Home Made Hot Soft Pretzels oh so EASY!!!

Are you in the mood for some delicious hot soft pretzels? If so …They are just about an hour away once you check out this post! Bon Appetit My Friends!

Is there ever a bad time to make a batch of piping HOT Soft Pretzels? Um…the answer would be NO!!! Believe me there is NO reason not to make these scrumptious morsels of yumminess! They are quick…easy and delicious….so fear not…you can have a batch of these ready to put in the over in about an hour! Really! 6 minutes to whip up the dough…45 minutes to raise and then 10 minutes to roll and twist…then it is time to pop them in the oven…it’s that SIMPLE!!!!

These are EASY as one…two…three! I have taken a basic pretzel recipe and tweaked it just a bit and I have to tell you everyone LOVES them. In a blink of an eye and they are gone. They are truly perfect straight out of the oven but of course coated with a bit of a butter wash and sprinkles of sea salt makes them even better. There are tons of other toppings you can use…sprinkle with your favorite cheese, interesting types of salts, drizzle with chocolate and caramel, fresh cracked pepper and the list goes on. You can also dip them in horseradish mustard, your favorite mustard, your favorite dip, humus, marinara sauce, portobello mushroom gravy…well you get the picture! You can even make S’More pretzels by spreading some fluff (yes…it is not only vegetarian but vegan) drizzle with chocolate and top with graham cracker crumbs. A little bit of imagination will go a long way! Your kids will love it! Have them help in the preparation…it is really that EASY!!!

Now let’s get on to making our pretzels.

Recipe: Hot Pretzels

2 3/4 cups all purpose flours (I used Heckers)
1 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sugar
1 package of active dry yeast (1/4oz) fast rising or regular will work fine
1 cup warm water plus about 3 more tablespoon
Now for the Baking Soda Wash you will need
1/8 cup of warm water and 2 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. of butter (your choice…they taste yummy with or without!)
kosher or sea salt (course)

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees

Put all of the dough ingredients into a bowl and mix well forming a nice dough and then knead for at least 5 minutes. If you have a mixer, I put all of my ingredients in the mixer and I use the dough hook. First I combine the ingredients and scrape the sides and then i place run the dough hook for a little bit over 5 minutes and let me tell you the dough is perfect! Remember to check it to see if it needs a touch more flour or water. The dough should be very smooth, soft and pliable. When it is ready, just pat into a ball and place it in a nice glass bowl that has been lightly coated with olive oil, cover with cling wrap and put it in a warm dark place (I preheat my over for 2 minutes, shut it off and place the bowl in) let it rise to double the size (takes about 40 minutes to an hour).

Now take the dough and roll it into a thick log and cut into 8 equal parts and roll into lengths about 10 inches and form your pretzels. Check out this 15 second video to see how to twist your pretzel…IT IS SO EASY!!!!!!! Now is the time to make your baking soda wash. Add the warm water to the baking soda and mix good, now brush (using a pastry brush) the wash over the whole outside of the pretzel and repeat for all of them. Pop them in the over and cook for 9 minutes, they should be a rich pretzel brown. Remove from the oven, melt your butter and apply to all of the pretzels with the pastry brush and sprinkle with salt…put them on a pretty plate and viola YUM!!!! Eat them as is or try one of the above suggestions or one that you are dying to try. One way or another you are going to LOVE them. This will become a recipe that you make all the time, trust me! Enjoy!

This recipe has been adapted from a basic recipe with some changes, all tested first hand.