Baked!

One of my 2013 goals is to bake 13 new things. Pretzel bread is something that has floated around on my mental list of Things-I-Procrastinate-About-Doing for a couple of years now. I first tried it at a farmer's market here in Louisville and nearly ate the loaf I bought by myself. Actually, I did eat that loaf by myself.

I always thought it took a super skilled artisan to make bread with a pretzel texture and that wonderful taste found in certain mall franchises, but it turns out pretzel bread (or buns or rolls or actual soft pretzels) is really easy! I used this recipe. The only change I would suggest would be to make sure "generous amount of coarse salt" is to your individual tastes. Me? I'm not a big salt fan and ended up thinking I had not put enough on, so I keep adding and adding. My first taste after they came piping hot out of the oven was all salt. Fortunately, it's really simple to brush some of it off. Other than the salt, the buns tasted perfectly like a hot, soft pretzel. I made my mine into little buns (or rolls), but I could have easily made the signature twists on these guys. Either way, this baked goodie will be a repeat!