Thursday, December 1, 2011

Soft Pretzels & An Announcement

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  Mine was WONDERFUL!!!  I truly missed my hubby, but the kids and I had SO much fun visiting my family in Boise!  I sure hope you all had as great of a Thanksgiving as we did.

Since the temperature has dropped considerably, I'm always in the mood to bake.  So, one chilly Saturday, I decided to try a new recipe for homemade soft pretzels because my kids were being especially good that day and this is what I usually get them when we go to the mall if they're good for me.  

They were SO excited that we were making our own big pretzels!  And I was excited that they weren't nearly as hard to make as I had imagined.  YAY!!  That just means we'll be making these often!

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 C. hot water (about 110 degrees)
1/8 tsp. salt
3 1/2 C. bread flour (or you can use 3 1/4 C. all purpose flour, which is what I did)

1/2 C. butter, melted, used for after the pretzels have baked

Combine first three ingredients and allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Stir flour and salt to mixture and knead for 5 minutes. 

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.  

Divide dough into 8-12 equal size pieces (I went with 12), roll each piece into a rope, shape each rope into a pretzel or cut into bite sized pieces.  

*To roll into a rope, I found it worked best to shape the dough into a 6-inch long rope, then starting from the center, using both of your hands, roll the dough back and forth, moving your hands in opposite directions out to the ends of the dough.  Try not to break the dough.  I ended up with a dough rope that was about 18 inches long.

Lay pretzel onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 550 degrees for about 8-10 minutes for pretzels or 6-8 minutes for the pretzel bites.  Be careful when taking them out of the oven.  I had a couple that slid right off the pan!

There are different ways to finish these pretzels:
1.  Brush hot pretzels with melted butter and sprinkle with course salt.  Serve with a cheese sauce or plain.
2.  Combine melted butter with 2 Tbsp. honey; brush onto hot pretzels then sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.  May serve with a thin icing for dipping or drizzling on top.
3.  Prior to baking the pretzels, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, a little garlic salt, and top with pepperoni slices; bake, then serve with marinara sauce.





We made our pretzels using the first two options and they were OUTSTANDING!!!  We all went a little crazy over them.  Out of the 11 full-sized pretzels and the 16 bites, there was only one full-sized pretzel left for my hubby by the time he got home from work.  Oops!

On to the announcement!  Since I was posting on these fun little buns in the oven today, I wanted to let everyone know that I too have a little bun in the oven!  We're so excited for our new addition on the way!!

14 comments:

Lacey and Zach said...

Congrats on your "little bun in the oven." How exciting! I enjoy reading your blog. It is soooo helpful and full of delicous things to eat. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your talent for cooking with the rest of us.

Hannah said...

Lacey, you are so sweet! Thanks so much for your comment. I want you to know how much it means to me. Thanks for following me from pretty much the beginning!

Evelyn said...

What wonderful news!! Cheers.... as for those soft pretzels, I think I need to make those with my teenagers this weekend. They look great and as they're huge soft pretzel fans, a great recipe to try. Thanks!

Hannah said...

Thank you, Evelyn! I hope you and your teens enjoy them as much as we did!

Lori Harris said...

A big congrats on your bun in the oven!! Yay!

Hannah said...

Thanks so much, Lori!

Unknown said...

Congratulations!

Hannah said...

Thank you, Cara!

stuffie said...

congrats on the new bun!!! lol what a clever way to announce it! I am going to try these tonight, while the hubs is gone and it's me and the kids... they look super yummy! I also can't wait to try your chicken marinera/alfredo.... yum!

Hannah said...

Thanks, Stuffie! I sure hope you guys like these and the chicken penne pasta. We sure do!!

Leia said...

Mmmm, I was just looking at a pretzle recipe on pinterest, but yours looks way better. We will be trying these soon. And congrats on your 'bun in the oven!' So exciting!

Hannah said...

Thanks, Leia! We're pretty excited. I hope you like these pretzels!

The Shelliest said...

Thank you for sharing so much of your time and recipes! I just found your blog (THANK YOU PINTREST ADDICTION!), and I love it!

Hannah said...

The Shelliest, thanks so much for leaving a comment! WELCOME!!! I hope you find some recipes you like.

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