Pretzels!

Posted by -Nancy



This month’s Have the Cake challenge was so much fun. Soft Pretzels. I had been craving them for some time and had actually just googled some recipes. So when the challenge was posted I was excited to get baking. Unfortunately I knew I would have to wait since we were moving mid month. And not just a little, across town move, but moving from Southern California to Austin, Texas. What’s a pregnant woman to do?

Once we arrived in Texas mid-month, we had to find a place to live. Then of course there was the unloading of the truck and unpacking. All of which becomes a bit more complicated when you throw a curious toddler in the mix. Finally on Tuesday, I decided I needed some baking therapy. Luckily I had my recipe picked out, all the ingredients, and time to wait for dough to rise.

First, the recipe I choose was from my friend Alton Brown. I love Alton, all of his quarks and his show “Good Eats”. As I searched for a recipe, I found a lot of them online. They were all basically the same, and since I wanted an all around, basic recipe I could embellish, as I felt needed, I went with Alton’s.

I choose naptime to start my dough since it was quiet and I could give my undivided attention to the task. Everything went together really easily, as I expected they would. I usually let my dough rise in a warmed oven (after it’s turned off), and I did this time also. As you can see, I had amazing rise on this dough.





Once risen it was time to roll out and boil the pretzels. Since I don’t have a digital kitchen scale, I eyeballed my dough chunks to try to make them equal. I ended up with 13 balls, a baker’s dozen! The rolling out was simple, except for the fact that my son was upset I wouldn’t let him have more fruit snacks so he was “helping” by taking everything out of the pantry, putting it on the floor, and then “sweeping” it up. Time for some TV. Once he was settled with Curious George I went back to my boiling baking soda water and pretzels. One thing I learned about the baking soda water is to use a deep pot since it can overspray everywhere.



Once the pretzels were boiled it was into the oven for 13 minutes. As you can see, the first batch came out a bit light, so they got a coat of melted butter and some cinnamon sugar topping. The second batch got the egg wash and salt before going into the oven and came out much more golden. And they tasted delicious. My husband gobbled them up and even my son, who usually avoids anything baked, ate half a pretzel with honey on it. This recipe is definitely a keeper!