Recipe
Twist Yourself A Pretzel
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Directions
- Place the milk in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until warm, about 110?F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat.
- Combine 1 tablespoon of the oil with the yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour in the warm milk and stir with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the yeast and sugar are dissolved. After a few minutes you should see bubbles appear on the surface of the mixtureóthis will let you know that the yeast is working. Let rest until slightly thickened and foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the flour and the salt to the yeast mixture, stirring well with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula until all the flour is mixed in.
- Place the dough on an unfloured work surface and knead until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes. (Or you can mix the dough in a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.)
- Grease a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat lightly with the oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm, draft-free place and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Make sure that the oven rack is in the center position and preheat the oven to 425?F.
- Beat the egg in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and use a rolling pin to roll it out onto an unfloured surface into a 12 by 10-inch rectangle. Itís good to measure with a ruler.
- Cut the dough in half both vertically and horizontally, so that you end up with 4 rectangles of equal size. Repeat with each of the 4 pieces, and youíll end up with 16 equal-size pieces of dough.
- Roll one piece between your hands and the surface to form a long, thin roll (like a snake), about 1/2 inch in diameter and 14 inches long. (Note: If the dough becomes too dry to work and will not stretch, wet your hands slightly and then try rolling it again.)
- Bring the ends up to form a U shape and cross one end over the other at the top. Bring the ends down and across each other as though making a bow and press down on the ends to seal.
- Place the formed pretzel on an ungreased baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, keeping the pretzels at least an inch apart.
- With a pastry brush, paint each pretzel with the beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with the kosher salt.
- Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- Using oven mitts or pot holders, remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the pretzels with a turner to wire racks to cool.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
- If itís too difficult to make traditional pretzel shapes, try making simple twists. They taste just as good!
Recipe Details
- Source: There's a Chef in My Soup
- Dish Type: Kids
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