Anywho, it reminded me that last year, he gave me a pretzel maker for Christmas and as with all of my kitchen stuff that doesn't get used on a regular basis, it was shoved into a cabinet and forgotten about until it fell out as I was trying to find a new home for said hot dog toaster.
We love the big soft pretzels and often stop to get them as treats when we are shopping and need a bite to eat. The joy of this little appliance is that clean up is pretty easy, no cookie sheets to clean, just gently wash the non-stick surface after it has cooled and all done! Of course this recipe can be done in the oven as well, at 425 or 450 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. If you bake them, you might want to give them a quick dip in a baking soda bath for 30 seconds to help them crisp up and give you that nice brown color.
Add the flour, sugar, salt, yeast
and a cup of warm water to your mixing bowl.
Knead dough for 5 minutes using the dough hook or by hand.
Knead until your dough is soft and smooth.
Cover,
and let rise somewhere warm for 30 minutes.
If using a pretzel maker, plug in to preheat. If baking, preheat your oven.
Divide the dough into 6 equal parts on your floured work surface.
Roll each section out into 17-inch long ropes.
Allow to rest uncovered for 5 minutes on your work surface.
Get your cooling area ready or prepare your baking soda bath if baking your pretzels.
Place pretzels in your pretzel maker according to the pattern.
Brush lightly with the baking soda mixture, if baking, place the pretzels in the baking soda wash for about 30 seconds before baking.
As you finish baking all of your pretzels, prepare the garlic butter.
Coat each pretzel liberally with garlic butter.
Enjoy!
Garlic Buttered Pretzels
makes 6 pretzels
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (1/2 cup will be for baking soda wash)
2 Tbsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. garlic salt
Place the flour, salt, sugar, 1 cup of the warm water and yeast into a mixing bowl. Knead by hand or in a stand mixer for 5 minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth. Set aside and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes in a warm place. It is important to make sure the place you choose is warm enough so that the yeast will be active enough to rise. We actually had to put our dough above the fire place!
Transfer the dough to your work surface, a counter top with a lot of space or your table will work well. Make sure the surface is lightly covered in flour and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each section of dough into a long, thin rope about 17-inches long. Allow the dough to rest uncovered for 5 minutes.
While the dough is resting again, get the baking soda wash ready by mixing a 1/2 cup of warm water with the baking soda in a shallow bowl. If using a pretzel maker like this one, place the ropes of dough into the pretzel molds following the basic pattern. If you are baking them, then form the ropes into a pretzel pattern. In the pretzel maker, brush the top of each pretzel with the baking soda mixture and cook for 11-13 minutes by lowering the lid. Pretzels will be done when they are a deep golden brown color. If you are baking yours, now would be the time to dip your pretzels into a baking soda wash for 30 seconds and them place them on a baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
When all of the pretzels are baked, melt the 3 Tbsp. of butter on the stove top or melt in the microwave. Add the garlic salt and mix well. Brush garlic butter liberally over each pretzel and serve.
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