daily bread

While Elliott napped this afternoon, Liam and I made pretzels. It was highly therapeutic for mom (who had had a tedious morning of work, the bill-paying kind) and a lot of fun for Liam. . .and batman, who made a couple pretzel shapes (read: dough blobs) of his own. We topped half the batch (and pan) with kosher salt and half with cinnamon sugar. Next time, instead of the egg wash, we might try dredging them in butter.

Easy Soft Pretzels

1 packet of yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. sugar
Egg (to brush on dough)
Course salt and/or cinnamon sugar for topping

Mix yeast and warm water. Add flour, salt and sugar. Turn out on floured surface and knead (adding flour as needed) about 20 times until smooth and just slightly sticky. Divide into 6-8 pieces and shape as desired. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled to make bakers out of all your kids or neighbors. But don't be over-zealous. Although these crowd pleasers are pretty tasty warm from the oven, they are a serious waste of calories the following day. Liam, however, doesn't really eat the pretzels, he just enjoys taking a bite out of each one. He either expects the various shapes to taste different or he's going to grow up to be one of those kids who licks every donut in the box.