Pretzel Bread

By á-28079

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• Dough
• 1 3/4 cup hot water
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 - 5 cups flour
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• Water Bath
• 8 cups water
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Preparation

Step 1

Make dough - In a large bowl mix together all ingredients until soft dough forms. **Start with 4 cups of flour and add more as necessary to form a solid but soft dough.**
Place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm place for an hour.
After an hour, punch down dough and either cut into 10 equal sized balls (for buns) or 2 large balls (for bread). Cover with a tea towel and let rest 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, preheat oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Prepare water bath - Bring water, salt, and baking soda to a boil in a large pot.
Drop 5 buns at a time (or 1 loaf) into the boiling water.

Let it boil 30 seconds then flip the buns (or bread) over and let boil another 30 seconds.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the dough and place on prepared cookie sheet.
Using a serrated knife, cut an "X" into the top of each bun (or loaf). Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt.

Bake at 400 for about 20 - 25 minutes, until tops are golden brown. (The loaves will take longer - the bread will sound hollow when you tap on the bottom of it.)
Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.