Pretzels
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 3 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus an up to an additional 1/4 cup as needed
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1/3 cup baking soda
- 2 cups warm water
- coarse salt, to taste
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted
- Dipping sauce for serving, optional*
Directions
- Warm milk in a microwave safe bowl in microwave (or alternately over stove top in a small saucepan) until temperature of milk reaches 110 degrees, about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on HIGH power. Pour milk along with yeast into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and whisk together until yeast has dissolved, let rest 5 minutes. Add brown sugar, 2 tbsp softened butter, 1/2 cup flour and 1 tsp fine sea salt or fine kosher salt to milk mixture and using the whisk attachment, stir until blended. Switch attachment to a dough hook, add remaining 1 3/4 cups flour and kneaded mixture on medium low speed until elastic. Mix in up to an additional 1/4 cup flour, as needed, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper. Punch dough down several times to release any air pockets. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces (the easiest way to do this is to divide the dough in half, then divide the halves into halves then those and into thirds). Cover divided dough loosely with plastic wrap (just to prevent a dry crust from forming on the outside) and roll each piece out into a long, thin rope about 8-10 inches long (I think it's easiest to get traction and a kind of non-stick surface by doing this on a sheet of waxed paper).
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together baking soda and warm water then fully immerse pretzel into water mixture and allow excess water to drip off. Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle to taste with coarse salt. Repeat this process with remaining dough. Bake pretzels in preheated oven 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown. Brush the pretzel sticks with melted butter and put back into the oven for another minute or 2. Serve warm with optional dipping sauce.
Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
8 ounces of cheddar cheese (or colby jack), shredded on the large grate
1 Tbs corn starch
1 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
2 dashes of hot sauce (like Franks), optional
Directions
Toss shredded cheese and corn starch until well mixed. Pour 1 cup of evaporated milk into a sauce pan with hot sauce if using, add the cheese mixture. Cook over low heat whisking constantly until melted and thickened (4-5 minutes). Once smooth add the remaining evaporated milk until you reach your desired consistency. Serve immediately.
