I must have at least a dozen recipes for soft pretzels pinned to my Pinterest boards. I remember making them in my 7th grade Young Living (home ec) class. From that point forward I was addicted to the yeasty, salty, chewey goodness, I frequented the mall to get my fix of Wetzel’s, Auntie Anne’s or Pretzel Time. Yum!
I’ll toot my own horn as a cook – I’m pretty good, but baking is not my strong suite. Yeast makes me nervous and I don’t own a full set of measuring cups. So… I pin and pine for pretzels. Until today.
Today I strapped Miss Jax into her high chair, piled frozen blueberries on her tray, promised her a delicious snack and set to work. The process was easy, I worked from this recipe with slight modifications. It took longer than I thought, having to pause every 15 minutes to find something new to occupy Princess Impatient, but the results were spectacular. I even made my own spicy cheese sauce (not the one that accompanies the above recipe).
Flour + Butter + Salt + Baking Soda + Sugar + Yeast = Something Tantalizingly Twisted
Adding the flour to the yeast mixture. 4 1/2 cups measured out with a 1/3 cup scoop. I really need to get some measuring cups and spoons!
I’m hooked!
Just a little dough waiting to rise up!
That’s a lotta dough! Doubled in an hour.
Getting into formation.
What’s the solution to this bubbling brew? Water and baking soda.
Let’s get baked!
Fresh baked pretzels. Our house smells awesome!
A cheesey accompaniment
Hot, soft pretzel and spicy cheese – a match made in heaven.
Nom. Nom. Nom. Jax approves.
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Wanna make these at home? I’ll give you a chance to win a $25 Safeway* gift card to buy all the ingredients. And you don’t really have to use it to make these, you can buy whatever you want if you win! But you’ll want to make these because they are scrumptious.
Anyway, leave a comment on this post and tell me what you would make with the stuff you’d buy if you won. I might ask the winner to share the recipe. I need kitchen inspiration so this is a win-win for me and one lucky somebody! Actually two lucky somebodies. I have TWO $25 Safeway gift cards to giveaway.
I will put all comments in a random drawing and announce the winners on the Yay Baby Facebook page on Friday, June 7, 2013. Deadline to comment is Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. (Pacific time).
Be sure to like Yay Baby on Facebook to find out if you won!
Must be a U.S. resident to win.
*The gift cards are valid at all Safeway and Safe Co. locations, including Vons, Tom Thumb, Randalls, and Carrs.
I love to bake so I would make these delicious pretzels and my baby girl would love them too!! Id also get some ingredients to make my amazinggg stuffed mushrooms and have a potluck appetizer party with my neighbors 🙂
Yay Erika! Congratulations! I drew your name for one of the Safeway gift cards. Please visit the Yay Baby Facebook page for details on how to claim your prize! 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yay-Baby-Blog/452747874807370?fref=ts
I so could use and extra $25 for groceries! Great job on the pretzels! Yeast is a tricky trickster!
I think I have all those ingredients in my house right now, Declan just might get his 1st taste of soft pretzels today! $25 would buy a great supply of some organic pouches and his favorite yogurt bites for when we’re on the go!
Rick is the preferred cook of our house, so we would just have to put in our suggestions to him! He makes great green enchiladas, so that would be my vote 🙂 We could throw in your pretzels for dessert!
Yum, yum! I used to make these in college!
Now that Summer has arrived, it’s even more important to stretch our money, with the cost of summer daycare expenses and higher utility bills. I would use the gift card to buy just a few ingredients that can be used for several meals for the week. I can prove that $25.00 can feed a family of 4 for the entire week, with nutritious meals. For example, I would buy a while uncooked chicken. You can often get them on sale. There have been times I’ve only spent $4.00 on a 4lb or 5lb whole chicken. It takes a little prep work, but it’s worth it, since I’m able to feed a family of 4 making 4 different meals. I can break it down like this:
1st night-Prep the chicken by cleaning out the inside, then just basting the entire chicken with melted butter, salt and pepper or other spices.
Cook in a 350 oven for about an hour and a half.
Serve the chicken with some corn or a salad.
There is always plenty of chicken leftover Shred the rest of the meat off the bone. Divide it up. Mix with some BBQ sauce.
2nd night-BBQ chicken sandwiches. Serve with watermelon or another Summer fruit.
3rd night-Make a super easy chicken and biscuit recipe, using refrigerated biscuits and a bag of frozen veggies. Just melt 3 tbs of butter in a saucepan with about a 1 tbs of flour, add about a cup of half and half and a 1/2 cup of water and some seasonings. Add the shredded chicken, mix together and pour in casserole dish. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of mixture, add biscuits and bake at 350 for about 15 min.
This is just one example with chicken. I have many other examples that can prove that $25 can really go far with feeding a family! XOXO
Oops! In my long winded email before, I also forgot to mention a comment about the pretzels. The boys and I love making these, they also love making their own shapes, not just pretzel shapes. Jax will have fun doing it too. 🙂
OMG! This is awesome! Scarlett loves pretzels. Whenever we go to target I get her one at the food counter. I’m sure she would have a blast making them at home. What a GREAT idea!
Truth? I’m not a great cook. But I make a meaaaaan antioxidant smoothie! And luckily, Tyler loves it as much as I do. I’d definitely stock up on all the berries I could! Mmmmm, smoothies. (And pretzels and cheese by the way. Yea buddy!) Great blog btw!
Hi Erika! Thanks for the compliment. I’d love to know what you put in those smoothies of yours. My girl LOVES blueberries, I pile them on her high chair try and she goes nuts. It might be fun to make them into a smoothie for her.
Love your blog, by the way! Your little Jax is ADORABLE! My boys are almost all grown up… one is 15 and the other is 22 and on active duty in the Air Force. First of all I will enjoy these pretzels for 3 reasons: 1) I was also in the Air Force stationed in Germany and the pretzels at Octoberfest are unbelievable and always wanted to replicate them for myself and family. 2) I have an illness that limits me on what I can and can not eat, pretzels being one of the “cans”! So yeah, for that! And last, but not least… 3) Cooking and baking is one of my favorite things to do with my sons, but it has to be something they like and these pretzels will definitely fit the bill! If I were to win the gift certificate I would do what my family and I have been doing for sometime now… We make care packages for the troops. Our oldest just came back from his second deployment in the Persian Gulf of which we were delighted to be able to spoil his squadron with lots of treats and hard to get items to brighten their days. One of my nephews is a helicopter pilot currently serving in the Persian Gulf and another of our nephews heads back to Afghanistan to serve his second tour there at the end of the year. We love sending them and the other troops whatever we can to let them know that we support them and thank them for all that they’re doing for us.
Thank you for your recipes, can’t wait to try them out! God bless.
Hello Lisa Ann! First and foremost I’d like to extend my genuine gratitude to you and your family for your dedicated service to our country. And thanks for doing those care packages. Is there an organization you work with? I am interested in doing this myself. 🙂
You should definitely make these pretzels. They were easy and delicious. And they reheated nicely and made for an awesome snack the next day!
Next, can I ask you how you found my blog? I’m excited that you did and I hope you continue to check in. I’m working to secure more giveaways and I’ll share more recipes and ideas too!
Lastly, thanks for the sweet compliment about my little girl. She’s amazing and I am pretty smitten with her!
Yay Lisa Ann! Congratulations! I drew your name for one of the Safeway gift cards. Please visit the Yay Baby Facebook page for details on how to claim your prize! 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yay-Baby-Blog/452747874807370?fref=ts
Wow – those look delicious! And they seem fairly simple to make…great combo!
Mmmmm…I’m sitting here enjoying Quiet Time and clicked over to your blog to see these lovely little treats! Now I’m verrrrrrrrry hungry and have a hankering for pretzels. There isn’t a Safeway near me so no need to put me in the drawing for the gift card, but I will definitely give your pretzel recipe a try. 🙂
Those pretzels look awesome! I can’t hold a candle to you as a cook. I usually just make comfort food because I figure if it is salty or cheesy the chance of it being tasty are good. I’d buy ingredients to make easy chicken pot pie. Been a long time since I’ve made it and it is easy and delicious.
Maybe I missed it, but what is the EXACT recipe?!?!? I would love the recipe for the cheese sauce too, if possible!!!! Thanks LOADS!!! BTW, your daughter is quite scrumptious as well!!!
Hi Itty! Thanks for stopping by. You can find the recipe I used for the pretzels by following the link I provided in the post. I didn’t have enough flour so mine were short a little flour – that was really the only change I made. And for the cheese sauce I made a simple white sauce by melting 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat then I added about 3 tablespoons of flour and blended it together constantly stirring. After about 3 minutes I added 2 cups of milk and whisked briskly to avoid clumping. Then I added salt and pepper and a dash of cayenne and paprika. When the sauce started to thicken I added 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 3 tablespoons diced pickled jalapenos and just a splash of the juice from the jalapenos and whisked it all together. That’s it! Enjoy!