Homemade Baked Pretzels - For A Good Cause " BreadLine Africa"

A very dear blogger friend Ann has tagged me for this noble cause event..Thanks a lot Ann..This is a baking event and i love to bake..I started learning baking about 3 years ago when i came to USA after marriage and to tell you the truth i haven't stopped since then..i love to bake anything that can please my hubby and my little daughter
..So here is a great recipe for making Homemade Pretzels which i found here..

But before i go into the recipe..Here is some details on Breadline Africa Event

On 15 October, we launched The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off. The Blogger Bake Off is an online campaign that challenges blogger to get involved by baking bread, and then acting by donating to end poverty. And then, challenge their readers and five other blogger to do the same.With the money raised, we will be supporting grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. We’ll be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, sending emergency food relief where needed and helping these poor communities to help themselves.

The rules for blogger are outlined below:

If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.

Bake bread, do something you would’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.

Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.

Tag five blogger, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.

The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers.

There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories: Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.

Breadline Africa is a registered charity in South Africa that is seeking to put an end to poverty in South Africa and further afield in Africa. Their aim is to break the cycle of poverty and help communities to achieve long term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by social workers and communities in South Africa with minded colleagues in Europe, (who were well placed to source out donations). They are geared to help fund small ground level projects in Africa which are most likely to succeed with financial help.

On Blog Action Day Breadline Africa launched their Worldwide Blogger Bake-Off campaign. The aim is to raise $1 million in funds for a project to convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution in Africa. It is hoped that these sustainable community kitchens will not only provide food such as bread and soup to those in need, but also opportunities for skills development within poor communities.This bake-off gives us baking blogger the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."

Here is the recipe by Belinda

MAKES 12 LARGE PRETZELS

Ingredients:-

For pretzel dough:

1 packet active dry yeast
1 Cup of warm water
2-3/4 Cup flour
1 tbsp sugar or honey
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil or butter

For boiling:

4 Cups water
2 tbsp baking soda

For topping pretzels before baking:

kosher salt OR herbs of choice
Or cinnamon sugar
Or finely grated cheeses
Or anything you like

Procedure:-

1) In warm water, add sugar/honey & yeast, let it sit for 5 minutes until if gets foamy
2) Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, salt & oil in a mixing bowl.
3) Add yeast mixture & mix until well blended.
4)Add remaining 1 1/4 cups of flour & knead the dough for about 3 minutes by hand.
5) Form the dough into a ball, coat it lightly with oil , cover and let it rise for one hour.
6)Dough should double in size after an hour.
7) Punch down the dough and divide it into 12 equal sized balls.
8)Put the balls onto a cookie sheet ( about 2 inch apart), cover lightly & let it rise for 15 minutes.
9) Roll each ball into a 16 inch length to make a pretzel shape or any shape you like.
10)Let it rest for few minutes.
11)Preheat the oven to 475 & spray the cookie sheet with coking spray.
12) In a non-aluminum pot, bring remaining 4 cups water to a boil with baking soda.
13) Add pretzels in the boiling water ( do not crowd) & boil one minute each, turning once.
14) Take out the pretzels & place them on the cookie sheet and sprinkle it with the toppings you like
15) Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Note:- You can also bake them without topping and after they are baked brush them with butter and now sprinkle the topping you desired on top..

Serve hot right after baking..Enjoy:)




I would like to tag

Sowmya
Adlak
Vibaas
Swapna
Sriharivatsan