Pretzel Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup war/hot water
• 5 oz baking soda
• 1 package bakers yeast (active dry)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp garlic salt
• 2 cups bread flour
• 3/4 tsp organic sweetener
• 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Load water, olive oil, sweetener, sea salt, flour, and yeast into your bread machine bread pan in accordance to manufacturer's instructions. Select "dough cycle" and press start.
2. Towards the end of the dough cycle, pre-heat oven to 400° F (200° C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. To make the bath; fill a large pot with water and add 2/3 cup baking soda. Stir to mix. On high heat, bring water/soda mix to a rapid boil. Reduce heat as needed to avoid spill over.
4. When dough is ready, lightly flour a work surface (or dust with cornmeal). Turn the dough out and pinch a small ball of dough to use as a tester. Set tester aside. Then divide remaining dough into 12 equal portions and shape as desired.
5. To test water: drop small ball of dough into the boiling water. It should sink then float to the top. (If making this recipe gluten free your ball will sink to the bottom like a brick).
6. Bath each portion of dough in the baking soda bath for 30 seconds dunking and turning as needed to coat (this gives the bread the pretzel taste and texture). Remove from the bath with a slotted spoon, place on baking sheet, and sprinkle with garlic salt. Repeat until all portions of dough have been bathed and salted.
7. Bake rolls at 400° F for 20 - 30 minutes, until deep golden brown.
8. Note: this is by far my most requested recipe. Using my bread machine to make the dough makes this a lot easier than you think but I made this by hand for over a year - it's really not as painful as it might seem, I promise!