Since we have a tendency to lean more towards cupcakes and other desserts, we were both a little apprehensive at our on-take of the whole pretzel business. Namely the whole yeast thing. So throughout the entire process, we were worried our pretzels wouldn't "rise to the occasion" (Yes. We know its a pun. It's appropriate. Don't judge us.). **FULL RECIPE BELOW**
PRETZEL STUFF:
Supplies in Picture: Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, Yeast, Oil, Butter, Regular and Rock Salt (Margarita Salt in our case), and an Egg. Plus Laroux with her pirate hook :)
STEP ONE:
In a mixer bowl, combine salt, sugar, and water, then sprinkle yeast on top. Cover the mixture and let stand in a warm place for 5 minutes, or until the yeast begins to foam. If after 10 minutes the yeast isn't foamy, its probably dead. Bury it... or pour it down the sink and start again.
BEFORE
AFTER
Supposing the yeast is alive and well, proceed to step two.
STEP TWO:
Once yeast is foamy, attach a dough hook and add butter and flour (carefully, unless you want to wear it). Continue mixing until the mixture starts to pull away from the side of the bowl. Note: we made a double batch (one batch yields 12) because we knew if they turned out well they wouldn't last long in this house; therefore we had to take our dough out and knead it by hand. (We didn't want to kill Leroux, she was getting a little sluggish.)
STEP THREE:
Clean out the mixing bowl and grease with oil. Place dough back into the bowl and cover. Let it stand for one hour in a warm dry place so it can rise ( if the dough isn't doubled within an hour, let it sit a little longer. Maybe play an extra hand of rummy or two, like we did.).
STEP FOUR:
Prepare the pretzel bubble bath! Put 10 cups of water and baking soda into a pot and bring to a rolling boil (it can be heating up while you are completing the next part of step four).
Separate the dough into 12 equal pieces. On a dry, flat surface, roll each piece - by hand - into 18-22 inch ropes. Fold each rope in half and twist all the way down (pinching the bottom two ends together):
At this point your dough should look something like this:
Take the pinched end of the dough and feed it through the loop at the top and pinch together.
TA-DA! PRETZEL KNOT!
You can also make other neat shapes; we chose to make a few traditional pretzel shapes (you'll see one later). Place your pretzels onto a cookie sheet lined with greased parchment paper.
STEP FIVE:
By this point the water should be boiling, if it isn't you will have to wait it out... but don't watch it, else it will NEVER boil. Mwahahaha... Ahem.
Each pretzel gets 30 seconds of bath time. Use a slotted spoon or pasta strainer to place each pretzel individually in the water, as well as retrieve it. Once all pretzels have been properly bathed place them back on the cookie sheets.
Note: It takes years of skill to be able to make magical shape-changing pretzels.
STEP SIX:
Prepare an egg wash by removing the yolk from the egg and mixing it in a dish with a tablespoon of water (do what you wish with the egg white, we have no suggestions). Brush each pretzel gingerly with the egg wash and sprinkle with rock salt. (Any type of chunky salt will work. Heck, we used margarita salt... it was... left over... from... stuff...).
LOOK AT US GO!
STEP SEVEN:
Place pretzels in the oven for 13-15 minutes (or until golden brown) at 450 degrees.
BAM! Super awesome delicious pretzels.
Now, if you're adventurous people like we are, then a simple pretzel isn't nearly enough to satisfy your snackbuds. You know a super awesome, delicious pretzel is even more awesome when paired with a super awesome, delicious sauce. Therefore we present you with: Spicy Nacho Cheese Sauce.
CHEESE STUFF:
Supplies in picture: Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Milk, Flour, Salt, Pepper, Butter, Hot Sauce, and Cayenne Pepper. Laroux just likes having her picture taken, so she's chilling in the background. She isn't really needed for this part.
STEP ONE:
You'll need two pots for this one. In the first pot, add milk and cook on medium heat until small bubbles start to form around the edges. In the second pot, melt butter and add flour, whisking continuously until mixture thickens.
STEP TWO:
Pour the heated milk into the butter and flour mixture, whisking the entire time so it doesn't become lumpy. The sauce should look somewhat like gravy at this point.
STEP THREE:
Add cheese slowly, while continuing to whisk. Once cheese is melted, add the hot sauce, cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste.
End result = satisfied snackbuds.
TWIST AND SHOUT PRETZELS WITH NACHO MAMA'S CHEESE DIP
COMPLETE RECIPE:
PRETZELS (YEILDS 12):
1 1/2 CUPS WARM WATER
2 TSP ROCK SALT
1 TBSP SUGAR
1 (1/4 - OZ.) PKG ACTIVE DRY YEAST
4 1/2 CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
4 TBSP MELTED BUTTER
OIL
10 CUPS WATER
2/3 CUP BAKING SODA
1 EGG YOLK
1 TBSP WATER
CHEESE SAUCE (YEILDS A LITTLE OVER 2 CUPS):
2 CUPS WHOLE MILK (anything less will affect consistency)
1/4 CUP BUTTER
1/4 CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
2 CUPS GRATED SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE
2 TBSP HOT SAUCE
1 TSP CAYENNE PEPPER
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
If you like it hot, this recipe will disappoint you... we recommend a lot more hot sauce and cayenne pepper. (We may or may not have tripled our hot sauce, but then again our ancestors were lava monsters.)
**Thank You For Viewing Our Page!!!**
We were surprised to see that we've already reached over 1000 views, which we think is pretty awesome, considering our minimal page-pimping.
Two hours and fifteen minutes later, we finally bid you goodnight. (This gets faster, right?)
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