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Hell-boy Pretzels

homemade pretzel

Today I had one of those drop-dead busy days where I’ve practically dragged myself from one appointment to the next because I was so busy trying to cram too much in between them all. I’m not complaining…I’m just saying, I’m busy and I hope I can get it all done. Whew! Even worse, I roasted a chicken and made a big dinner because it was just what my sweet genius husband was wanting and that made me want it too…but I forgot to take pictures, all because I was so fracking hungry. It was a fabulous meal … a classic roasted chicken, oven roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, and cucumber and tomato salad. So the moral of this story, dear readers, is to go with your heart and you’ll end up with exactly what you need, but you may forget to document it.

So instead I bring you a easy-peasy snack item that I feed to the hell-boys. Yes it’s true, I’ve decided to call my sons hell-boys…not for any specific reason other than it suits my fancy. The funny thing is the hell-boys can consume carb laden food forever and it doesn’t turn them into sluggish morons like it does everyone else…oh wait, that’s just me? OOooops…my bad.

These pretzels are incredibly easy, beautifully rustic in appearance, and the perfect after-school snack or bake-sale treat.

Hell-boys Pretzels
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2 cups milk, scalded and then cooled to room temp
3 teaspoons yeast
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons molasses
2 cups of whole wheat white flour
4 cups of white all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
3 quart of water

Put the milk, yeast, salt, molasses, and whole wheat white flour in the bowl of your stand mixer and with the paddle attachment mix on medium until well combined, about 2 minutes. Slowly start adding the white flour to the bowl in ½ cup increments. Make sure you’ve turned the speed down on the mixer otherwise you’ll have an incredible mess of flour all over your kitchen. Continue to add the white flour until the dough clears the sides of the bowls. Stop the mixer and scrape the dough off the paddle attachment and fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Test the dough to see if it is too sticky, if so add a bit more flour. Run the mixer on low and let it work the dough for 5 minutes or so. Once the dough is smooth remove it from the bowl and let it rest on the counter for 10 – 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Divide the dough into 10 to 12 portions, depending on how large you want your pretzels to be. Roll each portion into a snake and then form the pretzel shape by holding each end in a hand and bringing them together at the middle, twisting them together and anchoring them the bottom dough (which is actually the middle of the snake).

Place a pot on the stove over a medium-high flame and fill it with 3 quarts of water. Once it’s boiling add the baking soda and then submerge each pretzel in the boiling bath for a count of 10. Remove and place the pretzel on a rack and then transfer it to a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle it with kosher salt. Repeat until all the pretzels have had a bath.

Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 210°F.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Feeds two hungry hell-boys.

One of the first recipes I ever posted on this blog was for pretzels and I’m sure they were good (It was two years ago almost…I don’t really remember one way or another) but these are much better and if you have hungry hell-boys like mine they’ll make you their queen.

Enjoy your weekend lovies.

August 14, 2008 | Filed Under baking, bread, food, recipe 

comments

12 Responses to “Hell-boy Pretzels”

  1. Helen on August 15th, 2008

    I am sure they taste fantastic but I am totally seduced by their looks right now. I am shallow, obviously.

  2. magpie on August 15th, 2008

    Those look great. I used to make pretzels, a long time ago, but I never boiled them.

  3. Lo on August 15th, 2008

    Oooh. Aaaah!
    Peef has been bugging me to make pretzels for a while now. I’m thinking this would be as good a time as any!

    Those look scrumptious!

  4. Sal C. on August 15th, 2008

    Those look fantastic. If I didn’t live in Philly where I can walk to a pretzel factory at 2am and buy a dozen right out of the oven for $2, I would sooo make these.
    Can I use the same recipe for bagels?

  5. Alexa on August 15th, 2008

    You must be a Battlestar Gallactica fan…:-) Those pretzels look amazing!

  6. Erin @ The Skinny Gourmet on August 15th, 2008

    Ahh fracking. A fair number of my meals have been sacrificed in the name of photographing them (whoops, you mean while taking that process shot I accidentally overcooked something?) so I suppose it is only fair that this time the photo was sacrificed in the name of food.

    Mmmm pretzels. I have always wanted to try making them, and you make this look pretty easy. Have you tried pretzel bread? it makes a great ham sandwich.

  7. [eatingclub] vancouver || js on August 15th, 2008

    This looks so freaking fantastic that I want to try making pretzels. Admittedly, pretzels are not common in our house. In fact, I probably have had pretzels only once. So gorgeous!

    And roast chicken is the BEST E.V.E.R.!

  8. Jude on August 17th, 2008

    That’s a really nice crust. Amazing.
    “feeds 2 hungry hell boys” haha

  9. Dorit on August 17th, 2008

    I made these last night – they were a hit! Thanks!!

  10. Jeanna on August 18th, 2008

    Great photo and great recipe. So impressed your post is our Ched of the Week over at the Dish.

  11. Maggie on August 22nd, 2008

    Great looking pretzels! I really want to try the recipe. I’m a molasses addict.

  12. Rebecca (Foodie With Family) on August 25th, 2008

    Those pretzels look really, really good. I am a soft-pretzel addict so this is going into the ‘must make when the weather is cooler’ file.

    Thanks!

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