Homemade bread dough in mini, crunchy pretzel shapes. Great for after school kids snacks, game day salty dunks or a bone shape pretzel for puppy too!
Homemade Family Pretzels
It wasn’t that I was a food snob back when I was a young mom with a crazy, hungry, busy house to run.
It wasn’t that I had to cook everything from scratch to prove anything or be the mom snob.
It was merely economics. A five-pound bag of flour would cost less than half the price for a large bag of pretzels, and could make a gazillion pretzels.
And on a long, cold snow day when everyone is home, there is no better way to heat up the house, make a special treat for everyone and get the kids involved!
After school kids snacks, puppy treats and daddy game day nibbles were outside of the three-course meals, my budget allotted for. But these were important too!
What’s an economic minded, busy household with lots of mouths to feed, to do? Whip out the flour and make stuff from scratch!
Homemade Pretzels Are Love Food!
Today, while I can laugh, look, relax and enjoy the rosy cheeks, and wet floors from my grandchildren, through face-time, or pictures, I still feel compelled to make something special on snow days, after school snacks and puppy treats for their busy household!
Pretzels are simply ‘homemade bread’ with an extra crunch! I make bread often for gifts and treats to share.
During the long cold winters, homemade pretzels are perfect to serve alongside all your favorite soups and stews, something the kids with love, alongside something they may not love.
Pretzels Are Fun To Make
Pretzels are a fun way to take a huge batch of homemade bread dough, shape into the famous pretzel shapes, brush with a secret ingredient that makes the dough bake to a crunch on the outside and glue those large crystals of salt in place.
Working with dough is easy. I like to think of it like Play Doh, something we all love to play with. Once the dough rises, which only takes about an hour, the fun is in shaping the strips of dough into pretzel shapes!
Ingredients Needed
- Whole milk
- Active yeast
- Sugar
- Water
- Flour
- Salt
- Oil
- Coarse salt
- Baking soda
- Butter
Equipment Needed
- Large mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Plastic wrap
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Basting brush
- Small melting pot – to melt butter
- Oven
Homemade Pretzels
Ingredients
- Whole milk – 1 cup
- Active yeast – 2 tsp
- Sugar – 1 tbsp
- Water – 1/2 cup
- Flour – 2 ½ cups
- Salt – 1 tsp fine salt
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Coarse salt – to sprinkle on top
- Baking soda – ½ cup mixed with ¾ cup water, to brush on top before baking
- Butter – 3 tbsp, melted to brush on top after baking
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar with ½ cup of water. Let sit 5 minutes.
- Add milk, fine salt and a little flour at a time, mixing until the dough begins to come together. Continue adding a little flour while you press and knead the dough, until the dough no longer feels sticky.
- In a clean, and slightly oiled bowl, place the dough. Cover. Let it sit in a warm place until the dough rises and doubles in size. About an hour.
- Preheat oven to 425. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
- Punch down the dough. Roll out 24, 12” strips of dough. Shape into pretzel shapes, and set on parchment paper.
- Mix the baking soda with water and brush across the tops of each pretzel, and sprinkle coarse salt across each.
- Bake 10 – 15 minutes until golden. With melted butter, brush quickly across the tops when they are removed from the oven.
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.