It’s Ash Wednesday and that means it’s time to make pretzels. The pretzel is the oldest Christian food that we know of. It was created to be eaten during the Lenten fast so it has nothing rich like butter, milk or sugar. To emphasize prayer as a theme of Lent, the shape of the pretzel is of arms folded in prayer.
These pretzels are so good and they are super easy and quick to make. About twenty minutes to proof the yeast and mix up and another fifteen minutes to bake. Serve them with salt flakes or stone ground mustard but not with butter! :)
Quick and Easy Pretzels
From A Continual Feast
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 1⁄2 cups lukewarm water (100-110 degrees)
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
Course or kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
Add the honey to the water; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until
dissolved. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Blend in the flour, and knead the
dough until smooth.
Cut the dough into pieces. Roll them into ropes and twist into pret-
zel shapes. You can make small pretzels with thin ropes, or large
ones with fat ropes, but remember that to cook at the same rate,
your pretzels need to be the same size.
Place the pretzels on lightly greased cookie sheets. Brush them with
beaten egg. Sprinkle with course salt.
Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, until the pretzels are golden
brown.