Monday, June 2, 2008

Random Recipe Monday - Soft pretzels

I know I've posted about pretzels before (at least I think I have) but I have to give a shout out to a pretzel recipe that I found to be incredibly easy and tasty. One day last week, I bribed my son (I'm not ashamed to admit it) and offered pretzels as the reward. He has a weakness for soft pretzels and I made him an offer he couldn't refuse; do as I say and warm-from-the-oven pretzels are yours. Ok, Mommy. (No, I don't feel guilty - is that wrong?)

Having used my bribery to good effect I then had to pony up with the goods. I tried a recipe from an amateur artisan bread baker site (try saying that a few times fast) and it was excellent. Ignore the heated debate over whether real bakers would use lye for dunking - yes, lye. Apparently, good German pretzels bakers use lye in some manner to get the crust right. A safe and successful substitute is a bit of baking soda in the boiling water bath (I used about 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda in my gallon or so of boiling water.)

After that explanation I have to stress again that these are easy. Really. Of course, my sodium levels have only now returned to normal but heck, some things are worth it.

3 comments:

rosemary said...

my pretzel exposure is limited to airport fare and bagged dry crunchies.

Doralong said...

I share your weakness, it just seems I seldom have time to make them any more so I'll have to give this recipe a shot.

And for the record, I have found through the years that bribery is a very effective tool!

Ann said...

I love soft pretzels, too... but have never attempted to make them. Nice post!
Ann at Redacted Recipes