pretzels

Soft white pretzels made from flour water and yeast and sprinkled with salt (and sometimes different seeds). It's great to eat as a side dish or snack, especially with a strong German beer. They’re in every bakery and on street stands, sold plain, sliced and buttered or with slices of cold meats or cheese.

MAKES 2 LARGE PRETZELS

Ingredients

1 1⁄2 tbsp. malt extract (malt extract from holland and barrett) (or use Molasses, use slightly less.)

1 (¼-oz.) package active dry yeast

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for serving

4 cups flour, plus more for dusting

1⁄4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. baking soda

Coarse salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

pre heat oven to 200C

Stir together malt, yeast, and 1½ cups warm water in a large bowl, and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Add butter, flour, and salt, and stir until dough forms.

Transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Halve dough, and working with one piece at a time, roll dough into a 4' rope, about 1" thick.

Transfer rope to the bottom edge of a sheet of parchment paper, and keeping the center of the rope on the paper, pick up both ends, cross one end over the other, about 2" from the ends, and twist; attach each end to the sides of the pretzel. Repeat with remaining dough, and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.

Bring baking soda and 1 cup water to a simmer in saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until baking soda dissolves. Brush each pretzel generously with the baking soda solution, sprinkle with coarse salt, and using a sharp paring knife, make a 6" slash, about ¼" deep across the bottom edge of the pretzel. Working one at a time, slide pretzel on parchment paper onto the stone(if using a stone it should be pre heated for 15 minutes); or baking tray, Add the baking sheets to the 200C oven for around 16 minutes, until a nice deep brown is seen on the pretzels. Repeat with any remaining pretzel. Let cool for about 10 minutes; serve warm with butter.

Tip: No baking stone you can use a baking tin, but the bottom crust won't be quite the same. You soak the baking stone in water to release steam into the oven. So put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven to mimic this.