What's Working Wednesday: Soft Pretzel Dough isn't Just for Pretzels

What's Working Wednesday is my weekly post to showcase something that is working for me or my family at the moment. It may not work for us forever and it may or may not work for you.

One recipe that has been a life saver lately has been my soft pretzel dough recipe. In the past I have often used this recipe when the kids have had friends over as a fun activity/ craft/ snack for them. It is a super quick, super easy recipe.

Lately I have been making "pretzel rolls" using the pretzel dough. I haven't taken the time to make bread lately and when we have needed bread quick for a meal, rather than making a run to the store which costs in both the arena of time and money, I have quickly made up a batch of the pretzel dough recipe and instead of forming the dough into pretzels I've formed them into rolls. (OK, as you can see from the picture below, I often make both rolls and pretzels. BONUS - fun snack!) I've used the recipe to make hot dog and hamburger style buns lately.

Soft Pretzel Dough

Mix together:
1 1/2C warm water
1T (or pkg) yeast
1t salt
1T sugar
Add:
4C flour (I usually use a mix of white and wheat. I've never tried it with a gluten free type of flour, let me know if you try it and it works with that.)

I often knead it for a minute or so by hand or let my Kitchen Aid mix it for a while then let it sit for about 5 minutes. Break the dough into the number of pretzels or rolls that you want to make then roll them into whatever shape you like.

 Bake them at 425 for 12-15 minutes.

Yummy pretzels and pretzel rolls, ready for a quick meal.

 It's fun shaping the pretzels. I don't think I am quite ready for a job at Auntie Anne's but my pretzel shaping skills have improved and my family likes these rolls better than the ones we would buy at the store.