Sunday, September 30, 2012

Baked Sunday Mornings: Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Well. I certainly didn’t intend to post one recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie 2.0 and then stop posting for 8(!) months. I won’t bore you with a litany of excuses; the blog just got low on my priority list and I just decided that it wasn’t worth stressing myself out about something that was supposed to be fun. Yeah, I managed to get stressed out about a baking group. Every now and then I would mention I wanted to start doing it again and my husband would always encourage me to join another group - you know, since I had enjoyed doing it before, not at all because he wanted yummy treats. 

Anyway, I recently saw a blog post pop up in my Google Reader with a recipe for the Baked Sunday Mornings group and, having recently purchased Baked Elements, felt inspired to dust off the blog. This week the selection was Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels. I am proficient at making yeast doughs, but Josh is much better than me at shaping dough (which we found out on the rare occasions I make garlic knots), so I enlisted his help and made this recipe a team effort. I did parcel out the dough for him in eight equal portions. He asked how I knew if the were all the same size and I told him him I weighed them. At which point he obviously realized who he was talking to (his very meticulous wife) and said, “of course you did.” As Josh was shaping the pretzels and I was preparing the baking soda bath to boil them, I remembered why I like being in a baking group so much. I have been baking on a regular basis, and though there has been the occasional batch of sticky buns or interesting treats, I admit that I have defaulted more to the cookie/fruit crumble spectrum of baking. 

It is fun to be back trying new things. I think pretzels are delicious, and not surprisingly, ones brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar are even better. The one downside is the recipe’s disclaimer that they are best consumed within twelve hours. We are doing our best, though, and it is a slightly healthier endeavor than the one time I fried doughnuts at home and “forced” Josh to eat about eight chocolate doughnuts in twenty-four hours. (Above is a picture of the doughnuts, which I made two Octobers ago and never wrote about.) 

If you are interested in a great pretzel recipe and seeing more about Baked Sunday Mornings, you can check out the group’s website.

6 comments:

Susan said...

Yay, Margot! Welcome to our group. Funny - I dropped TWD also. I think I wanted to belong to the first group so badly because I loved the book, but I found the second group stressful, too. I find this group more relaxed and baking the way I want to bake.

I also belong to FFWD, so I think one Dorie group is good enough for me.

I wasn't brave enough to try the pretzels, so made a recipe I's missed: Carrot Coconut Scones - if you haven't tried them yet, they're easy & deliccious!

Unknown said...

Fun to see you back Margot! Baked Elements is on my request list from the library, I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. I've seen two recipes blogged (your pretzels and a caramel cake) and I want to make them both so something tells me I'm gonna be a fan!

Anonymous said...

Welcome, Margot! I'm a newbie too, and it's a lot of fun. :) I know what you mean about baking on a schedule being stressful-- I'm totally trying to plan out my baking for the next several months around what/when I'm going to bake for the group, as well as other recipes for my blog. Life gets in the way of the really important things like BAKING, you know?? :)

Sheri said...

Welcome to the group! I think a lot of us feel that pressure to keep up but I agree, baking should be fun and not an obligation.

Your pretzels look so yummy, and I love that it was a team effort. Looking forward to baking with you!

Littlebakerbunny said...

Welcome to the group! I love the fact that you weighed your dough, I had briefly considered doing the same thing. :) Fantastic-looking pretzels, and I'm so glad the recipe worked out for you!

TeaLady said...

SO glad to see you back in blogger land.