I went home a couple of weeks ago with no intentions of cooking. Everything about this post was my mother's idea. Hi Mama!
I don't remember who mentioned hot pretzels, but it was definitely Mom's idea to actually try to make one. Then she got all excited because I found an Auntie Anne's copycat recipe. Then she made fun of me because Operation: BBB probably shouldn't include butter-and-sugar-coated pretzels.
Haters gonna hate.
Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 pkg.)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups flour
2 more cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
coarse salt
2 -4 tablespoons butter (melted)
Our biggest diversion from the recipe was using mostly wheat flour. Mom keeps this huge flour container that at this point is probably 80% wheat and 20% all-purpose. Using wheat gave the pretzels a nice flavor and a heartier texture. I approved.
We used instant yeast. Combine it with the warm water and brown sugar, let it sit for a bit, and then add the salt.
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| Tasty! |
My mother was completely immature during this process. Ridiculous, frankly. While I added the flour to the yeast mixture, she took pictures like this--
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| I do love Darren Criss... |
She said we had to document the whole experience, including watching clips of my future husband talk to Ellen Degeneres. I'm sorry, Darren, baby. She just doesn't understand.
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| His eyebrows are just so perfect. |
After you add the flour, knead it until it's smooth, cover it with plastic wrap and put it aside to rise. We turned the oven on to preheat (450ยบ) and set the bowl on top of it to keep warm.
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| What? No pictures of kneading? But... how will we know you kneaded? |
After about half an hour, the dough should puff up nicely. Fill up your time while you wait. I video chatted with my friends in Italy while my mother, of course, took a picture.
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| They even had to pose. Honestly. |
Make a bath in a shallow pan with the other warm water and the baking soda and have a greased baking sheet ready. The recipe says it makes 4 pretzels, but those would be huge. We made 11 smaller ones.
When the dough has risen, twist it into the shape you like. We went classic.
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| AGAIN WITH THE CAMERA. |
Once you've made your shape, dunk the pretzel in the baking soda bath and put it on your baking sheet. Give them a little room to puff up.
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| I'm so proud of my twisting skills. |
Now, you'd think that while you let the pretzels bake (about 10 minutes), there wouldn't be anything to photograph. You aren't my mom. The dogs entered the kitchen.
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| Hi. |
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| Hi! |
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| HI! |
When the pretzels are done, they should look lovely and brown, like this...
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| Nice! |
And this...
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| I've been practicing hand modeling. |
You can just use salt on them (a lot of comments recommended adding salt before cooking) or do what we did, and completely slather them with butter, cinnamon, and sugar.
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| We made the right choice. |
By the way, these didn't end up messing with my diet at all. In fact, I lost 4 pounds that week! I also got the worst stomach bug I've had in ten years the day after I made these, but who knows? Could have been the pretzels!
NOTE: I do not support bulemia as a diet plan. At all. Puking is gross and I hate it. You're looking skinny, eat something.
