Homemade Pretzels

Adapted from Good Eats

To start off the semester with our Bible study, we had a pretzel making night! This is a fun treat to enjoy preparing and eating with friends! However, you will need a mixer with a dough hook, and make sure you remember to make the dough ahead of time since it has to sit for almost an hour.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups really hot water (110-115 degrees F)
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 oz. unsalted butter, melted
• vegetable oil
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp water
• sea salt
• brown sugar
• cinnamon

Directions:

Combine hot water, sugar, and 2 tsp. sea salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Allow to sit for 10 minutes or more, until the mixture beings to lightly foam.

Add the flour and butter, and using a dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Changed to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

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 it in a warm spot for approx. 50 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable oil.

Bring the 10 cups of water and baking soda to a boil in a saucepan.

While the water is boiling, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces on a slightly oiled surface. Roll out each piece into approx. a 24 inch rope. Make the dough into a pretzel shape by making a U-shape, crossing the ends over each other, and then pressing the ends into the bottom of the U.

Place each pretzel, individually into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a spatula and place on the parchment paper cookie sheets.

Brush each pretzel with the egg yolk mixture and sprinkle sea salt on top if desired.

Bake until brown, approx. 12-14 min.

Let pretzels cool. If you didn't sprinkle salt on them before cooking, you can mix a little brown sugar and cinnamon together to sprinkle on top of the cooked pretzels.

Yield: 8 pretzels