Pretzel Bake Off

 So, we were getting ready for the super bowl, and Dave decided we should bring pretzels. He bought pizza dough, I had my home made pizza dough and then I made pretzel dough. All the pretzels were acceptable, but the Alton Brown Pretzel was sublime

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe-1948242

Total time: 2 hours   Prep 30 min  Cook 25 min       Yield 8 pretzels

Ingredient

1  1/2 cups warm water

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 package yeast

22 oz all purpose flour, (4 1/2 cups)

2 oz butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for pan

10 cups water

2/3 cups baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water

Pretzel Salt- wish we had some.

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar and  salt in the bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. 
2. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 
3. Add the flour and butter and, mix until well combined. 
4. Knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, (4 to 5 minutes.)
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. 
6. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for  1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. 
8. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
9. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan.
10. Turn the dough out onto an oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. 
11. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. 
12. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. 
13. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
14. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. or until they float.
15. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. 
16. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Too bad we only had margarita salt.
17. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. 
18. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.]