Pretzels

Obviously whenever there's a potluck for the boy I always need to make something complicated, you know prove my worth. So this time I decided why not make some pretzels with a cheddar and beer sauce. Having made pretzels many times I'd never really have been satisfied with any recipes. I figured why not make them bite sized. Being the insane person that I am I decided I would make two recipes back to back, the first this one and the second a Martha Stewart. Although Martha's recipe was a perfectly decent soft pretzel I wasn't impressed. I won't post the cheese sauce either because I felt it was grainy and didn't make the cut. Thankfully everyone seemed to have enjoyed the treats and there were no leftovers.

The trick in this recipe is to let them sit in the fridge, it really made a big difference in the crust. I also used baking soda, not lye.

Homemade German Pretzels by Amanda from Amanda's Cookin' and Astrid from La Cerise

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour ( I use King Arthur)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
5 1/2 tsp of active dry yeast
3 tbsp unsalted butter softened

1/2 cup baking soda
2 quarts water

Coarse salt for sprinkling- used kosher

1. Dissolve yeast in the lukewarm water. Mix flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Form a well
in the flour mixture then add the sugar to the center of the well. Pour the yeast/water mixture into the
well. Let it rest for 15 minutes before mixing.
2. Add the softened butter to the mixing bowl and knead everything to a smooth dough. I used the
dough hook on my Kitchenaid for about 6 minutes on #2.  Remove the dough hook and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
3. Cut the dough up into manageable portions, the important part is that when rolled they're all the same thickness. Chop them up into tiny bite size portions. I use a pastry cutter.
4. Place the pretzels without covering them in the fridge for about an hour. This helps build a skin that
will absorb the dipping solution better and make a beautiful shiny crust.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
6. Fill large stock or pasta pot 3/4 full and bring the water to a boil. Carefully and slowly add the baking
soda to the boiling water. There will be a reaction when the baking soda hits the water and it will
bubble furiously for a moment and then relax.  Using a slotted spoon, gently drop each pretzel into the bath for 10 seconds, then turn over for another 10. I placed them on a drying rack.
8. Score the dough once like for a baguette with a razor blade or sharp knife.
9. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake the pretzels on your middle rack for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how dark you like them

I didn't get to snap a picture, but I figure I'll post an earlier attempt. I think this batch was the recipe on the back of a bag of pillsbury flour.