Pretzel Rolls

I like making pretzel rolls when we're having veggie burgers for dinner and using them as buns. They are good just as plain ol' rolls, though! This recipe makes 8 burger sized rolls, or 12 smaller dinner rolls.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 tsp. yeast

1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 c. hot water

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4 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. hot water

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5 c. water

1/2 c. baking soda

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Toppings of choice

Instructions:

- Activate the yeast using all ingredients in the first section of the ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together until there are no longer lumps of yeast. Let sit until it starts to bubble -- about 5 minutes.

- When the yeast is all ready to go, use your hands and mix in the second part of the ingredients. The measurement on my flour is just a guess since I just started small and kept adding flour as needed. Keep adding flour until it is a dough-like consistency and easy to work with.

- Once dough is smooth and all mixed together, place into a greased bowl and let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size. I put it in a metal bowl and set on the stovetop with the heat setting on simmer. This should take a good 30 or 40 minutes.

- Once dough has risen, punch down and divide into sections of your choosing. Since I wanted to make buns out of these, I made them rather large. Let sit for 10 minutes to rise just a bit more.

- While they are rising, get your water and baking soda ready. Bring 5 cups of water and 1/2 cup baking soda to a boil. Make sure not to use a shallow pot since you will be immersing your rolls in this.

- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

- Drop rolls one by one into your baking soda and water mixture. Let rolls sit on EACH side for 30 seconds or so. The longer you let sit, the more pretzel-y these will be.

- Spoon out onto your cookie sheet and slice an "X" into each one. I topped my pretzel rolls with melted Earth Balance and a sprinkle of course salt.

- Pop into the oven and cook for 25 minutes or until browned.

(Even though they take a little while to cook, this is a good time to do your dishes!)

- Once done cooking, place on cooling racks and let sit for a couple minutes before slicing open. These will be hot inside!

I know it looks like a lot of work, but these really aren't that hard to make. They are also mighty delicious! I would like to try adding bits of garlic and jalapeño to this next time. If anyone decided to try these out, let me know what you add to it!

In non-food related news, it feels like a cool summer day here in San Diego right now. I love having a day off and being able to sit in my living room with the door and windows open. I can't wait til it's warm enough to go back into the ocean and swim!!