Soft Pretzels with Cheese Sauce

Hi again,

Recently I've been craving for some soft pretzels with cheese sauce. Instead of buying soft pretzels, I decided to make some a few weeks ago. I've looked at different recipes and watched so many videos to see which is the easiest and best recipe to make pretzels. I finally took the plunge in making pretzels, how hard could it be? It was even hard at all and the process wasn't all that bad either. If you've made bread or even kaiser buns before, than making pretzels is almost the same process. The difference is that you have to put the pretzels in hot water and baking soda bath for a about 30 seconds before baking. I made both plain and cinnamon sugar soft pretzels. I also made some cheese sauce using Velveeta cheese.

Here's the recipe, go try it out! These make about 12-16 pretzels, depending on the size you make it.

Enjoy!

Recipe

Bake at 450 degrees F

Time: 10 - 12 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cups of water at 110 degrees F

1 Tbsp of granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp of salt

1 pkg of active dry yeast

2 Tbsp of melted butter (unsalted)

4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

Water bath:

6 cups of water

1/2 cup of baking soda

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp of water)

kosher salt for topping (optional)

Cinnamon/sugar mix (optional)

Directions:

1) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the 110 degrees F water, sugar, stir to mix and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast begins to foam.

2) Add the flour, salt and butter and turn the mixer to low and mix until everything is combined. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for about 5 to 7 minutes or until you have a smooth dough.

3) Spray the sides of a bowl with cooking oil spray and put the dough in the oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour.

4) Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, lay 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray cooking oil spray on the parchment paper.

5) Add the water and baking soda to a large pot and set the pot over a burner and turn the heat on to medium and let the water come to a rolling boil, meanwhile form the pretzels.

6) Once the dough has risen, cut it into 12 equal pieces, roll each piece into a rope and make a U shape, then press the ends of the rope at the bottom of the "U" shape and pinch the ends. Place your shaped pretzels onto the oiled parchment paper line baking sheets.

7) Carefully place the pretzels into the boiling water for about 30 seconds one at a time, remove from the boiling water using a flat spatula and put them back on the oiled parchment paper lined baking sheets. Continue to cook all of them and then brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle each one with a little kosher salt.

8) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until deeply golden brown.