I’m trying to be domesticated. Mainly learning how to cook better, use my ingredients wisely, etc. I post these things on here to keep me accountable and to see my progress. So my friend Sarah DeWire and I made soft pretzels together the other night. And let me tell you…it was uh-maze-ing. She gave me permission to post this wonderful family recipe on here with all of you :)
Things you’ll need:
1 package active dry yeast
1/8 cup warm water
1 1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup brown sugar
5 cups flour
So simple!
First, dissolve the yeast in 1/8 cup of water. Then add the rest of the water.
Stir in the brown sugar. Then gradually add the flour
It gets tougher to mix by the time you add all the flour. I used a spoon for most of the mixing, then resorted to my hands! Knead the flour (which takes a while, so stay patient!), until it’s in a round ball like this
Now shape it into a long oval, like a loaf of French bread (which is my favorite type of bread, by the way…) and grab a knife
You’ll want to cut slices off the “loaf” that are about 1-1.5 inches in thickness
Now take your slice and begin to roll it into a long snake. Honestly, this part was the hardest for me! The flour on the outside of your slice will make it slippery to work with. So I would put some water on my hands to help it from sliding. And if I’m really honest, I’d tell you that Sarah rolled all of these because I kept failing…
But I’m not that honest so I won’t tell you that. Also, those aren’t my hands. I told Sarah to do this cuz she has the pretty hands. The end.
You should get about 15 of these rolled out. To form the pretzel shape, take your long piece and make a “U”
Then twist the two ends together once,
and then once again,
Now fold the twisted end down,
and then make indents on the end to keep the pretzel together.
your pretzel should look like this
Once all of your pretzels are made, put together a baking soda and water mixture and set it to a low boil on the stove and dip each pretzel completely in.
remove and lay on a pan. repeat. If you soak the pretzels too long, they might have a slight baking soda taste to them, so don’t leave the stove while you’re doing this.
We made one batch without salt and another with salt. Be sure to salt while the pretzels are still slightly wet so that the salt sticks. Then put these in the oven at 475 degrees for around 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them. Depending on your oven, they could bake faster than that.
Now pull ‘em out and stuff your face right away! The brown sugar adds a slight sweet flavor to them. My favorite were the salted ones. The sweet and salty taste always does me in. SO good.
You want to eat them, don’t you? It’s ok, go ahead.
Also? They taste great the next day! Hot or cold, but preferably after heating them up a tiny bit in the microwave. I had 2 for breakfast the following morning after making these. Nick almost didn’t get any! I want to make these today. But alas, I have no yeast.
Homemade Soft Pretzels
1 package active dry yeast
1/8 cup warm water (105 degrees)
1 1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup brown sugar
5 cups flour
1. Dissolve yeast in 1/8 cup of warm water (about 105 degrees).
2. Stir in the rest of the warm water (1 1/3 cups).
3. Stir in brown sugar.
4. Stir in flour, adding gradually until you eventually have to knead it by hand.
5. Knead until all the flour is worked in (you may find that you need a little more or a little less than the 5 cups) and the dough is no longer sticky.
6. Once the dough is ready to be worked with (no longer sticky), form it into the shape of a long loaf of french bread.
7. Cut portions or “slices” out of the whole “loaf” at about a 1-1 ½ inch size.
8. Take one portion at a time (this is where the whole family can get involved) and roll it out into a long snake. Once it’s long enough (somewhere around 1 ½ to 2 feet long), place it on the table in a “U” shape. Twist the two ends around each other twice. Then fold them down so that the ends (past the twists) are sitting on the bottom of the pretzel (looking at a picture of a pretzel may help here). Use your fingers to push down/indent on the two spots where the ends cross the bottom.
9. Dip pretzels in baking soda/water combination (4 tbsp baking soda in 2 cups water) kept at a low boil on the stove and place on cookie sheet.
10. Bake at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes (depends greatly on your oven…when we did it the other night we only had to leave them in for about 4-6 minutes, so keep a close eye on them).
Yields about 15-17 pretzels in one batch
