Soft Pretzels At Home!

Yeah, been a while since I posted a recipe or much of anything but here we are. Things are still hectic but did these for the kids today and figured I would share the yummy goodness! This recipe was not originally mine but has been tweaked a little to better fit my personal tastes. It is a very simple recipe and now you can create those wonderful large soft pretzels you get at the mall or the fair at home anytime you want! I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!

Recipe:

• 6 Teaspoon Yeast (or 3 squares. I prefer quick rising to cut down on time.)
• 15 Ounces Warm Water (110-120 F)
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Granulated Sugar
• 6-8 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon Oil
• Crisco
• 1/2 Cup Baking Soda
• 4 Cups Hot Water
• Kosher Salt

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine your yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar and water. Mix until everything is dissolved and let stand 10 minutes or until bubbly and creamy. 
2. In a large mixing bowl sift together the remaining sugar, the salt and 4 cups of the flour. 
3. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the yeast mix and oil. 
4. Mix until well combined, adding more flour as needed until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and kneed until smooth and "elasticy". This will take 7-10 minutes. If you are using a dough hook on your mixer it will take probably 5. Form into a ball. 
6. Take a large bowl and grease down with crisco.
7. Place dough ball in the bowl, flip over and make sure it is fully coated.
8. Cover and let rise until double in size. 
9. Preheat over to 450F.
10. Dissolve the baking soda into the hot water and set aside. 
11. Divide up dough into 24 equal pieces and roll out into long "strings" around 2-3 feet long. 
12. Twist into a pretzel shape.
13. Dip into the baking soda wash. (This is a step NOT to skip, it is a must!)
14. Place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment. 
15. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt.
16. Bake for 7-8 Minutes.
17. Remove and cool for a few minutes.
18. Serve and Enjoy!!!!!!

Cinnamon Bites

Chocolate Chip With Icing

Now, if you would like a twist here are a couple!

1. Instead of spending all the time making pretzel shapes just cut up the dough and make pretzel sticks or pretzel bites. 

2. Omit the salt and sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mix before tossing into the oven for a sweet treat.

3. After the dough has risen, fold into chocolate chips. After baking drizzle with icing!

4. Wrap precooked hot dogs in the dough and bake! Awesome on the go meal!

5. This dough works great for Deep Dish Pizza or even making Calzones!

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Buttermilk Biscuits

Well it has been a few weeks since I have managed to make a post. I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to the new year and had just a great Christmas and/or Holiday Season in general. Out here in the Gibson home we did but it was bittersweet.

My husband found out right before Christmas that they were terminating his position with his employer. Not that they were firing him but just removing the job completely. Needless to say it has been a hard month to deal with that reality.

Thankfully the job lasted till December 31st, which he spent part of the time on vacation (paid) and the other part in training with the company in various places.  He spent 2 weeks doing nothing but traveling up and down the west coast. Not fun but you do what you gotta do to keep going.

Now we are in January and he has been sent to a temp position in another state for the next 30 days, alone. Hopefully he will find a new job before the 30 days is up. If not, we have back up plan on top of back up plan to keep going. Sadly we will have to move since there is nothing in town. So already started packing so we are ready to move the day he finds a new job.

In the mean time it is just myself, the kids and a lot of the hubby knives, lol. He couldn't take them with him, lol. Anywho, kids have been down lately. Heck I have been down. Don't want to bake a lot for two reasons.... 1) I just don't feel that bloody creative right now and I need to pack to be ready to move the moment he finds something. 2) I don't want the kids to build a relationship with food that they eat for comfort. Just leads to a lot of bad.

But I have turned to a few food related items for the kiddos anyways. Last night was pancakes and bacon for dinner. The kids just adore breakfast for dinner. Tonight was buttermilk biscuits and ham with fruit. Won't keep this up but it is nice to just be able to relax and let them have fun with dinner.

Each child takes their biscuits differently. One just likes them plain, as is. The other wouldn't have one without strawberry jam and the last will only take will some butter and honey. ~shrugs~ What can a mom do? I guess just make sure each one gets the right plate when dinner is served. LOL

Oh well, hope these pics tide everyone over till things calm down around here, the hubby finds a new job and we get moved. Also, gonna take this chance to point up to the - My Recipe Cook - tab and say - Go buy my book! LOL Hey, we are gonna have moving costs to cover soon. ^_~

See you all later!

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