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A
recipe for soft and chewy pretzels originally made by the
Romans. Try brushing plain pretzels with butter when they just
come out of the oven, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. They
are also delicious with cream cheese and a variety of toppings.
1 ¼ cups whole milk, warmed to 110°
2
tablespoons butter, melted
3
tablespoons granulated sugar
1
teaspoon salt
2 ½
teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups
bread flour
2
tablespoons non-diastatic malt powder
2
tablespoons dough relaxer
1.
Bread machine method: Place all ingredients in the
bread
pan.
Set on White, dough and large cycle. Go to step 4.
2. Hand method:
In a large bowl, whisk the milk, butter, sugar,
salt
and yeast. Stir in the flour, malt powder and dough
relaxer. Knead 3 minutes.
3.
Place the dough in an extra large bowl and spray top with
oil.
Turn
oven on to 200°,
when you can feel the heat on your
hand,
turn the oven off. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to
rise
until double or about 1-1 ½ hours.
4.
Punch down and use a rolling pin to form a 10 x 6-inch
rectangle.
Use a pizza wheel to cut ½-inch slices from the
long
side of the rectangle. Lift pieces and roll by pressing
palms
together and letting the rope hang from each end to
carefully
form a 15-inch long piece.
5. Take each end
and swing gently like a jump rope to lengthen
even
more. Each piece should be 30 inches long. Form a
pretzel
shape, then place on greased baking sheets. Let the
pretzels
rise until doubled.
6. Bring water to
boil in a 6-quart Dutch oven. Drop 2 pretzels
in
at a time and cook 10 seconds a side. Set on greased
baking
sheets.
7. Bake 8-10
minutes in a preheated 400° oven or until
lightly
browned.
Hint:
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with Fleur de
Sel
or a coarsely ground salt. Cinnamon sugar is also
delicious.
If you want to add other toppings, brush pretzels
with
butter before baking and then sprinkle with poppy seeds.
Makes 16 pretzels
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