I love to have appetizers for dinner every now and then, so I’m always thinking of unique items to make for us to mix in with the staples. I decided i would try and make pretzels, the first time i did it they looked interesting, to say the least, but tasted really, really amazing, so i have made them a few more times and even brought them to game nights at friends houses, and they are always a hit. I even used them as buns on time for dinner, that was definitely interesting.
Here’s the recipe
4 teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cup of warm water
dissolve all these items in a small bowl and let sit for 10 mins, until creamy.
In a large bowl mix
5 cups of flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
make a well in the center-this was the fun part 🙂
then add
1 tablespoon vegetable oil and the yeast
mix and form into dough, add one or two more tablespoons of water if the dough is dry, i almost always have to add more.
knead the dough until smooth, about 7-8 mins, i use my kitchen aid, so much easier with the dough hook.
Once formed, lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn and coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.
I never really know where to place it thats warm, and what the actual definition of warm is, so i put it inside of the oven, which is of course not on 🙂
preheat the oven to 450 and grease 2 baking sheets
heres where it gets tricky and you have to be patient
dissolve baking soda in 4 cups of hot water and set aside
turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces, now the fun starts
roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape, its tricky and i have a problem with it every time, but I’m getting better at it.
now dip the pretzel shaped dough into the baking soda mixture and place them on the baking sheets and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 8 mins and there ya go, who needs to buy frozen ones from the grocery, when you can make these at home!
enjoy!