When I woke up this morning, I had a really bad wine headache. We were invited over for dinner at Connie and Jamie’s house last night. Connie made an amazing meal and I ended up drinking a bit too much of the sauce – if ya know what I mean. Connie is an unbeleivable baker and cook and she has been a wonderful influence and a constant inspiration for me.
I needed the right music to soothe my headache and accompany the strong coffee so I turned on Jose Gonzalez. I decided I was on a mission to make pretzels. Rather random, no? Anywho, making bread (any kind) has been on my “to-do” list for over 10 years. I don’t know what took so dang long. Maybe I was intimidated by working with dry active yeast or something. I guess it reminds me of chemistry class- a class I (somehow) passed in high school. I adapted this (really easy) recipe I found on allrecipies.com – created by Christa Rose. So, I guess my first time making bread was a success. Ryan, my biggest critic, gave these 2 thumbs up. I have to agree, these things are deeeeelicious.
Ingredients:
- 2 packets of 4 active dry yeast (4 teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees-ish)
- 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
- For topping: 1 beaten egg combined with 1 teaspoon of melted butter & kosher salt
- In a small bowl, add the yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar and the 110 degree warm water. Let this stand until bubbly and creamy, about 10 minutes.
- Next, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a hole in the centre of the bowl and add the oil and yeast mixture.
- Mix everything together and formknead into a dough. You should knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes until it is smooth. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water.
- Once you have kneaded the dough, lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Turn to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In another large bowl, add baking soda and 4 cups hot water and stir for 15 seconds.
- When the dough has risen, place it on a lightly floured surface and divide into 10-12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape.
- Once all pieces have been shaped, use a a slotted spoon and dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet.
- Beat the egg in a small dish and add the melted butter. Brush each pretzel with eggbutter mixture and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt.
- Bake in oven for 8 minutes.
