Good Eats Girl

First…before we get to the recipes.

My stepsister and niece are one of twelve finalists in the Rolling Stones My Family Rocks Contest.  There were around 15,000 submissions and they have made it into the final 12!  Yay!  

If you possibly have a few minutes, click this website…..http://www.rollingstone.com/music/my-family-rocks and vote for the Hallman Family.  I appreciate it very much!

Now, on to the recipe!

In November we took our little ladies to Chicago for the weekend.  We headed in to see that parade down Michigan Avenue that kicks off the holiday season in Chicago!  It was SO fun!

While we were there we ate at Weber Grill.  It was somewhere where the Good Eats Guy has wanted to try every time that we have been to Chicago, so we decided to try it out!

I can’t explain my excitement when they brought out a basket of pretzel rolls as soon as we ordered.

Pretzel rolls are one of my favorite things.  You could slap a shoe on a pretzel roll and I would eat it.  I love the things.

Anyways, I have made pretzel rolls and pretzel bites before, but they didn’t compare to the ones at Weber Grill.  So, I was off on a search for a new recipe.  To pinterest I went, and found this recipe.  I’m hooked.

Pretzel Rolls slightly adapted from UneBonneVie
The Dough
6 – 9 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups milk, slightly warmed
1 cup water, slightly warmed

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

The “Bath”
7 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons baking soda

In a small bowl, mix the yeast with the warmed milk.  Let the yeast activate for 10 minutes.

While the yeast is activating, mix together 5 3/4 cups of flour and one teaspoon of salt in a large bowl.

After the ten minute wait is over, add the oil and water to the yeast mixture.  Then, pour the liquid into the bowl with the flour and salt.  Knead until the dough is smooth.  At this point, add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is smooth and stiff.  (I ended up using 8 cups of flour total.  Depending on the humidity, etc., it may take you more or less.)

When the dough is finished, cover the bowl with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

After one hour, punch the dough down and knead in the bowl for one minute.  After one minute, put dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into pieces.  You determine how many pieces based on the size of rolls you would like.  I ended up with 20 rolls that were great as buns!  Form the pieces into the shape that you would like.  Let the rolls rise for 15 minutes.

As the rolls are rising, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and get your pretzel bath ready.

For the bath, bring the water, salt, and baking soda to a rolling boil.  After the 15 minute rise time is over, place the rolls into the bath.  Flip them over after 30 seconds.  After one minute total, use a slotted spoon to lift the rolls from their bath.  Place on a parchment lined or well greased baking sheet.  Using a sharp knife, cut 2-3 lines in the top of each roll and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pretzels have turned a pretty brown color.

These were great!  The texture and taste was perfect!  And this is coming from a pretzel roll loving girl!  :)

Big plans for the weekend??

We are going to go and see some friends this evening and then we are going to hang out for the rest of the weekend.  It’s back to work on Monday….winter break is almost over!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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