I Dream of Pretzels

I have always loved pretzels, especially big, warm, soft pretzels, and I never thought I'd be able to make my own. Until this weekend.  

It was fun, a little scary and ultimately delicious! Be brave and try something new!

What you'll need:

• 1½ cup warm water
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2¼ tsp instant yeast
• 4½ cups flour
• ½ stick of butter, melted
• brie cheese, sliced
• 8 cups water
• ½ cup baking soda
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Sea salt & Fresh rosemary, for garnish

Directions!

• First gather your salt, water, sugar and yeast into a bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until frothy. Mine never got quite frothy so don't stress if yours doesn't froth either. 
• After the 5 minutes add in the flour and butter and mix it up. I mixed by hand but you can also use a standing mixer if you prefer. Once your dough is actually dough like and pulling away from the sides of your mixing bowl transfer it to an oiled bowl. Once transferred, cover with plastic and let sit for atleast an hour. The goal is for your dough to double in size so you may want to wait more than an hour.
• Once your dough has doubled, dump it onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out a bit and divide it into about 8-10 pieces. Size is really up to you, just depends how large you want your pretzels. Remeber they will grow in the oven so you may want to start smaller. I know next time I make them I will start smaller. 
• Once your dough is divided roll it out into long flat rectangles. Place your brie slices inside and pinch dough closed, safely concealing your brie. 
• Give the dough a nice roll to ensure your brie is all sealed and twist into a pretzel shape. I started from the bottom, brought the ends up like at the top of a heart shape then twist and pinch ends back down.
• Now grab your baking soda and water and bring that mixture to a boil. While that's boiling preheat your oven to 425. Once the water is ready give each pretzel a 30 second bath. Place pretzels on a baking sheet once you remove them from water. 
• After the pretzels take a dip, brush them with olive oil and garnish with fresh rosemary and seasalt, then throw them in the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

And there you go! They are so delicious and fairly easy. Note if you want to make plain pretzels do everything the same just skip the brie and rosemary! Or replace the brie with your fave cheese. Just have fun with it and enjoy these delicious snacks!

Recipe borrowed from Port and Finn

-K