Bennigan's Turkey O'Toole

Pretzel Rolls

2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup butter - softened
3 tablespoons baking soda
2 quarts water
1 large egg yolk

In a small bowl, whisk the yeast and 1/4 cup of the water until smooth. In the bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the remaining 1 cup water, the bread flower, yeast mixture, salt, and butter.

Mix at slow speed for three minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the hook as necessary the mixture blends evenly. When the ingredients are well combined, increase the mixture speed to high and continue mixing and occasionally scraping until the dough is firm and elastic (about 8 minutes). If the mixture is too firm for the mixer to handle, finish kneading it by hand. Turn the ball of dough out onto a lightly flowered work surface and let rest for five minutes, loosely covered with a kitchen towel.

Line a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer with parchment paper and set aside.Cut the dough into eight equal pieces, approximately 4 ounces in size. Roll each into a five inch long cylinder about one inch in diameter. With the palms of your hands, roll each cylinder into a rope about 12 inches long, of even thickness throughout the entire length. Tie the rope into a loose knot in the center, then tuck the ends under the middle and mold gently into an attractive shape. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

When the pretzel dough is shaped, let it sit in a very warm, moist place to rise until almost doubled in size, about 30 to 50 minutes. Freeze the shaped, risen pretzel dough uncovered on the baking sheet for at least 2 hrs. and up to 24 hrs; the dough should be frozen solid.Before removing the pretzels from the freezer, combine the baking soda and water in a large sauce pan and bring it to a simmer. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the pan from the freezer and, using a large flat skimmer, dip each frozen roll in the simmering water for about 3 seconds, letting the excess water drain before returning it to the baking sheet. Brush the pretzels with the egg and water mixture, then sprinkle coarse salt over them. Immediately place the baking sheet in the hot oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for 8-12 minutes more.

Spread
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice +1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, and mustard. Blend thoroughly using a wire whisk.Slowly pour in the honey and lemon juice. Continue mixing ingredients until dressing is smooth and well combined.

Assembling the Turkey O'Toole:
Pretzel Roll sliced in half
2-3 ounces Sliced Turkey (good quality deli sliced turkey, Boar's Head is a good brand)
1 Slice Swiss Cheese (Boar's Head Swiss)
Honey Dijon Spread
Spread approximately 1 Tablespoon Honey Dijon spread on top and bottom pretzel roll. Add turkey to bottom portion of pretzel roll and top with 1 slice of swiss cheese.Put sandwich under preheated broiler to just melt cheese.Remove from broiler and place the top portion of the pretzel roll on top of sandwich.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pretzel Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
One 12-ounce bag bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini pretzels, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 9-by-13-inch pan with cooking spray.
In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. Using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. On low, beat in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.
Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Press the batter down with a spatula. If you want to use the sprinkles, sprinkle them on top of the batter. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. The middle might be a little gooey but that is ok, the bars will set up. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely.
Use a knife to go around the side of the pan to loosen the bars and cut into squares.

Cheese & Ham Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:
For the dough:
1½ tsp. instant yeast
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
¼ cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
2½-3 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:
½ cup small diced ham
½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

To finish:
6 cups water
4 tsp. baking soda
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Kosher salt (or pretzel salt), for topping

Directions:
To make the dough, combine the yeast, brown sugar, water, milk, and 2½ cups of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until a dough has formed. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until a soft, elastic dough forms. Add the remaining flour a 1-2 tablespoons at a time until the dough is tacky but not sticky.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, until the dough has doubled in size and bubbles on the surface, about 1½ to 2 hours.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Stretch or roll one piece of the dough into a 12 x 4-inch rectangle. Sprinkle some of the diced ham and the shredded cheese over one third of the dough closest to an edge, lengthwise. Roll up tightly, filling edge first, so that the filling is tightly sealed inside. Slice the log into 12 pieces and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat with the remaining 3 portions of dough, and the remaining filling.

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the baking soda and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Boil the pretzels in batches, cooking for about 2o seconds and turning once. They should be slightly puffed. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to transfer them back to the baking sheet.

Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Brush the warm pretzel bites with the melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:
Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt

Cheddar Cheese Sauce
½ Tablespoon unsalted butter
½ Tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:
For the Pretzels:
Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.
Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating. Serve with cheese sauce, recipe below.

For the cheese sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar cheese until smooth and all of the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

*If you want to make cinnamon and sugar pretzel bites-instead of adding salt, sprinkle the bites with cinnamon and sugar. For the frosting mix-soft cream cheese-about 3 T, powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a little bit of milk. Whisk together. Add more milk if it is too thick, if it is too thin, add more powdered sugar. I don’t measure. I just guess until the consistency is right.* Recipe makes a lot of bites-perfect for sharing!

Pretzel Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken tenders or boneless skinless breast cut into 1 1/2-inch strips

2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons dried basil

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons granulated garlic

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pepper

3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cup smoked almonds

12 large sourdough hard pretzels

Canola oil, for frying

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine basil, oregano, granulated garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Place buttermilk and half the spice mix into a double-lined resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and massage bag until well coated. Refrigerate 6 to 12 hours. Reserve remaining spice mix.
Place almonds in plastic bag. Break up with rolling pin or mallet (flat side) until mixture looks part rough chopped part crumbs. Remove almonds and place into shallow bowl. Put pretzels in same bag and mash with mallet or rolling pin until it looks like a mixture of large breadcrumbs and powder. Add to almonds mix to combine.

In a large fry pan, pour canola oil until it measures about 1 1/2 -inches high in pan. Heat over high, until oil is hot, but not smoking, temperature, 350 degrees.

Remove tenders from buttermilk and dredge in almond-pretzel mixture, pressing mixture into the tenders. Gently add tenders, in batches, to the oil. Be sure not to over crowd the pan. Fry tenders until they are dark golden brown, being careful not to burn, about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and drain on a cookie sheet lined with a wire rack. Serve immediately with Spicy Honey Dijon Sauce or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven.

Spicy Honey Dijon Sauce

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup honey

1 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2 teaspoons adobo sauce (optional)

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

In a small food processor, combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Turd Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup unsalted peanuts
1 cup pretzels broken into 1" pieces

Directions:
Heat chips in the microwave until melted. Stir in peanuts and pretzel pieces. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet or waxed paper. Refrigerate to harden.

Candy Bar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 tube (16-1/2 ounces) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
4 nutty s'mores trail mix bars (1.23 ounces each), chopped
1 package butterscotch chips
2-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/2 cups miniature pretzels
1 package peanut butter chips
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 package milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Let dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften. In a large bowl, combine dough and trail mix bars. Press into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with butterscotch chips and marshmallows. Bake 3-4 minutes longer or until marshmallows begin to brown. Sprinkle with walnuts; arrange pretzels over the top. In a small saucepan, melt the peanut butter chips, corn syrup and butter; spoon over bars. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Transfer to a small plastic bag; cut a hole in a corner of the bag. Drizzle chocolate over bars. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm before cutting. Yield: 3 dozen.

Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in flour, and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour.

Combine 2 cups warm water and baking soda in an 8 inch square pan.

After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner. Twist into a pretzel shape, and dip into the baking soda solution. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar.

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