Pretzel Rolls

I encountered my first real Bavarian pretzel when I was in Munich for Oktoberfest in 2008.  For the two days we spent there, I think there were only a few moments where you would find me without a big knotted pretzel in my hand.  So you might ask, "What's the big deal?  Aren't they the same as any other pretzel?"  To which I would reply, "Hell to the no."  They aren't like those "soft pretzel" things that you find at the ball park, which aren't soft at all.  Real Bavarian pretzels are truly soft and also chewy and have plenty of coarse salt sprinkled all over.  As you can see, I never stopped thinking about them. Ah... I feel like a forlorn lover, separated from her one true love by miles of land and sea.  Well, I am forlorn no longer.

Awhile ago, Phil suggested to me that I learn how to make pretzel rolls.  My reaction was, "Buh?  What's a pretzel roll?"  Well, it's a roll that tastes like a pretzel!  Those Germans.  Engineering geniuses.

The recipe I used can be found here.

As I've learned from Alton Brown, real Bavarian pretzels are first boiled in a bath containing lye.  Yeah, you know... the same stuff that Tyler Durden uses in Fight Club to burn a kiss into Ed Norton's hand.  Lye is an alkaline and it is used to create the deep color and crispness in the crust that is associated with pretzels.  All recipes that I've found online use a bath with baking soda, also an alkaline.  I've made these rolls twice now, and both times I've reached the deep dark brown that I was looking for.  Although, the crust isn't as hard as I would expect from a pretzel.  Phil didn't find any problem with that and neither did I so baking soda is ok by us.

Proof that these rolls were good:

11:03 AM Phil: pssssst

11:04 AM no more prezel rolls

  need more

  please

 me: lol

  ok

 Phil: :)

Raisin Swirl Bread

One of the things that I really enjoy eating for breakfast is cinnamon raisin toast or a cinnamon raisin bagel. So, I really wanted to try this recipe when I saw it.

This is yet another recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours (I think the majority of recipes shown here will be from this book for awhile). This book, while it's my first baking book, is turning out to be my baking bible.

This is my first attempt at baking a yeast bread, and I have to say: it was backbreaking work! What I thought would only be an hour or two to make, turned out to really be half a days worth. Once the dough is kneaded (my stand mixer fitted with a dough hook came in handy for this job), needs to proofed, then chilled, rolled out, and once it's in the bread pan, proofed again. But, the results were well worth it and I was extremely proud of myself when I saw the final product.

I really liked eating this bread toasted with cream cheese or just plain by itself. I let the loaf cool completely and sliced it. I put the whole thing into the freezer where it kept really well, but it was gone in less than a week anyhow.

Recipe coming soon.