Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

It’s always a good thing to like baking – when you crave something you know you can whip it up to satiate yourself. There might just be that tiny bit of lag time, though, but it’s all worth it! The other day when I craved for some soft pretzels coated with cinnamon sugar, I went looking for a recipe when suddenly I remembered that I had an e-mail from a friend who had made some gorgeous looking pretzels a while back. I rummaged through the archives and was overjoyed to find that e-mail from way back in 2007! I quickly got down to work.

I made two batches just to see how the taste would vary when I gave the dough time to ferment for a day (the real reason being the lack of time. But anyway, it did help figure that out). Although the second batch of dough fermented for over 8 hours as opposed to the first batch that got rising time of about 40 minutes; I couldn’t really notice too much of a difference. If you’re in a cooler place, you might need to let it rise for about 15 minutes more. See, I knew living in a place at 40°C has its benefits!

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels
Yield: 6-7 pretzels

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cups regular flour
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups water (for boiling the pretzel)
2 tablespoons baking soda
Cinnamon sugar,
4 tablespoons butter, melted

In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water (if you tend to kill the yeast with hot water like do, then use water right from the tap. The yeast will take longer to froth up, but at least you know you’ve not killed it). Add sugar, and stir to dissolve.

Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise for 40-60 minutes at least.

Shaping the dough: Divide the dough into 6-7 parts and then roll it out. Make sure to keep both the ends thinner than the rest of it since both the ends are going to be tied together an will become thicker eventually. Also, make sure that you roll them out thin, not more than ½ an inch in diameter, because they will swell up twice – once after the water bath and then when it’s baking.

Next, boil the two water and add the baking soda. Drop the pretzels in the water bath and let it stay in for about 5 seconds. Make sure the stove is still on. After the pretzel is removed from the water bath, make sure to dry the excess liquid on it on a kitchen towel before placing on the baking sheet/silpat/baking stone. Below is a comparison of how the pretzel looks before and after a water bath.

Place the pretzels on a baking sheet and brush with a lightly eaten egg. Bake in a preheated oven at 220°C/450°F oven for ten minutes or until golden. Let cool on a wire rack. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle the sugar cinnamon all over it. Don’t be shy, make sure to coat both sides and every nook and cranny!

These are best stored at room temperature. I have no idea how long these would keep since we consumed these on the day they were baked. If you do have some left, I’d be happy to know how long they kept for.

Variation: You can use the same dough to make the savory ones as well, just sprinkle some salt after the egg wash (so that the coarse granules stick) and you will have the traditional type of pretzels.

Savory variations: herbs, your favourite seasoning mix, sesame, onions, garlic butter, Parmesan and herbs, sun-dried tomato and herbs.
Sweet variations: almond or pistachio flakes, coconut flakes,lemony icing sugar glaze, melt-in-the-mouth powdered sugar, dipped in chocolate or spread with Nutella or peanut butter.

Enjoy the soft, chewy golden goodness!