Stuffed Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Bites

• Prepare the pretzel dough according to the recipe instructions. Place it in a proofing bucket with a tight-sealing lid, and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
• When you are ready to bake, ;ine a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper, grease it lightly with cooking oil spray, and set it aside.

Prepare the filling(s).

• Place the peanut butter or Nutella in a pastry bag fitted with a small, plain piping tip (with an opening 1/4-inch in diameter). If using both peanut butter and Nutella, place each in a separate piping bag, and use half as much of each spread. Set the bags aside.

Shape and fill the dough.

• Turn out the chilled pretzel dough on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until a bit smoother.
• Divide the dough in half, and roll each half into a ball as illustrated in this gluten free bread shaping video. Divide each ball of dough into 4 equal pieces.
• Work with one piece of dough at a time, and cover the rest loosely with a towel to prevent them from drying out. Pat each piece of dough into a rectangle about 9 inches long, sprinkling lightly with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
• Starting on one short side of the dough, pipe a line of the filling about 1/2-inch wide in the center of the dough from one side to the other. If using both peanut butter and Nutella, pipe a line of each in the same manner, each about 1/4-inch wide. Enclose the filling tightly in the rectangle of dough by folding both long sides of the dough over the filling, and pinch to secure and create a cylinder. Rock the cylinder gently back and forth to seal.
• Repeat with the 3 other pieces of dough. Using a floured bench scraper or sharp knife, slice each of the 4 ropes into 1 1/2-inch bite-sized pieces of dough. The filling will be peeking out the sides of each bite a bit.
• Place the bite-sized pieces of dough on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from one another.
• Dust all of the shaped pieces of dough lightly with flour, then cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Set in a warm, draft-free location to rise until nearly doubled in size (about 40 minutes).

Boil and bake the pretzel bites.

• As the dough nears the end of its rise, preheat your oven to 350°F. In a large pot, make the baking soda bath by dissolving the baking soda and salt in approximately 6 cups of water, and bringing it to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
• Once the dough has finished rising, place the risen bites a few at a time in the boiling baking soda bath for about 30 seconds per side. Remove the boiled dough with a strainer and return the pieces to the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven, and bake until golden brown all over (about 12 minutes).
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan briefly before serving with the Hot Fudge Sauce for dipping.