Yes, its that time of the year, Christmas tree going up, tinsel and poinsetias , inside lights, outside lights, scented candles all around!
So to get into the decorating mood, I decided to bake some Sugar & Cinnamon and Salted Pretzels!
For the Pretzels
- 1 cup milk
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
For the topping
- 1/3 cup baking soda
- 2 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Warm the milk in a saucepan but don’t let it boil; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast process, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Cut 2 tablespoons of butter and melt it; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly sticky. 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. Divide the dough into even pieces, the bigger the piece the bigger your pretzel. I prefer them smaller so I get more out of it. Roll and stretch each piece and 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 bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
Melt the rest of the butter and mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, remove pretzels from oven, brush butter all over them and then dip half of them in the cinnamon sugar and sprinkle coarse salt on the other half.
Mmmmmmm house smells wonderful, weather outside is gorgeous, for sure getting into the Christmas Spirit!