Summer for me means fun with the kids and part of that for me is baking! Yes I am one of those people who run their air conditioner in the summer just so I can use my oven, wasteful I know but baking with the kids is just uhtoo much fun. It is the only time that I let go and don't care that the kitchen is a complete disaster. If the kids are laughing and having fun that's what it is all about! One of the favorite recipes of both the kids and the adults in the house is homemade pretzels!
Homemade Pretzels – Simple and Fun
The recipe is really very basic and easy for kids to follow along. You can make them any style really – salted, seasoned, pizza, plain, cheese – it really is up to you. My kids like them as mini homemade pretzels with a little salt but my favorite is a pizza pretzel, delish!
- Dough
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons rapid mix yeast
- 1/4 cup margarine, softened
- 3/4 cup hot tap water
- Topping
- Your choice!
- In a large bowl mix half the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
- Add softened margarine (if I'm lazy I just use oil)
- Gradually add the water and either beat with an electric mixer or by hand for a couple minutes.
- Gradually add flour while stirring to form a soft dough.
- Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, the dough should be smooth and elastic once you're finished (another lazy tip – use the bread hook on your mixer and let it do the work for you!).
- Cover with greased plastic wrap then a towel and let rise for 20 minutes while you prepare the topping.
- Punch dough down, divide into four (for large pretzels) and roll out to form long snake like rolls and form into pretzels on a greased baking sheet.
- Spoon topping over pretzels and let sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, preheat oven to 400°F.
- Puncture any large bubbles with a greased toothpick before placing in oven.
- Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes, remove from oven and place on cooling racks to cool.
The mini salted pretzels that we made turned out just like this:
All you have to do is spray the finished dough pretzel with cooking spray and sprinkle on sea salt before you put it in the oven and they turn out perfect every time! I hope you enjoyed our version of homemade pretzels!
What is your favorite thing to bake with the kids?