homemade pretzels

Mmmm, pretzels.  Not the bagged ones- the soft, chewy ones. With lots of salt and fresh ground pepper…and mustard. I made these and had em for breakfast. You know what would be super cool? Showing up to a party-and bringing homemade pretzels instead of chips. Sure, you can do it.You can even freeze em and be ready for that invite. It makes a ton. I officially have a freezer full of pretzels for my next event. To reheat em- lay on a cookie sheet, defrost, lightly spritz with water and bake at 350° for 6 minutes. There ya go- instant MarthaBettyPaulaStewartCrockerDeen-Smith.  I couldn’t decide so I morphed my favorite ladies.

you can get really creative with the dough- maybe work in some herbs? Crushed red pepper? Dried tomatoes? I have lil ones running around- so I kept it pretty plain for them; salt on some, cinnamon sugar on others. Me n dad ate the ones with fresh pepper.

You can also make giant pretzels- or smaller ones- mine came out about biscuit sized, which is perfect because I need to keep my butt from getting too many carbs.  Everything in moderation. My soon-to-be-pretzels were balls about the size of golf balls.

cote lil guys, aren’t they? Isn’t is odd to take pics of dough balls? Not for this purpose-of course….sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think when they see me on my porch taking pictures of food.  This picture, of course is in my kitchen. I don’t have a granite porch.  Did you know I got my counter by having a baby? Yep- once the baby was born we pretended my maternity pay didn’t exist, to get used to living on one income. When it really didn’t exist, I realized I couldn’t stay at home with a counter top that was cracking. Really, folks it was bad. A big nasty seam was opening up in the 1950′s Formica.  To make it affordable, we ripped the old kitchen out ourselves-we put our in cabinets in ourselves and a few days later some Brazilian guys showed up with some rock. Yay. We STILL need to do the upper cabinets to match. Hoping for a summer project there…are you reading this honey? HINT HINT! If that happens, I will share the adventure with y’all. Heck, you can come help- I will make dinner. You can bring pretzels.

The pretzel shape is easy… I think. Am I wrong? You can also just chop up your rope for nuggets. MMMM You know those honey-mustard ones? In the brown bag? Yeah!

Okay, this came from Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook yep, it’s a kid’s cookbook and it’s mine. The illustrations are so adorable. I’m a sucker for cute illustrations.

Take:

1/2 c warm water and dissolve 1 pkg yeast into it.

Now, add 1/4 c melted butter (cooled)

1 egg yolk (reserve the white)

1/4 cup sugar

1tsp salt

1 cup milk

stir well, then add flour 1 cup at a time -5 cups total. Knead for 5minutes. (thank you, stand mixer!!!)

Place in an oiled bowl and allow to rise, covered with a damp towel for 1 hr.

Preheat oven to 425°F

roll dough into balls, then form the balls into ropes, then into pretzel shapes. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet- remember that egg white? Add a little (1tbs) water to it, and beat it up a bit; brush it over the uncooked pretzels and sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper, whatever you like. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on size and thickness.

Yum yum yum. Enjoy. Thanks for visiting. I know I usually don’t post on the weekend. SURPRISE!

I am really aiming for 7 days a week posting. I think I can..I think I can…………………………………………….