Pretzel Yummies Food

ALMOST-FAMOUS SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• Make the pretzels: Warm the milk in a saucepan until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes.) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
• Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Prepare the sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
• Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat; place on a wire rack to let excess butter drip off. Serve the pretzels warm with the sweet mustard sauce.
• Illustration by Jason Lee

CHOCOLATE PRETZEL YUMMIES RECIPE

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine walnuts, peanut butter pieces, and milk chocolate pieces. Cover and process until mixture is coarsely chopped. If a food processor is not available, coarsely chop ingredients separately with a knife, then combine. In a small heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. Return to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 236º F (approximately 10 minutes). Adjust heat as necessary to maintain a steady boil. Remove saucepan from heat, stir in vanilla. Cool 15 to 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. The mixture is easier to work with when it has completely cooled. Dip each pretzel into caramel mixture, covering about 2/3 of the rod. Let caramel drip off slightly. Spoon or roll some of the chopped mixture onto the caramel on the pretzel, pressing crumbs lightly with the back of spoon or your fingers. Let stand on nonstick foil until caramel is set. Store in an airtight container between layers of wax paper in the refrigerator up to 4 days or freeze up to 1 month. Makes 25 pretzel rods or 13 whole Bavarian pretzels.

SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• For the dipping sauce: Whisk together the mustard, honey and horseradish in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Cover and let sit at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
• For the soft pretzels: Combine the sugar, salt, yeast and 1 1/2 cups warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit 5 minutes.
• Add the butter and 4 1/2 cups of the flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour a tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead the dough into a ball with your hands.
• Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray liberally with cooking spray.
• Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot over high heat and add the baking soda.
• Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches. Shape each into an upside-down U shape, then bring the ends together and twist them to create a pretzel shape.
• For the salt mixture: Combine the salt, black pepper and pink pepper in a small bowl; set aside.
• Boil the pretzels in the water solution 2 at a time for 30 seconds; remove with a large flat slotted spatula or a spider.
• Place 4 pretzels on each baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt mixture. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating. Serve with the dipping sauce on the side

HOMEMADE SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
• Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
• In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
• Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

YUMMY PRETZELS

Steps:

• Put one bag of pretzels in a gallon size ziploc bag.
• Put the other bag of pretzels in another gallon size ziploc bag.
• Combine the oil, dry dressing, garlic powder and dill weed.
• Mix well.
• She uses her large glass measuring cup. It is easier to pour the mixture over the pretzels.
• Pour half of the oil mixture into each ziploc bag of pretzels.
• Shake the bags until the pretzels are well coated.
• Flip and shake the bags every so often, for the next 4 to 6 hours.
• She said she flips and turns everytime she walks into the kitchen.
• Enjoy!