December Recipe of the Month

December is a month full of baking and offering friends and family your homemade goods. If you are looking for a new recipe to try out and share with your loved ones our delicious pretzel bread rolls are the way to go.

“I use a baking soda-water solution to give this bread a nice dark brown color, a characteristic of most pretzels. Using a spray bottle helps to coat the dough well without having to go through the messy, time-consuming process of boiling the dough in the solution prior to baking. The dough has a sweet flavor that is offset by the salty exterior. As the names suggests, I roll the dough into rolls as opposed to a pretzel shape, making this bread very quick and easy to make.”

Pretzel Bread Rolls

makes about 35 rolls

Ingredients:

• 6 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2¼ c. warm water
• ¾ c. plus 1 tsp. granulated sugar
• 7 c. all-purpose flour
• 2¼ tsp. kosher salt, plus
• more for sprinkling
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• ¼ c. baking soda
• 2 c. warm water

Directions:

1. In a mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, briefly blend the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let rest about 10 minutes so it can “bloom” to activate the yeast.
2. After yeast has activated, add the flour, remaining ¾ cup sugar, salt, and oil. Mix for 5 minutes or until a smooth, dense dough has formed.
3. Remove the dough from the mixer and transfer to a greased medium sized bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
4. Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece into a rope about 2 inches in diameter. Cut each rope into 1½-inch pieces. This should give you roughly 35 rolls.
5. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean dishcloth and let rise again for 30 minutes.
6. Heat the oven to 425°F. In another bowl, combine the baking soda and warm water. Transfer the baking soda solution to a spray bottle and spray the rolls generously with the solution. Sprinkle with extra kosher salt if you like. Bake for 15 minutes and the rolls are a rich dark brown all over. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet.

Calories: 120; Total Fat: 1 g; Carbs: 24 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Protein: 3 g