PRETZELS!

I know its been a while! Life has been really hectic for me. But I decided to take a break and make some of my favorite treats .... soft pretzels!

Here's the scoop:

Cast of characters: Flour, sugar, salt, yeast, oil baking soda. SUPER easy.

Dissolve your yeast in water. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes and get foamy, You may need to add a little sugar here to "feed" your yeast.

Mix together your flour, sugar, and salt.

Make a "well" in your dry ingredients.

Add oil ...

And foamy, yeasty, water.

Look at all the bubbles!

Knead it all together, for about 10 minutes, until its a smooth dough.

Cover it with some plastic wrap.

(Don't be jealous of my ingenious substitute. I was out of plastic wrap.)

Set it in a warm, dry place.

I use the top of my stove that is turned on to about 200 degrees.

After about an hour, it looks like this.

Grab about a 2 ounce handful and roll it into a "snake."

Then, twist it up to look like a pretzel!

I'm not sure where my head was, but I forgot to take a picture of the next step. I was probably getting too excited about eating pretzels to think.

Add your baking soda to some boiling water. Drop each pretzel in the boiling water for 30 seconds each. Pull them out and place them on a baking sheet.

This is what they will look like after they've been boiled. For the love of Pete, DO NOT SKIP THE BOILING STEP. You will not like the results!

Melt a little butter ...

Brush the boiled pretzels with butter annd sprinkle with kosher salt. Put them in the oven, set your timer, and watch every second tick by in anticipation of your carb laden treat.

Pull them out and sigh with appreciation in their beautiful golden goodness!

Now, plate them up with your favorite cheese sauce or mustard, go curl up on the couch and share them with your kiddo (who has been screaming for the past hour about wanting pretzels.).

Enjoy!

Recipe:

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.               
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.