1/8 Cup Hot Water
2 1/4 t Instant Yeast (1 package)
1 1/3 C warm water
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cups flour (plus some for spreading)(Edit: this originally said 5 cups of flour, which is WAY too much flour)
a little melted butter
2 1/4 t Instant Yeast (1 package)
1 1/3 C warm water
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cups flour (plus some for spreading)(Edit: this originally said 5 cups of flour, which is WAY too much flour)
a little melted butter
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees
2. In a large bowl, mix yeast and the hot water until the yeast is dissolved.
3. Add to the mixture the warm water and the brown sugar until the whole mixture is well blended.
4. Add the flour, one cup at a time to the mix. The dough may be a little dry. If this is the case, add 1/8 Cup water. While this may make the dough slightly sticky, that’s better than dry.
5. In a large pot bring 8 cups of water plus 8 Tablespoons of Baking Soda to a gentle boil
6. Knead the dough on a floured surface for just about a minute. Then, break off sections slightly bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a racquetball of the dough and roll them into a rope about as thick as your thumb and about a foot and a half long. Twist into the pretzel shape, or whatever shape you like.
7. Place the shapes you’ve made into the boiling water for 30 seconds—they should start floating when they’ve been in there about long enough.
8. Place the shapes on a greased cookie sheet, and bake for 7-8 minutes. Once the shapes are out of the oven, immediately brush them with some of the melted butter. If you want to, you can top them with Kosher Salt, cinnamon and sugar, garlic and herb…or just eat them straight.
This is what you end up with at the end:
These were FANTASTIC! They're also really, really, ridiculously easy to make--and also very cheap. The whole process took about 40 minutes from start to finish, and we made more than just Pretzels. We also took two hot dogs and covered them with pretzel dough for pigs in a blanket. We also took some cheddar cheese and cut them into small cubes and wrapped them with pretzel dough. We cooked these exactly the same as the regular pretzels. Anyway, if you're a pretzel fan, I highly recommend that you make these, right now.
I like pretzel day too! Those look delicious! You guys should bring some over.....
ReplyDeleteBRING SOME OUT HERE!!!!
ReplyDeleteWoa! Those look great. (This is Jenny Green in case you don't know. Sometimes I show up as Jenny, sometimes as marcusandjenny) We've made pretzels before, but ours didn't look quite that professional. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteYeah, those were really good. Nicole, you should write a book-at least a reference manual for me, for when I get married. Because I want to be the type of amazing homemaker that you are. I'll put your reference manual in my hope chest! Add it to my dowry.
ReplyDeleteLove catching up on your posts! You guys are so fun! And these look YUM! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, I'm totally making pigs in a blanket from this recipe tonight.
ReplyDeleteYou continue to feed me from 750 miles away. Now THAT is a true friend.
Also, if this comment posts 50 times it's not my fault. Blogger is having a rough day, it seems.
Ok, so, question. I've made this recipe twice now and both times I was only barely able to get even 4 cups of flour in. Did you really use 5 cups when you made this?
ReplyDeleteAlso, did you have a hard time getting them to roll?
4 cups of flour is plenty. Also, if you're having a hard time getting them to roll--stiffness of dough etc.--then you can try letting them rise for just a little bit. About 10 minutes is plenty. This gives you a slightly fluffier pretzel.
ReplyDeleteAt least that's how it worked out here.