Soft Pretzels for My Hubby

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."  Ephesians 5:33

My hubby Robert is from Philadelphia...Philly.  He loves all the Philadelphia teams: Eagles, 76ers, Phillies, & Flyers.  Hope I didn't miss any~  Whenever he reminisces about some of his favorite Philly food memories-besides cheese steaks-, he always mentions soft pretzels.  I grew up in Southeast Mississippi, so I never really had a soft pretzel until late in life at the mall.  Since I dearly love my hubby, it is fun to try recipes that I think he will really enjoy.  So...I decided to try my hand at making soft pretzels.  I did notice that the recipe made 8 and were best eaten the day they were baked.  Oh, well, I hate to waste anything, so I thought I'd call some of our friends on the West Side to taste test them with us so none would be thrown away.  That didn't turn out to be a problem...can you figure out why?!

My hubby taste-testing the first pretzel~

 This recipe is more time-consuming than difficult.  In fact, the pretzels were fun to make. They would be fun to make at a teen sleepover or with a kiddo or two.  In fact, my son Timothy should be visiting this summer and I think we will make these together when he comes...we'll make pretzels and memories!!!

 

Soft Pretzels

(Makes 8 pretzels)

Dough Ingredients

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp granulated sugar

2 1/4 tsp Red Star active dry yeast

7/8 to 1 cup lukewarm water (depends on humidity in the kitchen)

Mix all dough ingredients with wooden spoon until somewhat combined.



Use wooden spoon to combine ingredients.

Use the dough hook on the mixer and knead on medium low for 5 minutes.

5 minutes or longer...until it's not sticky

Dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky.

Lightly dust dough with flour and place in Zip Loc bag.

Set in a dark place to rise.

Let dough rise for 30 minutes.

It will be twice as big as it was 30 minutes ago!

Soda Wash Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water

1 TBSP baking soda

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet with spray canola oil.

Remove the dough from the bag and place on a lightly oiled countertop.

I just used spray canola oil.

Cut the dough into 8 pieces.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Cut dough in 8 pieces.

 In the meantime in a container big enough to hold a pretzel, stir the baking soda into the warm water.  It won't dissolve completely. 

I made the soda wash in a sauce pan.

Roll into  a long rope and shape into a pretzel.

I layed the ropes next to each other
to make them about the same size,
but they kept getting longer because of the yeast.  ;o)

Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the oiled baking sheet. 

Make pretzel knots.

Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. 

Let rest 10 minutes.

Bake 9 minutes or until golden brown.

Mine were browned in 7 1/2 minutes,
so keep an eye on them.

Melt 4 TBSP of margarine just before removing pretzels from the oven.

It's quick to melt in the microwave.

Immediately brush warm pretzels with melted margarine, as soon as they are removed from the oven. 

A warm, buttery pretzel

Enjoy the pretzels warm.  These soft pretzels taste best the day they are baked.

Soft Pretzels

Dough Ingredients

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp granulated sugar

2 1/4 tsp Red Star active dry yeast

7/8 to 1 cup lukewarm water (depends on humidity in the kitchen)

Mix all dough ingredients with wooden spoon until somewhat combined.

Use the dough hook on the mixer and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. Dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky.

Lightly dust dough with flour and place in Zip Loc bag.

Let dough rise for 30 minutes.

Soda Wash Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water

1 TBSP baking soda

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet with spray canola oil.

Remove the dough from the bag and place on a lightly oiled countertop. Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

In the meantime in a container big enough to hold a pretzel, stir the baking soda into the warm water. It won't dissolve completely.

Roll into a long rope and shape into a pretzel.

Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the oiled baking sheet.

Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Let rest 10 minutes.

Bake 9 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately brush warm pretzels with melted margarine, as soon as they are removed from the oven. Enjoy the pretzels warm. These soft pretzels taste best the day they are baked.