This is a fun weekend project that is quicker than you would think and the children love to help out.  Of course, if your children are like mine, you’ll have to sigh and relinquish control as they experiment with making pretzels  into intricate abstract forms and ambitious animal sculptures.  My rule for such occasions– give them 1/4 of the dough to do as they will and make your own perfectly sculpted yumtastic bread.

This recipe that I made with the boys is from Molly Katzen’s kids book, “Honest Pretzels”.  I will not post the recipe here– just photograph the steps that we took– you can buy the book or better yet, borrow it from your public library.  Both of her children’s cook books are staples in our kitchen– especially now that my 6 year old can read and follow all of the steps.

That being said, I’m not crazy about her recipe.  It yields smallerpretzels that I wasn’t aware of at first.  My favorite, though it isn’t whole wheat (not like you eat pretzels every week anyway– one day of white flour…) comes from Williams-Sonoma’s website.  Those pretzels are larger and more identical to the ones that I remember growing up in NYC from any given hot dog stand.  Here’s a link to that one– very simple ingredients and again, easy to make.  In fact, you can experiment with using 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flours if you desire a little more sustenance.

Always proof your yeast. this is 1/4 cup of warm water to wake them up, a pinch of brown sugar to quench their microscopic appetites, and then pour in the little VIPs

Whisk the dry ingredients

Make a well in the center

Pour the wet ingredients into the well.

Mix to combine.

Knead away….

Fold like flaps of a book and knead some more.

Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover it with plastic and a towel and store in a warm (non drafty) place for 1 1/2- 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in volume.

Once risen, punch, knead a bit more and then section your your dough. Your little one will love making the “snakes” for this one.

Add pretzels into boiling water and remove them with a slotted spoon. Place on a cookie sheet, spray with water and add your toppings (some prefer to add them in the end). Bake for the amount of time designated in your recipe.

Enjoy!