Water bath:
4 quarts water
½ cup baking soda

Topping:
coarse sea salt (to taste)
2 Tablespoons salted butter melted
Instructions

1.  Combine yeast, water, and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes (until foamy).
2. While yeast is proofing, melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix in milk and set aside.
3. Once yeast is proofed, add milk/butter to yeast mixture and mix on low speed with dough hook until just combined.
4. Add salt and flour and mix with dough hook until flour is fully incorporated.
5. Knead in a mixer until the dough forms a slightly tacky, but firm ball, you may need to add a little more flour 1 TBS at a time, but be careful, you want the dough to be a little tacky but not too sticky to handle.
6. Oil a large bowl, place the dough ball in the bowl, and cover with a damp towel in a warm place to let rise for one hour or until doubled in size.
7. After dough has doubled in size, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease a large baking pan, set aside.
8. Chop the cheese into 16, ½” cubes, set aside. (there will be extra cheese)
9. Remove the dough from the bowl and gently press out the air bubbles.
10. Make balls of dough the same size (NOTE: I recommend using a food scale to do this. The total weight of the dough comes out to be about 800 g, so each bite should weigh about 50 g).
11. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, slowly add the baking soda a little bit at a time (Be careful not to add too much at once or you will have a baking soda/water explosion)!
12. Form each dough portion into a round, flat disc. Add one piece of cheese onto each disc and form a ball around the cheese. Make sure to pinch of any seems and roll them into smooth balls so no cheese can leak out. (Do not let it rise at all here! Straight from forming the ball into the water). 
Complete with all 16 bites.
13. Drop one of the pretzel bites into the boiling baking soda water. Boil for 60 seconds on each side, turning it once to guarantee both sides are covered. Use a slotted spoon to drain the excess water from the dough and place it on the prepared baking sheet.
14. Immediately sprinkle coarse sea salt over the pretzel bites to your specific tastes.
15. Repeat with each pretzel bite until you have used them all. (Do NOT let it rise here, the bites need to go straight from the boiling water into the oven. I recommend baking 8 at a time, so they don’t have the opportunity to rise).
16. Bake the pretzel bites for 12-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet once halfway through baking. The bites are done when they are browned and bounce back when touched.
17. Once removed from the oven, immediately brush the tops of the bites with melted butter.
18. Transfer to a wire rack to cool just enough to enjoy!