almost-famous soft pretzels
1 cup milk
1 pkg active dry yeast
3 T packled light brown sugar
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
10 T unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1 tsp fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
2 T coarse salt
Warm the milk in a saucepan; pour into a medium any NON-METAL bowl (my sis used a metal bowl and the dough never rose!) and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 T butter and soften; stir into the mix.
Add the remaining 1-1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes. - i have know idea what that means!) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands in to a 30-inch rope, (i didn't stretch mine far enough and they came out fat and puffy, which made me think they would make a yummy bread for a sandwich!)) holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups of warm water in a shallow dish (i used a jelly roll sheet). Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, (this is what gives the pretzels their golden exterior, you'll see what i mean when they are done!) then arrange on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes.
Melt the remaining 8 T butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat (i brushed the butter on with a silicone basting brush and didn't use nearly 8 T of butter); place on a wire rack to let the excess butter drip off. Serve the pretzels warm.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes. - i have know idea what that means!) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands in to a 30-inch rope, (i didn't stretch mine far enough and they came out fat and puffy, which made me think they would make a yummy bread for a sandwich!)) holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups of warm water in a shallow dish (i used a jelly roll sheet). Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, (this is what gives the pretzels their golden exterior, you'll see what i mean when they are done!) then arrange on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes.
Melt the remaining 8 T butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat (i brushed the butter on with a silicone basting brush and didn't use nearly 8 T of butter); place on a wire rack to let the excess butter drip off. Serve the pretzels warm.
feb/mar 2009 * Food Network Magazine
3 comments:
These pretzels sound so yummy! I can't wait to make them with my kiddos today. Thanks for all your recipes!!
oh my goodness, i love pretzels!! please make them when we get together again.... i cant bake stuff,,,
i am really wanting to try to make these this week.
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