Pretzel Bread

It's Wednesday.  Wednesday is kids' night at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Since my husband is gone from Monday morning until Friday night,  I enjoy kids' night with my friends.  A couple of my friends' husbands work nights and I have another friend who is a single dad.   Since we are all on our own, it's nice to have a break in the middle of the week.  Kids' night allows us to relax, talk and drink a beer while the kids are entertaining each other.  Plus, there is a cute server who is usually working.  Bonus!  Tonight, two of the kids have strep throat, one of them has an ear infection and a sinus infection, and two of the moms aren't feeling well.  We decided to skip Buffalo Wild Wings tonight and we'll try to go next week.

All of that just to say, I had to cook dinner tonight.  I served this pretzel bread with my beer cheese soup.  I thank my friend Lisa for the idea.  It is so good.  It's just like eating a soft pretzel.  It takes a while to make, as bread does, but it's so worth it.  Baking your own bread is like baking your own cinnamon rolls.  It's just so much better than buying it from the store.  Plus, kneading the dough is therapeutic.  Also, you can control the salt and the butter.  Just make this bread, okay?  Trust me.

Pretzel Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 package yeast
• 1 cup water (110-120 degrees) 
• 2 tbsp milk 
• 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 
• 3 tbsp butter 
• 1 tsp kosher salt 
• 2 ½ – 3 cups flour

• 4 quarts water 
• ½ cup baking soda
• Kosher salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp melted butter

 Directions:

 Add yeast, water, milk, brown sugar and butter into a large bowl.  Whisk until ingredients are combined.

 Let mixture rest for 10 minutes. Mix in kosher salt and two cups of the flour and combine with other ingredients. Add more flour as needed.

The dough should form a slightly sticky ball. Place the dough ball into an oiled bowl, and cover with a damp towel for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, knead the dough by hand or machine for at least 5-10 minutes until the dough is elastic and satiny. Place dough back in the bowl and cover for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bring the 4 quarts of water to a boil. When the water is boiling,  add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and gently knead it, removing air bubbles. Form two separate balls of dough. Drop one of the balls into the baking soda bath for 30 seconds or less, turning it once to guarantee both sides covered. Drain the excess water from the dough and place it on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with second ball of dough.

Sprinkle the kosher salt over the bread to your taste, and use a knife to cut a small incision on the top of the bread so the dough has somewhere to expand.
Cook the bread for 25 minutes.
Once removed from the oven, immediately brush the melted butter over the loaves.

enjoy!

~*~Melissa~*~