WhatsForDinner: Bavarian Pretzels

In participation of National Pretzel Day , I whipped up a batch of Bavarian Pretzels
I used what I had on hand, so I substituted Unbleached white flour with a wholesome Wheat flour. This recipe is very simple, with no fat added. It is low in Salt too because the only salt added is what you sprinkle on top. The look on my Hubby's face to come home to Hot Pretzels cooling on the rack, was well worth the effort. As far as the rolling the dough and making shapes, this would also be a great recipe to make with kids. The dip in the boiling water with baking soda should be left to the adults though.

1 Package active dry yeast (2 tsp)
Warm water (1/8 Cup-105°f/30ml-40°c)
Warm water (1 1/3 Cup/315ml)
Brown sugar (1/3 Cup/80 grams)
Flour (4 1/2 Cups/520 grams)
Baking Soda
Pot of water

Dissolve yeast in 1/8-cup warm water. Stir in 1 1/3 cups warm water, 1/3-cup brown sugar and flour. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. You can let the dough rise for a half hour or so but it is not required.

Heat oven to 475°f / 245°c. In a saucepan, measure 2 tablespoons baking soda to each cup of water. Put enough water to fill the saucepan at least 3 inches high. Bring soda and water mixture to a light boil and set heat to simmer. Make sure the baking soda is well disolved.
Tear off some dough and roll a long thick pencil shape with your hands. Pick up both ends, cross to form rabbit ears and then twist the ends and pull them back to the rest of the loop. Place aside on lightly floured surface and let rise a few minutes.

Place pretzels one at a time in water/baking soda mixture for 10 seconds on each side or until the pretzel dough is light yellow in color. Remove the pretzel from boiling water and place onto a salted a cookie sheet.

Salt the top of pretzels with course ground sea salt. Place cookie sheet with pretzels into the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until pretzel is golden brown. Enjoy while warm.

A Nod of thanks goes out to http://www.theoktoberfest.com/HTML/pretzel/index.html

for a great recipe!

Now to break open the mustard and perhaps a nice frothy Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse.