i made pretzels

wow! unbelievable but true. my 1st attempt of making homemade pretzels and caramel sauce sort of succeeded. sort of... because the pretzels texture & taste can't beat auntie anne's pretzels (my favourite!) but i think with a few more attempts and some modifications and alterations here & there to the recipe, i think it's soon (entah bila agaknya??) gonna be perfect (ye la tu... perasan lebih..). want the recipe? try it, impress yourself and your kids (ni kes syok sendiri la ni...).

ingredients:

1 ½ cups of Water (warm)
1 Tbsp of Sugar
1 ½ tsp of Salt
1 package of Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp of melted Butter
4 ½ to 5 cups of All Purpose Flour

6 cups of Water
½ cup of Baking Soda

Egg Wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water)
Kosher Salt or sugar for topping

1) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the water, sugar and salt, stir to mix and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast begins to foam.

2) Add the flour and butter and turn the mixer to low and mix until everything is combined. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for about 5 to 7 minutes or until you have a smooth dough.

3) Brush the bottom and sides of a bowl with some vegetable oil and put the dough in the oiled bowl. Cover with wet towel or cling wrapper and let it rise in a warm spot (in your microwave pun boleh) for about 1 hour.

4) Preheat your oven to 230c, lay 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush some vegetable oil on the parchment paper.

5) Add the water and baking soda to a roasting pan and set the roasting pan over a burner and turn the heat on to medium and let the water come to a rolling boil, meanwhile form the pretzels.

6) Once the dough has risen, cut it into 12 equal pieces, roll each piece into a rope and make a U shape, then press the ends of the rope at the bottom of the U shape and pinch the ends. Place your shaped pretzels onto the oiled parchment paper line baking sheets.

7) Carefully place the pretzels into the boiling water for 30 seconds one at a time, remove from the boiling water using a flat spatula and put them back on the oiled parchment paper lined baking sheets. Continue to cook all of them and then brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle each one with a little kosher salt or sugar.

8) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until deeply golden brown.

well, yeah looks like it needs a lot of effort. uneasy steps i should admit but i had fun making those pretzels.