Inspired By Our Time At Disney World Orlando, FL
We love a good pretzel. For those of you who have been with us since our days in Boise Idaho and our very first Loft & Learn blog, you may even remember our first attempt at baking huge carnival type pretzels. We loved them then and after trying the delicious offering at Walt Disney World in Florida we had to recreate the magic again for ourselves in the Loft Kitchen!
While we had a bit of trouble artistically recreating Mickey’s face and ears, we opted for the standard pretzel design. But it’s still a delightful treat
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 2/3 cups baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 ounces butter, melted
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon malt extract
Directions
- Combine water, sugar, malt extract and salt in a large bowl, and sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter, and mix on low speed until well-combined. Add a ½ cup of rainbow sprinkles. Mix on medium speed for about 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
- Remove dough from bowl. Clean the bowl and spray with oil. Return the dough to a bowl and cover with a tea towel, and let it sit in a warm place for about 50-55 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with oil.
- Bring a medium pot of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil.
- Turn dough out onto a slightly oiled surface and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a 12-inch rope. Loop a dough rope to form a circle in the middle, but with about 2 inches of dough on the ends. Roll the dough ends into coils on top of the circle to form a Mickey shape. Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat for remaining pieces.
- Use tongs to place pretzels into boiling water, one by one, for 15 seconds. Remove from water and place onto a lined pan. Brush tops of pretzels with beaten egg and sprinkle with more rainbow sprinkles and sugar.
- Bake until dark golden brown, about 10-13 minutes. Transfer to the cooling rack for 5 minutes before serving.