Perfect Pretzels (I couldn't think of better alliteration, okay?)

Hola! So last night, I decided to get my Paul Hollywood on and bake pretzels. I'd never made them before so this was completely new to me, but I was dead chuffed with the turn out of them! I adapted this from Paul Hollywood's pretzel recipe, (that's not blasphemy, is it?) and made it a fair bit simpler. The ingredients are almost definitely lying in the back of a cupboard somewhere in your house, which makes them pretty cheap and easy in that department.
They were quite finicky to make, but sooo satisfying and totally worth it! I definitely have a lot of respect for people who work at Mr Pretzels now because shaping them really is a pain! (Although saying that, I have zero hand-eye co-ordination skills so that's probably why my tiny brain was so baffled by this)

Already a bunch of people have asked for the recipe, so I thought that this would make a nice first post of the New Year (I'm going to try and actually write in this this year because I'm totally useless at committing to things like this)

AAAANYWAY

Here's my super simple pretzel recipe, I hope you guys enjoy it and if you have any questions about anything make sure to comment at the bottom!

Ingredients

• 500g white flour
• A small pinch of salt
• 7g (one packet) of easy bake yeast
• 40g softened butter
• 280ml milk
• 50g of bicarbonate of soda and a jugful 
  of boiling water
• Oil for greasing the bowl
  
  
• An extra spoonful of butter 
• Rock salt and pepper
  (both to finish off)
  
  

Method

First of all, add the flour, salt, yeast and butter into a large mixing bowl, and rub the fat into the flour like you would if you were making scones in Miss Irwin's third year HE class. There shouldn't be any lumpy bits of butter (gads) in the flour mix, and it should resemble really fine bread crumbs. 

Next, add in the milk a little bit at the time, stirring it with a metal spoon (it wont stick to the dough as much as a wooden one would) to incorporate it. 

Once it becomes too stiff to stir, work it with your hands until a rough, dry dough is formed and your hand looks gross. The dough shouldn't be wet and sticky, and should have a play dough like consistency (I'm really making this sound delicious, huh?)

Once the dough is ready, move it onto an un-floured surface and start beating the cra- I mean kneading it. Pretend it's the SQA or Professor Umbridge or something, really go at it. Do this until the dough is smooth and has a light shine to it.

* Ta daaaah*

Once the dough has been satisfactorily pummeled, oil up your bowl (if your mum is one of those weirdos who only uses fry light spray, I feel your pain and that works too) and put your dough in it, covering it with a clean tea towel. Put it in a dry cosy area like an airing cupboard or a teenage boy's bedroom and leave it to prove for an hour. 

After the dough has finished proving and has doubled in size, put it back on the board or surface you were using earlier (still un-floured) and cut it into 12 pieces.

Once the dough has been dismembered, years of making Plasticine sausages will finally pay off. Take a piece of dough, and roll an even sausage shape. If you want to be like super duper precise, measure the sausages with a ruler, but I just made them the same length as my board. Once rolled, chop off the ends, and shape the pretzels. 

The easiest way to do this is to lift the dough up into a U shape, and quickly cross it over into a double twist and flip it back onto the board, using a small dab of warm water to stick the tapered ends into shape. 

Put the bicarb in a large jug or bowl, and top it up with hot water, whisking as you pour. 

Drop each pretzel into the water-bicarb potion for exactly five seconds, and this will help to develop the golden brown exterior synonymous with pretzels. Once dipped, lay them all on a baking tray and sprinkle them with the rock salt and pepper, then bake for 25 minutes at 200*C.

Once the pretzels are cooked, melt the butter and gently brush over the pretzels, because hot butter 

makes everything better, right?

VIOLA!!!! 

I'm not gonna lie, these are the bomb. They were so easy to make and are totally delicious.