Down here in little ol' Devon - we don't have big, soft pretzels! It's a crime I know, so I took matters into my own hands and decided to bake my own.
First of all I needed ingredients I haven't baked with yet, so a trip to the supermarket (and the Bicarbonate Soda exploding all over me) and I was ready.
First up I had to make the dry active yeast 'active' by dissolving 1 tbs in 50*degree C of water and leaving it for 15 mins.
This is only halfway through it activating but you can see it starts to get frothy.
Warning: It smells REALLY bad!
While waiting for that I put in my mixing bowl:
3 1/2 cups of flour,
4 tbs of sugar,
2 tsps of salt.
I then added the yeast and mixed together until I made a sticky(ish) dough.
Now this is the fun part!
Divide the dough up and roll out into thin long strips.
Fold over like a upside down 'U', cross over and fold up.
Tip: I placed flour on my hands and on the counter top to stop dough from sticking.
I also left them for 20 minutes to let the yeast react a little in the air.
Next up - the glaze:
For the glaze coating I used:
1 tbs of baking soda (dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water)
1 egg
1 tbs of water
1 tbs of vegetable oil.
Mix it together and lightly coat the unbaked pretzels.
Bake in over at 225*degrees C for 10-15 mins.
And here they are!
I can't begin to explain how good they smelt AND tasted!
After a day they will go hard BUT you can just pop them in the microwave for 20/30 seconds and they are as good as fresh!
With this one I smothered it in vanilla buttercream icing and sprinkle - AMAZING!
Enjoy! Let me know and show me pics if you decide to have a go :)
x
