Soft pretzels

Ten months! Thats almost how old my baby boy is. The months have passed in such a blur, so fast and so amazing. All praise and thanks to Him, I have enjoyed every precious moment that has passed.

Sleep deprived and exhausted as I may be, every second that passes is amazing, and I'm sure every mother out there can say the same about their children.

On that note, I am going to be trying out some baby teething biscuits soon and if successful, I will be sure to post the recipe here.

And I will try not to delay till my son is a teenager!

Anyway, this post is well overdue, and the pictures have been ready ages ago in my drafts, however I haven't had a moment to sit and write down the recipe...because every spare moment that I get nowadays is used to grab a quick meal, shower or nap.

The rest of my time is spent with a curious little snugglebug who loves to touch and press everything that his little eyes lay their sight on.

Oh also, forgive me for my typos and grammar/spelling mistakes. My brain is in scatter mode at the moment!!!

Now to the pretzels! The oh so soft, yummy pretzels!! The ones you can't help but gravitate towards at the mall!!

The other day my mum and I had gone to the mall where I spotted Aunty Annies..and they had samples!!! I was quick to choose the vanilla flavoured pretzels because the aroma was just mouthwatering.

I was definitely not disappointed and made sure I bought some on my way home.

They were soft, comforting, warm, buttery pretzels! 

This recipe comes pretty close! The great thing is, it isn't too difficult and the results are brilliant!

They are ofcourse, best served on the day they are made, but are pretty good for two days after! 

Ingredients: (I got about 20 pretzels out of this)

One packet quick action yeast
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
275g/2 cups bread flour
275g/2 cups plain flour
350ml/1.5 cups lukewarm milk
100g/4 tablespoons butter

For the dipping:
2 cups very hot water
2 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda/baking soda

For the coating:
50g/2 tablespoons melted butter
caster sugar/ cinnamon/ vanilla sugar

Method:

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and flours in a large bowl. Stir 100g melted butter into a measuring jug containing the lukewarm milk.
Gradually pour the milk and butter in to the flour and mix. You may not need all the liquid. When it comes into a soft ball of dough, knead for about 8-10 minutes.

Cover the bowl with cling film or a plate and let it rise in the warm room until double in size- about 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200c and cut the dough in to 20 equal portions.
Roll each piece into a thin sausage about 1 1/2 feet long. (don't use any flour or it won't roll) - the plus side of this is less mess :-)

To form the pretzel, cross the ends of the rope then twist to cross them over again. Take the twisted ends up to the top of the hoop and flip the whole thing over.

Dissolve the bicarb in a bowl with the very hot water.

Dip each pretzel into the bicarb water, drain them on a cooling rack while you do the rest. 

Put non stick baking paper onto two baking sheets and place your wet pretzels, scruffy side down, on to the baking sheets. Bake for five minutes, spin the tray around and bake for another 4-5 minutes more. so a total of 9-10 minutes. Do not over bake!

While the pretzels are baking, melt the last 2 tablespoons of butter and brush each pretzel with it.
Dip immediately in the caster sugar mixed with cinnamon or vanilla sugar. You could also make them savoury by sprinkling with sea salt and seasoning!

This is really a great recipe, even for people like me who aren't very great at binding dough.
I found the recipe here.

Give it a go and enjoy :-)

-S