Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and I thought it was time for another heart-shaped idea. Today, my sister-in-law and I made some delicious heart-shaped homemade pretzels. My house seriously smelled like I was running a bakery. I need to find this scent for a wall plug-in.
I am sure you have almost all the ingredients you’ll need to make a batch of these pretzels so if you have time time, it would be an awesome treat for the kids or for a classroom full of kids. Mine went to some awesome 1st and 4th graders.
Once the dough was finished and had risen for about an hour, we got to work. I wanted my pretzels to be a smaller size since it was feeding smaller kiddos. I took the dough out and placed on a cutting board. I then cut into fourths and cut each fourth into 6 pieces. This worked perfectly and made the cutest pretzels you’ve ever seen.
We then rolled out each piece into a rope and made into a heart shape. Where the piece on top combined, we kind of twisted to help the dough stick together once it was in the water/baking soda bath. After they were all done, it was time to put in the hot water and baking soda (no more than 20-30 seconds each) and bake.
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small pretzels
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- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 TBS vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 4 cups water
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- coarse salt for topping
Ingredients
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- In a small bowl dissolve yeast with 1 tsp sugar and warm water. Allow for mixture to become frothy. This will take between 10-15 minutes.
- In a bowl such as a stand mixer, add dough hook. Mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. When mixed, add in yeast mixture and oil. Mix until the dough forms into a ball. You may need to add more flour if too wet or more water if the mixture is too dry.
- Once the dough has formed into a ball, allow the dough to knead for about 8 minutes. (This can be done by hand too)
- Coat a large bowl with oil and place dough into bowl to rest. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until it has doubled in size. Usually this takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450°F when the dough has risen. After this is done, add 4 cups water and 1/2 cup baking soda to pan on stove. Heat on medium-low temperature.
- Remove dough and cut into 24 pieces. I do this by cutting into 4 equal pieces. Into each fourth, I cut into thirds and then into thirds again. Each fourth needs 6 pieces for small. If you'd like larger, you can cut dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough on lightly floured surface. Once it's long enough, shape into a heart and twist together the two pieces at end.
- Once all dough has been made, dip into water/baking soda bath for no longer than 20-30 seconds.
- Placed on parchment paper and bake for 6-8 minutes.
- When done remove from oven and brush with melted butter and coarse salt.