Dear baking world,
Welcome to the new bakingisascience.com! I am so happy you’re here for my maiden voyage into the real world of blogging full of real blogger with real domains. I am so excited, even though setting it up was a bit stressful. Although I got lost in the blogging interwebs, thankfully Food Blogger Pro (foodbloggerpro.com) saved me from a total neural explosion.
My recipe for my first post is Homemade Pretzel Bites. I spent a lot of time trying to roll these out into real pretzels, but I hit a few snags. The dough kept bouncing back and was nearly impossible to roll longer than five inches. I tried adding a little bit of water to the dough, but then it go too sticky. The only thing I could think of was relatively obvious: the type of flour I used.
The recipe required all-purpose flour, but I should have tried with bread flour. Why? Bread flour has a higher protein level than all-purpose flour. Because bread flour has a higher protein content, it creates longer sheets of gluten that can stretch farther. The all-purpose flour simply didn’t provide the required stretch that I need to make thin rolls that baked into perfectly sized pretzels.
But I have to say, the pretzel bites were delicious. Brushing on the beaten egg gave them a lovely crunch and golden brown color.
Enjoy these lovely pretzel bites. Credit goes to Sally’s Baking Addiction, who held my hand through my first ever odyssey into baking with yeast. (This blog, as you will find, is a lot of experimenting and learning. I know a lot about baking cakes and cupcakes and all of that science, but this is new territory and I love it.)
Happy baking,
Brita
- 1 and 1/2 cups lukewarm water (between 90-100 degrees F)
- 1 packet of active instant yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 3 cups of flour (to start) + up to 1 1/4 cups more flour
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Any additional toppings or mix-ins, such as cheese, jalapeños, cinnamon etc.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (or 400 degrees F on Convection.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, add the lukewarm water and then add in the active yeast. Stir until the yeast is incorporated and begins to form yeast bubbles. You will smell the lovely smell of yeast coming from the bowl.
- Add the salt and sugar and mix well with the paddle.
- Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing with the paddle. Continue adding flour (up to 1 1/4 cups) until the dough is no longer sticky. If you poke the dough and it bounces back, the dough is ready for the dough hook. Switch out the paddle for the dough hook and stir on low for 3 minutes.
- Turn out the dough and cut into small pieces about the size of the tip of your thumb.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Dip each piece into the egg mixture.
- Bake for about 10-15 minutes.
You can also get the recipe here, from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Baking Is A Science 
They were awesome.. Wer’re making gluten free cookies tonight. Will let you know how they turn out…
Yay! I am working on a project myself but we shall see how it turns out… Miss you guys!