Soft Pretzels – Cinnamon Sugar & Salted Caramel

Warm and fluffy soft pretzels, baked to golden brown perfection.

This is not the sweetest recipe, but you know what, I haven’t been feeling so sweet. Just one of those weeks, you know? I can’t put my finger on anything in particular, it wasn’t terrible, no major catastrophes to speak of, but it wasn’t the greatest week around, either.

The solution was clear. Carbs. Warm, fluffy, baked carbs.

The pretzels alone were almost enough, but I decided to take it one step further. I topped those babies with melted butter and sea salt, cinnamon sugar, and salted caramel. It was a veritable buffet of soft baked pretzel goodness.

This recipe should probably be included in self-help books. After enjoying a couple of these beauties, all of a sudden I wasn’t feeling so bleh anymore.

And even though that lovely pretzel shape looks intimidating, these are fairly easy to put together. If you mastered the art of rolling out Play-doh snakes as a kid, you’re going to ace these.

I decided to go with a small batch recipe as we all know how drowning our sorrows in carbs can turn out.  The recipe below makes 4 pretzels, but it is easily doubled or tripled depending on how bad your week has been.

Soft Pretzels - Cinnamon Sugar and Salted Caramel

• Servings: 4
• Time: 1 hour
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INGREDIENTS

• 1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoon quick rise yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (for soda wash)
• 1/4 cup warm water (for soda wash)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450°.  Lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil.
2. Combine all ingredients (except for soda wash ingredients) in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon until just combined.
3. With a stand mixer or hand mixer, knead the mixture with the dough hook attachment until a smooth dough comes together (about 5 minutes).  Shape into a ball, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for at least 30 minutes.
4. Once the dough has risen sufficiently, divide into 4 even sections. Roll each section out into a long “snake”, then twist into a pretzel shape.
5. For the soda wash, whisk together the warm water and baking soda, then microwave on high for one minute.
6. Dip each pretzel into the soda wash, then place on the prepared baking sheet.
   *The soda wash is what gives the pretzels their colour and shine when baked.*
7. Bake 10 minutes, cool slightly, then top with salt and butter, cinnamon sugar or salted caramel.