Soft Cinnamon Pretzels

One of my goals for this year was to work on my bread and dough making skills, or just anything baked with yeast really. I just don't have the patience for it normally, I want instant results like the type you get with a cake or a brownie.

So I'm challenging myself every now and again to whip out the bread flour and get baking with yeast. This time it was soft pretzels and they came out absolutely perfect - which is a surprise for someone who fails at bread like me. 

They are also way quicker to make than you think. A one hour prove is all the need, then roughly 10 minutes baking time and you have yourselves some soft and chewy pretzels that you can smother in cinnamon sugar.

This recipe will make a small batch of 8 pretzels that are around the size of your palm. You can of course make them bigger, because why wouldn't you want to do that?

If, like me, working with bread and dough makes you bit nervous, then these are a real confidence booster. There's no need for a machine to mix it for you either, as they only need a 10 minute knead by hand.

They are best eaten on the day of making and I 100% recommend giving them a taste test when they are warm from the oven. Don't feel guilty if you accidentally eat two this way...

Soft Cinnamon Pretzels

Makes: 8 pretzels 

Ingredients:
135g bread flour
135g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp fast action yeast
175ml warm milk (*not hot as this will burn the yeast)
50g butter, melted

2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
40g caster sugar

Directions:

1. Start by sifting both flours into a large bowl, before adding the sugar, the yeast and a pinch of salt. Stir mixture together until evenly combined, then make a well in the centre of the bowl. 
2. Slowly, add in the milk and all of the butter, except for 1 tbsp - reserve this butter to the side for later. Stir the mixture together using a wooden spoon until it comes together as a dough. 
3. Lightly flour a clean surface, before turning out the dough and kneading it until smooth (around 10 minutes). 
4. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling form, and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hours, or until it doubles in size. 
5. Once risen, tip the dough back onto the surface and knead again for a minute, then split the dough into 8 equal pieces (or less if you want them bigger!). 
6. To shape, roll each piece into long sausage shapes. Be careful to not let the dough be too thin in shape, you want a thick piece of dough. Once stretched, place dough into a horse shoe shape, take the two ends and cross them over twice before flipping over to rest at the top of the horse shoe. Press the ends down slightly to secure in place. Repeat process until all pieces of dough are shaped into pretzel knots. 
7. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/180C fan/200C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
8. Fill a large pan halfway with boiling water and the 2 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda and bring to a light simmer. 
9. Once simmering, gently drop the pretzels into the pan, adding 2 at a time. I find 2 best as they tend to move around a lot! Cook in the pan for 1 minute and then remove and place on the lined baking tray. 
10. Place in the oven to bake for 10 minutes or until they are golden. While they are baking, combine the cinnamon and caster sugar together in a bowl to dip the pretzels into later.
11. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack, before carefully removing from tray. Brush each pretzel with the reserved melted butter before coating in cinnamon sugar. Serve and enjoy! They are best eaten on the day of baking. 

Have you made pretzels before?