In keeping with the fall German tradition of Oktoberfest I went with Pretzels & Beer... Germany was probably one of the greatest trips my family has ever taken and giant beers with delicious pretzels can never do you wrong. Highly suggest the Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat ... And any cooking project should never be done with out a beverage in hand :)
As usual - I saw this on Pinterest and borrowed the recipe from someone else :)
Ingredients are as follows...
- 1 Cup Warm Milk
- 2 1/4 Teaspoons Yeast
- 3 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
- 2 1/2 Cups Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Baking Soda
- Coarse Sea Salt
- Butter for Brushing
1. Pour milk into a large bowl & sprinkle the yeast into the bowl. Let it sit for about two minutes. As determined here this is just enough time to get your music setup because what is a night of cooking without a dance party? By yourself? Judge me.
2. Mix in the brown sugar & 1 cup of flour
Honestly i'd show you the rest of the mixing process but it looks horrible and I think you would give up now. Be prepared the mixing part isn't pretty but stay strong - the pretzels are tasty!
3. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and stir into the mixture. Then add the remaining flour & salt to form a slightly sticky dough.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth but still slightly sticky. If there was any anger or aggression you needed to get out from the day - this is the time. Get it.
5. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a slightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic and place in a warm area to rise until the dough has...
6. Doubled? At this point to you get a beat the shit out of your dough again. Jab - Cross - Jab and repeat on a floured surface.
7. Now we get to pretzel time - divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece into a 25 inch section. 25 really? How about you do what I did and roll the dough to the size it feels like being and then give it your best effort to make a pretzel shape. Unless you have previous experience as a Pretzel Time Employee this is going to take a few tries and maybe even google "how to make a pretzel shape". But I have faith in you.
8. Dissolve the baking soda into the water in a small dish. Once you've tried your hardest to make what looks like pretzel shapes give them a quick bath in the baking soda and water mixture. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper & give it a quick spray with some cooking spray.
9. Lay the pretzels out on the prepped baking sheet and then sprinkle with salt. Bake them at 450 for 8-10 Minutes - Really just bake them until the color you like your pretzel to be. Mine ended up at about 12 but some of them were hearty little guys!
Suggestions for future pretzel makers... Either A: take a little more time to perfect your pretzel shape of B: Drink more before you make the shapes and just forget that there is a real shape to pretzels all together. They are pretty tasty and would be great as pretzel nuggets with some cheese (Which is really what I wish I had right now)
Best of luck and more Creative Girl Dreams to come :)
