I have a lot of tips and variations to share, so the entire column this month is regarding this dish. This recipe in similar to something I had shared two years ago for making breakfast sandwiches using pretzel dough, which is a complete hit! Instead of baking the buns and cutting for egg sandwiches, the dough needs to be rolled out into about 6-inch circles, filled with any preferred breakfast foods such as scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, diced ham, shredded cheese, sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and it all gets baked together. I even made some using slices of leftover omelet roll sprinkled with cheese before sealing the top (recipe below), which produced a very attractive finished product – the insides of the pocket is unexpectedly neat!
I have now tried this once using the following dough recipe, but I think I want to also try Mrs. Marjorie Shank’s recipe (recipe #2) and see how they compare. My source for breakfast pockets advised brushing on the soda water mixture to the sealed pockets (this is what gives soft pretzel flavor – baking without this step will taste just like regular bread dough or rolls), but I was able to dunk them without much trouble, and I think submerging is a better method for thorough flavor. It was also stated that recipe #1 should make about 2 dozen pockets and that bake time is increased from the original pretzel recipe to 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Upon removing from the oven, rub with butter, sprinkle with kosher salt, and let cool on the countertop.
Wrap cooled pockets in wax paper and foil or the super handy Lunchskins sealing paper sandwich bags. I buy these from natureswarehouse.net (50 ct. for $5.76; $50 free shipping minimum), but I see they are also on Amazon. Pockets can be defrosted in the refrigerator the night before or microwaved from frozen in the morning. This method was also suggested for making stromboli pockets (pizza type fillings) for packed lunches.
Soft Pretzel Recipe #1 (makes 20 pretzels)
2 T. yeast
2 ½ c. warm water
⅔ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Scant tsp. salt
6-7 c. flour
Roll and shape. Dip in mixture of 1 T. baking soda dissolved in 1 c. hot water. Bake at 425°F for 5-7 minutes. Place on cookie sheet. After baking, dip in melted butter.
Soft Pretzel Recipe #2
Country Home Cooking cookbook by Marjorie Rohrer Shank copyright 2006 Campbell Copy Center, USA, used with permission
1 tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. white sugar
¼ c. firmly packed brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
3–3¼ c. bread flour
3 c. water
3 tbsp. baking soda
pretzel (kosher) salt
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Combine yeast mixture, brown sugar, salt and bread flour in large bowl. Stir in extra flour if needed to make soft dough. (May use part whole-wheat flour.) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth (about 3 minutes). Cover and let rest 20 minutes. If you were to make pretzels*, roll into 12-15 inch ropes at this point, but for this purpose, roll the dough fairly thin, maybe ¼ inch and either cut out circles with a large biscuit cutter or wide mouth canning lid or cut dough in approximately 3 inch squares for sandwich buns. Combine soda and water in saucepan and make hot. Dip each pretzel bun into mixture, drain on a towel temporarily, and place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 475° F for 6 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter. Serve immediately.
So that was the bun recipe. This breakfast sandwich is a race against the clock. It is something to write home about, but also only for a narrow window of time. Have eggs and bacon or sausage patties ready to fry while the pretzels are baking, as well as sliced cheese and condiments. Put everything together as soon as the buns have cooled enough to slice. Enjoy! *This recipe would make 6 large or 12 small pretzels.
Ham ‘n’ Cheese Omelet Roll
From Taste of Home
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
¾ c. milk
2 T. flour
¼ tsp. salt
12 large eggs*
2 T. Dijon mustard
2¼ c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 c. finely chopped fully cooked ham
½ c. thinly sliced green onions
Line the bottom and sides of a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan with parchment; grease the paper and set aside. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add flour and salt; mix until combined. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Add cream cheese mixture; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 375° until eggs are puffed and set, 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven. Immediately spread with mustard and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Sprinkle with ham, onions and 1 cup cheese.
Roll up from a short side, peeling parchment away while rolling. Sprinkle top of roll with the remaining cheese; bake until cheese is melted, 3-4 minutes longer.
*Not a very economical recipe for today, sorry! Saw it was nearly $20 for a box of 60 ct. eggs at Timberville Walmart last night! I think the general breakfast pocket may be a way to stretch eggs – go heavy with other fillings and light on the eggs in each one. One thing I wish I had done prior to the price spike was water glassing eggs – preserving raw eggs for long term shelf storage in a lime water solution. There are many tutorials online, especially YouTube.
