Pretzels

My dog broke again.

This is a cute story.  The W's had a very big day yesterday.  It was Willie's first snow and they took a very long walk in it.  When they came home they were soaked so we rubbed them down and dried them off.  After a while, I couldn't find Willie.  I looked and looked and finally found him in his nighttime kennel.  He had put himself to bed.

 I made a bunch of pretzels for Thanksgiving.  I will be making traditional rolls too but I have an interesting idea for my centerpiece this year and pretzels are part of it.  I will eventually show pics of it.  It might be the first time anyone has used pretzels in their Thanksgiving centerpiece!

 These pretzels freeze perfectly and are even better when baked the second time.  My great nephew is still eating the ones he took home and froze this summer.

I'm like an old fashioned German Bretzel baker.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons rapid rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 and ¾  - 4 cups all-purpose flour
• coarse sea salt and pepper for sprinkling

Baking Soda Bath

• ½ cup baking soda
• 9 cups water

*egg yolk and water for a wash.

Directions:

1. Whisk the yeast into warm water. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Whisk in salt, brown sugar, and melted butter. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with  dough hook in a stand mixer for about 5 minutes until you have a smooth dough.
2. Cover the dough and let it rise for an hour.  At the end of the hour bring the water and baking soda to a boil.
3. Preheat oven to 425°F . Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.Sprinkle them with cracked black pepper and flaky sea salt.
4. Divide the dough into 8 pieces.
5. Roll the dough into a 20-22 inch rope. Take the ends and draw them together so the dough forms a circle. Twist the ends, then bring them towards yourself and press them down into a pretzel shape.
6. Bring baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Drop 1-2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds.  Using a slotted spoon, lift the pretzel out of the water place on a towel to absorb the water. Place pretzel onto prepared baking sheet. Brush with a wash made of 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp. of water. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and serve warm.