French Loaf Bread (Taste of Home “Easy Breads” October 2019)
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons of active dry yeast
2 cups of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
4.5 - 5 cups of flour (I used All Purpose. The original recipe calls for Bread Flour.)
(1 teaspoon of cornmeal [This was not used during the pretzel process, but is called for with the regular French Loaves.])
Method:
Dissolve sugar in the warm water.
Dissolve the yeast in the water and let sit to proof (foam).
Mix flour and salt together in a very large bowl. (Optional to sift together, I think it’s fun.)
Mix wet and dry in the bowl until a soft dough forms.
Knead on a floured surface (or in the bowl if it’s large enough) until “smooth and elastic.”
(Note: The recipe says 6-8 minutes… I think I kept kneading for about 20-30 minutes until it was acceptable. My clavicle was aching because of all the arm movement. [Shenanigans: I added 2 tablespoons of Everything Bagel Seasoning at this point and kneaded it in.])
Place in a greased bowl (turn once or spray olive oil on the top to seal it from drying out).
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour).
Punch the dough down, turn out onto a floured surface.
***Method will split off from this point. Original recipe will be completed here but pretzel shenanigans will follow below.
(Bread)
Divide dough in half, shape into two 12-inch long loaves.
Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet.
Cover and let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes).
Preheat oven to 450F.
Sprinkle loaves with cornmeal.
With a sharp knife, make 3-4 shallow slashes across the top of each loaf.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.
(Pretzel)
Divide dough into 4 chunks.
Divide each chunk into 3 smaller chunks.
(Optional) Flatten out a piece and place cheese of choice within. (I used string cheese, because OMG cheese pull.)
Fold dough over onto itself, encasing the cheese, and roll to seal.
(If not adding cheese/other stuffings like pepperoni, you can roll the ⅓ dough into a long snake and do the fancy pretzel twist look, or simply make sticks… or balloon animals, or bites… The world is your oyster, get out of the oceans before the Orcas fck you up.)
Cover and let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes).
Preheat oven to 450F.
Baking Soda Bath:
¼ cup baking soda + approximately 9 cups boiling water in a pot.
Bathe the pretzels one or two at a time for 20-30 seconds (any longer will give a metallic taste).
Use a metal slotted spoon to flip and drain the pretzels.
I counted to 10 in my head, flipped the pretzel in the bath, counted another 10 and fished it out onto a greased baking sheet.
Don’t want to use a baking soda bath?
Egg wash - whisk 1 whole egg + 1 Tablespoon of milk (or whatever milk-like product you want) and brush over the pretzels.
(Vegan option - 2 Tablespoons of milk-substitute brushed over.)
Sprinkle over flaky salt (or more bagel seasoning).
Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.