Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp yeast (I use active dry)
6 tbsps butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
12 cups water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten until frothy
Coarse Pretzel Salt
Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into your mixing bowl. Then add your 6 tbsp melted butter followed by 2 tbsps brown sugar and 1 tbsp yeast. Mix it together for about 30 seconds.
Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast begin to bubble.
Then add the 2 1/2 tsp salt and 2 cups flour to your wet ingredients. After you have these incorporated, add in the remaining cups of flour one at a time.
Knead dough for about 5 minutes to make sure it's nice and mixed.
Cover the dough mixture with a damp towel or if you prefer saran wrap and let it sit one hour. Gotta love that the only towel I had available was a Christmas one and it's now March...
The dough will rise to about double it's size.
Spray your cutting board with cooking spray and place the dough on top of it. Using a sharp knife cut the dough into eight equal pieces. Jamie over at Jamie Cooks It Up! where I found this recipe, says to make sure and let the dough rest for an additional five minutes after you cut it. That way it will be easier to roll out. I agree with her 100%! Do Not Skip This Step!While the dough is resting start boiling the 12 cups water. As soon as it starts to boils add in the 3/4 cup Baking Soda, if it gets to frothy turn down the heat.
Then you roll out each of the eight pieces you cut earlier into long ropes about 2 inches thick. Cut the long pieces into about 2 inch wide chunks. This is where we messed up folks! I let the kids cut the pieces since they are all old enough now and so yea they were not all the same size! lol
My weird lefty! :)
Each of the kiddos cutting the dough up into smaller pieces.
Now drop the little dough pieces into the water to boil for about 1 minute, you can place about 15 at a time. They look like dumplings and I guess they really are! This is where things got a bit tricky for me, but I guess trying to do this for the first time and cook dinner may not have been my best idea! ;0)Take the dough out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place in a strainer with a bowl underneath to catch the excess water. Do this only a few at a time. After they are drained, place on your greased cookie sheet or a 9x13 glass pan (which is what we used). Brush the beaten egg on top of each piece and sprinkle a bit of kosher salt on the tops.
Bake them at 425' for approx 25 minutes. Since ours were larger they took about 35-40 minutes, so just keep an eye on them until they turn golden brown. Even though they were not pretty they were VERY tasty and the kids have already begged me to make them again! :)
I want to thank Jamie of over at Jamie Cooks It Up! for this awesome recipe! You should check out her site, lots of wonderful recipes! :)
