Jalapeño Cheese Pretzels

My mom made pepperoni pizza pretzels using the recipe on Ciao Italia a few weeks ago.  I told her they were fine, but that I think I would appreciate having jalapeño cheese ones more.  She came down this week to see the girls off to school since they started this past Monday - the bear cub for another year of preschool and the nerdlet for kindergarten, and since she was saying she was going to leave yesterday, I talked her into staying another night and put out all the ingredients on the counter last night.  This morning while I walked the nerdlet to her bus stop, my mom started to put them together.

Didn't they come out beautifully?  They are tasty, too.

Here is the modified recipe:

1 1/2 cups warm (110°F) water
1 tablespoon honey1 package Fleischmanns pizza crust yeast2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil4 to 4 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt 2 4oz containers of pickled jalapeños
8 oz grated cheddar
8 cups water1/2 cup baking soda

In a large bowl combine the water, yeast, honey, butter, and olive oil. Add 4 cups of the flour a cup at a time, the salt, and mix with the dough hook until the mixture is well combined and moves around the blade and begins to form a ball. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead it a couple of times.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (we did 16).  Roll each piece of dough under the palms of your hands into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the 2 ends of the rope, cross them over each other twice and press them into the center of the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place on the parchment-lined pans, spacing them about an inch apart.

Bring the water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a soup pot.  Use a wide face flat spatula or skimmer and boil the pretzels a few at a time until they float in the water. Drain them well and place them on the parchment lined pans, at least 2 inches apart. 

You can brush the pretzels with the egg wash and sprinkle them with coarse salt and cheese, but we skipped this step.

Bake until they are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on racks. Best eaten warm.