Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

I also made up a batch of homemade whole wheat soft pretzels today. I found the recipe on Heavenly Homemakers quite a while ago and have had this recipe printed in my files ever since to try them out. My SIL Mary made them at the beginning of the month and they turned out really well, so I figured it was about time I try them out. I figured they'd be a great snack or part of a meal for Carson - not to mention Kevin and I, too. They are sooooo good!! Carson and I shared one right out of the oven - we both loved it! You can view the Heavenly Homemakers blog for picture-by-picture steps of everything. I simplified by using my KitchenAid mixer to mix and knead the dough - what a time saver that is! I made a full batch and got 18 pretzels out of it. I've kept a few out to eat fresh and have frozen the bulk of them for later. These are pretty much entirely organic, too. Everything but the yeast and salt are organic.

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

1 cup very warm water
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1 stick butter
1/2 cup honey
4 teaspoons salt
8 cups whole wheat flour
butter
salt

In a large bowl, mix water, yeast and 2 teaspoons honey. Stir this together and kind of mush the yeast around. Let this sit for a few minutes while you do the next step.

Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 cup honey, salt and milk. Heat this to 120 degrees.

Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir. Stir in 8 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time (add more if you need it). (This is when the KitchenAid comes in handy b/c that is a lot of flour!)

Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Plop it into a bowl, cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.

Pull it out of the bowl and knead it a few times to get the air out. Pull a ball of dough, about the size of your fist off and get ready to make your very first pretzel! Roll it into a long snake. Then make a loop with the ends overlapping. Then twist the ends again. Then pick up the ends and pull them down to the bottom. Then it should look like a pretzel. And if it doesn’t, just undo it and try again. After you shape each pretzel, put them on a cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Melt a stick of butter in a saucepan. Right when you take the pretzels out of the oven, slather them with butter (I just used butter spray). Lay it on thick. Don’t hold back. Then sprinkle salt over them.