Soft Pretzels with Home-made Caramel Sauce

My family likes Aunt Annie's Pretzels very much but they are not cheap. Hence, I started making pretzels at home since I started baking. So we get to enjoy the soft and chewy snacks in the comfort of our home for a fraction of the price. Bringing a smile to our faces :)

 

 

 

 

I whipped up a quick home-made caramel sauce to go with the pretzels by melting approximately 3 tablespoons of brown sugar with the left over butter that I did not use up after brushing the pretzels.

 

Below is the Pretzel recipe which is adapted from the kingarthurflour site. The steps I am sharing below is for hand-kneading. If you intent to knead using the food processor or bread machine, you can refer to KingArthur site for the detailed steps.

 

Ingredients

For the Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp salt (I used only 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 cup warm water (Start with adding 3/4 cup first. Add more bit by bit while you knead to get a soft and un-sticky dough)

For the Soda-Bath:

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda

For the finishing:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

 

Baking Steps

1. Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl, and stir until combined. Knead the dough by hand  for about 5-10 minutes, until it's soft and smooth. Flour the dough and place it in a bag, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
2. While the dough is resting, prepare the soda bath solution by mixing the baking soda with the boiling water. Stir until the soda dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm.
3. Preheat oven to 220 degree C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces.
5. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
6. Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28" to 30" long), and twist each rope into a pretzel.
7. Next is the soda-bath - Pour the baking soda solution into a wide shallow container, place the pretzel into the baking soda solution, spooning the water over their tops; leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the baking sheet. Repeat the bathing process until all the pretzels are "bathed". This baking soda "bath" is necessary to give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color.
8. Allow the pretzels to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
9. Bake the pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter over several layers to give these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm with caramel sauce.

This is for Yeastspotting.