Pretzels!

When the Tanya Bakes cookbook came through my door last week I was really excited to see what amazing recipes it contained. I have to say it did not disappoint, it is full of simple easy to follow recipes that are just normal! The number of times I look through cookbooks and find I would literally only want to use one or two recipe is really annoying. But I think I will definitely be using most of these recipe and I can't wait to go through them!

I thought I would start with a recipe from bread section (mainly because I opened the kitchen cupboard and realised I only had bread flour, oops!). I decided to start with pretzels as they are something I have never baked before.



Ingredients:

















500g strong white bread flour
1x 7g sachet fast-action yeast
50g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
300ml warm milk
80g melted butter
20g bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, beaten

To decorate:

1 tbsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp golden caster sugar (i didn't have golden so just used normal)

Step 1

Put flour, yeast, sugar and salt into a large bowl or mixer.

Step 2

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk and melted butter and slowly pour into the dry ingredients.

Step 3

Before kneading

After kneading

Bring together to form a dough. Kneed for ten minutes then place into a greased bowl and cover with cling film. Place in a warm place for an hour, until the dough has doubled in size.

Step 4

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius / 400 Fahrenheit / gas mark 6.

Step 5

Split the dough equally into 12 pieces. Roll out each into a long, thin sausage shape of about 40cm long.

Step 6

To shape, cross the ends of the dough twice, then bring the strands down and press into the dough.

Step 7

Boil a full kettle of water and then pour it into a large saucepan. Add the bicarbonate of soda and mix until dissolved. Dunk each pretzel into the water for ten seconds, then remove it with a slotted spoon and place each on a baking tray.

Step 8

Brush with beaten egg. Mix together the cinnamon and caster sugar and sprinkle on the pretzels. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.

Thanks for Stopping By! :)

(Disclaimer: this is not my recipe, it is from Tanya Bakes).