Everything Spice

One of my favorite seasonings is Everything Spice. It’s a combination of toasty, salty, and savory that makes every bite that much more delicious. And it goes on, well, everything!

We like to make soft pretzel bites to have as an appetizer at holidays, a family get-together, game night, etc. They are a crowd favorite and usually don’t last long…but that’s probably because we tend to pair them with alcohol (who’s keeping track?) 🙂 This time we were feeling adventurous and wanted something a little different from traditional soft pretzel bites so we made Buffalo Cheddar Soft Pretzel Twists with, you guessed it, EVERYTHING SPICE!!!

I understand this recipe can be daunting but trust me…it’s delicious! The cheese oozes out as you take your first bite, the buffalo sauce adds the perfect amount of heat, and the everything spice adds a salty flavor. You really can’t go wrong with these pretzels!

Here is how you make them:

Pretzel Ingredients

1 ½ Cups Warm Water
2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1 Packet Active Dry Yeast
½ Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, melted
1 ½ Tsp Kosher Salt
4 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
½ Cup Buffalo Sauce, plus more for serving
16 Cheddar Cheese Sticks
2/3 Cup Baking Soda, for boiling the pretzels
1 Egg, beaten, for brushing before baking

Everything Spice Ingredients

3 Tbsp Toasted White Sesame Seeds
2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 Tsp Dried Onion
2 Tsp Dried Garlic
2 Tsp Kosher or Course Salt

Directions

Combine the water, brown sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined, let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the melted butter, 1 ½ tsp salt and flour to the mixture and mix on low until combined.
Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, about 3-4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tbsp at a time.
Remove the dough from the bowl and coat the bowl with olive oil. Add the dough and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the baking soda.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough in half and roll into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Cut into 8 strips, about ½ inch wide.
Spread buffalo sauce on each strip.
Wrap the dough around the cheese sticks with the buffalo side facing inward. Seal at both ends.
Boil the pretzels in the baking soda water, 1-2 at a time for 30 seconds. Remove with a large flat slotted spatula.
Place pretzels on a baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg wash.
To make the Everything Spice – combine the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onion, dried garlic, and salt. Sprinkle the mix generously over each pretzel.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the pretzels are golden brown.

The recipe should make 16 pretzels and takes about 1½ hours to make (this include the time it takes for the dough to rise).

If you like a little extra heat use any leftover buffalo sauce for dipping. This was a bit too much for me but there are some hot sauce lovers in the family so they loved this option!

Wondering what to do with the leftover everything spice? To me it’s like wine – there shouldn’t be any left 🙂 only kidding!

One idea that came to mind was everything grilled cheese. I honestly don’t think I will ever make grilled cheese without adding everything spice in the future because it was that good! I made 2 versions, one basic grilled cheese sandwich with only cheese, and one grown-up grilled cheese sandwich with cheese, turkey, and tomato.

These are super simple to make. While your pan is heating, butter one side of each slice of bread. Then sprinkle everything spice onto the butter and lightly press it in with your fingers.

I like to assemble the sandwich right in the pan so I start by placing one slice of bread, everything spice side down, in the pan. Then for the basic grilled cheese I add a few slices of cheese and place the other slice of bread on top. For the grown-up grilled cheese I add cheese, turkey, tomato slices, more cheese, and the top slice of bread. Heat both sides for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.