Try-It Tuesday (Soft Pretzels)

So my good friend Robyn over on  The Crafty Foodie blog and I got together today for a play/bake date.  We all had such a nice time together that we've decided to do it every week.  Each week we are going to decide on a new recipe to try out together and then get together to make it.  It gives the boys and I some much needed time away from the house, since our classroom is in the house some days we need a "field trip". 

So today was our first weekly date and we decided to try out a recipe Robyn had found on Allrecipes.com for homemade soft pretzels.  We mixed them and kneaded them in her Kitchen-Aid mixer.  We did follow the recipe exactly but found we had to add a good amount of water because the dough was really dry.  We let it rise for the amount of time stated and in hindsight I don't think it was long enough because our dough ended up being a little hard to roll out into pretzels.  We managed though, and had a great time of fellowship together while the dough was rising and the pretzels were baking.  We did practice a song we are going to be singing together on the 26th of September in church and for our first time singing together I think we did really well.  Anyway, back to the pretzels, the boys helped us roll them out into pretzel shapes and we put them in to bake.  After we took them out Robyn brushed a generous amount of melted butter over them and then we let them cool for a bit.  How were they???  Well, let me just say that we will not be going to the mall anymore for a pretzel...They were soooooo good!   I ate one while we were there at Robyn's house and I could not believe how much they tasted just like the pretzel place at our mall.  I was proud of us and our efforts!!  I love to find a good new recipe!!  My boys just loved them too.  So we brought a few home with us and they were our after school/work snack. 

Jared was wishing for more and so were the boys.  I wanted to try them again too and adjust the recipe a bit, using some whole wheat flour and maybe less of it so the dough would not be so dry.  So out came my bread machine and this time I adjusted the amount of flour and the dough came out beautifully!!  I did the dough cycle on my machine so it kneaded it and rose it for me.

So here's the dough...It rose so high it lifted the top of my bread machine!!  It rolled out nicely too.  When we made them today we got some pretty nice pretzel shapes from them, and then I thought tonight about trying to make pretzel buns for sandwiches.  This worked out nicely although I did have to bake them longer to get them done in the center.

               

Then I thought that I wanted MY favorite kind of pretzel form the mall chain and that is cinnamon sugar.  I twisted mine into a twist shape and baked them.  Then after dipping them in butter I dipped them into a cinnamon sugar mixture.  These were awesome right from the oven, nice and hot.  These were Peyton's favorite too.  He asked me for seconds!!



So this recipe made enough for us all to have a snack for tomorrow too...and I will be trying my pretzel buns out as well.  Here's the recipe...and one important thing; don't even bother making these unless you dip them in butter.  This is what makes this pretzel so good!!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water

4-4 1/2 cups flour (I used 2 cups all purpose and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

4 cups boiling water

1/2 cup baking soda

For cinnamon sugar:

1 cup white OR brown sugar

3 Tbsp. cinnamon

Dissolve the yeast and 1 tsp. brown sugar in the warm water.  Let sit a few minutes until foamy.  Meanwhile combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt together in the bowl of your mixer.  make a small well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the butter and the yeast mixture.  Mix with the dough hook on the number 1 or 2 setting for 2 minutes or until combined and dough clings to hook.  Turn to speed 2 and knead for about 4 minutes until dough is smooth.  Turn out into a well greased bowl and flip to grease the top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  

Once risen, punch dough down and divide into 12 equal parts.  Shape each into pretzel shapes, twists or knots for buns.  Mix together boiling water and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Dip each pretzels in this mixture and them place them on greased baking sheets.  Sprinkle with pretzel or kosher salt, if using.  Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a shallow bowl in the microwave.  Remove the pretzels from the oven and, using tongs, dip each in butter, flipping to coat.  If making cinnamon sugar, shake in cinnamon sugar mixture at this point.  Place back on baking sheets to cool for a few minutes.   ENJOY!!