Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Brewfest Soft Pretzels

This recipe was a pain in the rear. 
Save yourself the trouble go to Wal-mart and spend $2 and buy a box of six.....better yet, press the donate button to the right and send ME $2 so I never have to make this recipe again! (haha!)





You will need:


2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 cup and warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Baking Soda Solution:
1/4 cup baking soda
2 cups hot water
2 tablespoons kosher salt, for topping




This one was about 3 minutes away from being trashed and posted in my "That's a Wipe" column. But thankfully I stuck with it, they didn't turn out perfect but tasty they were. 




In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  You can't see very well but the "yeasties" form a foamy head and they stink. Yup, stink, like beer.
So I don't say this very often so, ahem. "When it stinks, you're doing it right." /gross




Flour "well".


"Yeasties" added into well. Having fun?




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.

This was a tough part. If you have one of those mixers with the hook and the paddle, Yeah!
(I don't. I really need Kitchen Aid to sponsor me!)
Use that until the dough is combined. Then knead it for 7 to 8 minutes until it is a smooth ball. Like pictured above.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.
Let sit covered for an hour. It should come close to doubling in size.




Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 equal pieces.





 Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape.
Ok, this is where things got y for me. The dough was sort of doubled in size. I cut, I rolled into rope-like thingamajigs but I could not get them thin enough twist into pretzel shapes. So some a straight and some are just twisted.

Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a very well greased baking sheet.
Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned. Watch closely, they go from uncooked to fire hazard very quickly.

They were enjoyed by the gnomes.


Here is a quick pic of the twisted ones and straight ones.
Can you do better? I would love to see photos!






2 comments:

  1. You are a brave woman... Hey... can you make the Darnassian Kim Chee?? I'd LOVE to see that one. I make home-made kim chee but you don't have to bury mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kimchi! I have looked up recipes for it and I was on board until I discovered it is fermented cabbage. Fermentation belongs in alcohol and alcohol alone.

    If someone out there makes it, document it & I will post it as a guest post. Godspeed, I'll be here drinking my fermentation.

    ReplyDelete

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