Soft Pretzels From Scratch

I can honestly say that our finished product turned out beautifully and they were absolutely delicious. I ended up mixinig some parmesean and a little garlic salt and sprinkling that over the top of some of my pretzel bites and I enjoyed that. On the snow day that we recently had, I took some time and did a lot of cooking and I made these pretzels on my own.

You will need:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast ¼ cup white sugar

½ teaspoon white sugar ¾ teaspoon salt

¾ cup warm water(between 110°F - 120°F) 1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil

2 ½ cups bread flour

Directions:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and ½ teaspoon sugar in ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

• In kitchenaid large bowl, mix together flour, ¼ cup sugar, and salt.

• Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture.

• Put on dough hook attachment and Mix to form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water until it forms a ball.

• On medium high speed, Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. keep an eye on the machine so it doesn’t “walk” off the countertop.

• Lightly oil a one-gallon plastic container, place the dough in the bag, and turn to coat with oil. Seal the bag and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

Cooking Process:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet with parchment and liberally rub with vegetable oil (pretzels stick to paper).

• In saute fry pan (or large stockpot that you can easily dip a slotted spoon into), dissolve ⅓ c baking soda in 6 cups hot water; turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once this boils reduce heat to retain boil but without evaporating all the liquid.

• Turn dough out onto sanitized surface and divide into 6 equal pieces. (Only lightly flour if it is sticking terribly to the surface. You want a little grip to help the rolling process, otherwise it slips and you can’t roll it thinner.)

• Each person will shape own piece into a 20” rope and shape into pretzel .

• Make one pretzel or nugget to submit for teacher evaluation.

• Once all of the dough is shaped, carefully place pretzel on slotted offset spatula, dip each pretzel into the boiling baking soda-hot water solution for 30 seconds - one minute or until the exterior of the dough changes and it becomes a little firm. Allow to drain and place pretzels on parchment paper lined, greased baking sheets.

• Bake:

• bake naked and top after - dip in melted butter and cover in topping of choice: cinnamon sugar mixture, garlic salt parmesan cheese mixture.

• before baking sprinkle with topping of choice while still wet from the boiling process: kosher salt, finely chopped almonds and brown sugar, sesame seeds, poppy seeds

Dipping sauce:

sweet: mix powdered sugar and water to a pourable consistency, drizzle over warm pretzel and serve

savory:cheese sauce

buffalo cheese sauce: mix hot wing sauce in cheese sauce

Bake in preheated oven until browned, about 8 - 10 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when thumped with finger.