After some experimentation, I’ve come up with a recipe that works reliably with my bread machine and works perfectly pretty much every time. It’s adapted from the Black & Decker bread machine cookbook:

Ingredients:

1 cup beer, room temp (I find a sweetish beer works best. Keith’s Amber Ale is my favourite for this)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups white flour (all purpose works, but make sure it’s light)
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast

For crust:
1 beaten egg, or egg-in-a-box
Some coarse salt for sprinkling

Instructions:

In your bread machine pan, insert the paddle and put in the ingredients in the order listed above. Room temperature beer is recommended, but not necessary.

Put in the bread machine and select the default Dough mode. Start.

When the dough is ready (usually 2 hours), turn out onto a flat surface. The dough should be very springy — almost rubbery — but not at all sticky. Use a little bit of flour if it’s sticking, though I’ve never had to.

Cut the dough into 6 separate portions. I usually pat it as flat as I can and cut it with a spatula.

Work each portion into a rope. I shoot for about 20″ long and 3/4″ in diameter, but it takes a lot of work because the dough is so springy. Treat it like Play-doh, but try not to stretch it too much or it will snap and it isn’t sticky enough to reform easily.

Shape each piece however you like. Classic pretzel shape works well, or even braid it.

Place on a greased or oiled baking sheet, cover and let rise for about 20 minutes.

Brush on the egg. I find that the egg-in-a-box works well. Slather it on good, because it will make the crust appropriately crunchy. If you skip this step, they’ll end up chewy without the crunch.

Sprinkle coarse salt on to taste. Regular table salt isn’t recommended because it will likely dissolve into the egg coating.

Put a pan of water on the lower rack of your oven. Bake in a pre-heated 350° F oven for 20 – 22 minutes, or until the surface is a golden brown.

They’re good for several days, but they’re best eaten the same day the come out of the oven.

.: Tags: recipes, wtf :.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.