we baked homemade soft pretzels on sunday morning!!! yeah, this is not a cooking or recipe web site, i realize, but this is an art, people! if you’ve not done this before, i really recommend doing this with your kids – novi loved it!
i was inspired by a lovely blog on the artful parent. after i read it, i knew i could not squelch my craving (not even with frozen superpretzels from the store) until we made our very own. one issue: i don’t own a stand mixer, and the recipes i saw online said not to attempt this without one. seeing as the uber-spendy stand mixer was the one item that we did not get off of our wedding registry all those sweet years ago, i borrowed one from my baker friend (big thanks!) and went to work. we mixed.
we let the dough rise in a warm spot. (i may have taken this too literally. hee hee.)
rising by the fire
we rolled out some strips.
uh, we smelled?
we twisted.
we boiled.
we basted and salted.
we baked and cooled.
we ATE!!! (warm from the oven… we’re freezing the rest to heat up later but i’m sure they won’t be as delicious as these fresh few were! really, get em while they’re hot!)
when we sat down to our feast, i couldn’t help but hear jerry seinfeld’s “these pretzels are making me thirsty” in my head (though honestly, they weren’t. i didn’t overload the salt.) so i popped open a bottle of cream soda (a rare soda occasion for me – what a perfect combo!!!) and had some leftover sweet potato coconut milk sage soup from a couple nights ago. novi enjoyed her pretzel with lemonade… and some raw fruits and veggies. a great lunch!
this is the recipe we used:
ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt
directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
and now i sooo want a stand mixer, in pistachio please.
