It's been awhile since my last post because 2015 was a very busy year! My husband got a new job, we sold our house (after I was a single mom during the weekdays for 3 months), moved to a new town 3 hours away, moved out of that apartment into the house we bought 2 weeks before having our 3rd child. So, I've been busy. I've still been cooking and baking but every new recipe I tried didn't seem blog worthy.
Until....
Stuffed Pretzels!
I've spent many late nights looking at Pinterest while nursing the baby. When I found this recipe for ham, swiss, and jalapeno stuffed pretzels, I had to give them a try.
We didn't have Swiss cheese so I used shredded cheddar instead. I just used leftover ham from a previous meal and cut it into small pieces. I omitted the jalapenos since my kids don't like spicy food.
A first I was intimidated by this recipe with all the steps but I'm glad I didn't let it stop me because it was surprisingly easy and quick even with a 3 year old helping.
We loved these pretzels so much I immediately made another batch since I still had the water and egg wash. We didn't have enough all purpose flour so I had to use some whole wheat flour instead. The dough wasn't as elastic (as I would expect). I didn't try these yet, I wanted to see how they would do freezing them so I will probably find out this weekend.
- Stuffed Pretzels
- Ingredients:
- Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110-115 degrees F)
- 1 package instant yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
- Cooking Liquid:
- 8 cups water
- 3/4 cup baking soda
- Fillings:
- Ham, diced
- Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
- Egg wash:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
- Directions:
- For the dough:
- Combine water, yeast and sugar in a stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment. Let stand for at least 10 minutes or until mixture foams.
- Add butter, flour and salt; kneed for 12 minutes on medium speed.
- Cover with damp towel and allow dough to rise in a warm spot until doubled. (I like to let me dough rise for as long as possible since it gives it a richer, yeastier flavor.)
- Assembly and Cooking:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Add water and baking soda to a large pot and bring to a boil.
- Divide dough into 8 equal rounds.
- Roll each round out into a 16" rope.
- Roll each rope out so it's 4 inches wide.
- In a small bowl combine ham and cheese. Add 3 tablespoons of filling evenly along the rope.
- Tightly roll the dough back into rope, jelly roll style, pinching the edges together.
- Make a U shape with each rope of dough, holding the ends.
- Cross the ends over each other, pinching ends onto the bottom of the dough.
- Place pretzels - one at a time - into the boiling cooking liquid. Cook for 30 seconds each.
- Transfer cooked pretzels to prepared baking sheet.
- Once all of the pretzels have been cooked, brush the tops of each with egg wash, then sprinkle with garlic salt.
- Place pan in the oven and bake for 16 minutes.
- Eat warm, or transfer to a rack to cool
My helpers:
