Sluttishly Savoury: Cheddar & Black Pepper Pretzels

Sometimes in life there's nothing better than warm, bready things straight out of the oven. Cue the pretzel! Like a bagel with more panache. We've even themed them for those times when a rose shaped roll is an absolute necessity.

Here, they're combined with mature cheddar, plenty of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt into a chewy, moreish, satisfying bread hit. Perfect for weekends. Or weekdays. They're best when eaten fresh out of the oven (could you even contemplate leaving them to cool?), with a bit of butter.

Cheddar & Black Pepper Pretzels (Makes 8 large)

Preparation time: 1 hour 40 minutes (with rising time)

Cooking time: 12-14 minutes

You will need:

• 375ml warm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 heaped tsp active dry yeast
• 385g strong bread flour
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• A lot of water (about 2.5 litres)
• 60g bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg yolk and splash of water for egg wash
• Sea salt flakes
• 100g cheddar cheese, grated

Make it!

1. Mix together the water, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl and leave for 5 minutes or so until foaming slightly.
2. Add in the flour, butter and black pepper and knead well for 5-10 minutes until the dough is elastic and is no longer sticking to the edges of the bowl. Add in a little more flour if it's too sticky.
3. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place somewhere warm to rise for about an hour, until doubled in size. 
4. Preheat the oven to 230 C / 450 F / Gas Mark 8. Line two baking sheets with lightly oiled baking parchment. (Try not to use greaseproof paper as a substitute, the pretzels will stick!)
5. Bring the litres of water and bicarbonate of soda to the boil.
6. Beat together the egg yolk and water in a separate bowl. 
7. Gently knead half of the cheddar into the dough, then separate the dough into 8 equal pieces. 
8. Roll each piece into a 2 foot rope and twist into a pretzel shape, pinching the edges together. (Check out the awesome Canadian musac in that video...)
9. Use a slotted spoon to drop each pretzel into the water and boil for 30 seconds before placing on the baking sheets. 
10. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt, the remaining cheddar and a grind of pepper. 
11. Bake for 12-14 minutes until deep brown.
12. Try to leave them to cool for 5 minutes ... wait, who are we kidding? Eat them warm with butter and swoon in delight. 

Baking for Beginners: Red Rose Pretzel Rolls

Last week, an email marked URGENT from my housemate:

HM: "Can we make these this weekend?"
Me: "Alien Xenomorph Pretzel Bread Eggs? Sure."
Me, five minutes later: "Hold up: I have an EVEN BETTER idea. Get some flour, yeast, and red food colouring, and meet me in the kitchen at 7."

And thus red rose pretzel buns were born. Con: their name is less geeky. Pro: you don't have to eat green bread. Double-pro: adding food colouring to your baking will make you feel like you're 12 years old. Making pretzels is great fun as you get to dunk your dough into boiling water, and with these you then get to shape them into flowers. Or whatever you decide the finished shape looks like - I'll be honest, gentle reader, some of mine looked like brains where I hadn't shaped them properly. They're all delicious split in two and smothered in butter for breakfast.

Red rose pretzel rolls (makes 6)
You will need:

For the bread:

• 350g strong white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 250ml warm water
• 1 tsp red food colouring

 For the dunking:

• 1 tbsp baking soda

For the topping:

• Rock salt

Make it!

1. Add the flour, salt, yeast, olive oil and to a bowl and stir in the water until it forms a sticky ball. Drip on the food colouring and fold it in.
2. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes until it's smooth and stretchy. Add more food colouring drop by drop if it's not red enough. Return to the bowl, cover with a tea towel, and leave for an hour until it's doubled in size.
3. Tip the dough out, divide into six pieces, and shape into balls.
4. Get a large saucepan of boiling water on the go and add the baking soda. Carefully lower each roll into the water on a slotted spoon for around 30 seconds, then pop on the baking tray. They'll turn from hot red to rose pink. 
5. Put them in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up while you line a tray with baking paper and pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
6. Using a kitchen scissors, snip two overlapping Xs on each to divide the top of each into 8 pieces, and carefully pull the segments back to make petals. Sprinkle the rock salt over the top.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown and the red interior peeks through. Leave on a cooling rack, then present to your beloved / eat them all yourself.

Sluttishly Savoury: Pretzels

I will devour bread in any form, but pretzels have become a recent favourite. I'm talking about the big chewy soft ones here, not the small hard snacking ones. I'd assumed they'd be impossible to make at home, and a quick search of traditional recipes confirmed this: you have to boil your pretzel dough in lye. Lye is used to clean ovens and clear drains. It causes serious burns. There is no chance that I'd be using it, even in a safe diluted form, in my kitchen, no matter how many chefs rave about how it gives you a definitive flavour.

Instead, I've boiled them in baking soda, which makes them browner and intensifies the flavour. You can brush them with beaten egg if you really can't be faffed with boiling, but boiling them makes for a denser, chewier taste. And it's fun! How often do you get to plunge dough into boiling water?

Use the dough recipe below or simply your favourite white dough recipe. What matters is what you do to the dough when it's ready - shape it, fridge it, boil it, add your favourite toppings, bake it, eat it while it's warm.

Pretzels (makes 10-12)

You will need:

For the pretzels:

• 500g strong white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 sachet (7g) dried yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 350ml warm water

For the boiling:

• 1 tsp baking soda

 For the toppings:

• Rock salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds - whatever you fancy.

Make it!

1. Add the flour, salt, yeast and olive oil to a large bowl and stir in the water until it forms a sticky ball. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes, then tip onto a lightly oiled surface. Knead briefly by holding the dough down with one hand and stretching it away with the other, giving a quarter-turn, and repeating a dozen times. 
2. Return to the bowl and knead it twice more at 10 minute intervals, then leave to rise for 40 minutes, covered with a teatowel..
3. Take a piece of dough and roll it out to 30-40cm long and 1.5cm thick. Take the two ends, cross them over and attach them to the main body of the pretzel. It's hard to explain the shape, so check out the picture. Repeat with the rest of the dough and leave to rise on a tray lined with baking paper for 20 minutes. Cover with lightly oiled clingfilm.
4. Now, stick them in the fridge for 10 minutes. This will toughen them up before boiling.
5. Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Get a large pan of boiling water on the go and add the baking soda. Carefully lower each pretzel in on a slotted spoon for  around 30 seconds, then return to the baking sheet.
6. Sprinkle on your toppings and bake for 15-20 minutes, until dark golden brown.
7. Leave for an hour on a cooling rack so the pretzels develop a chewy outer skin, then eat!

Sluttishly Sweet: Salted Cashew and Pretzel Chocolate Bites

It is certainly true that sweet and salty go incredibly well together. If you aren't convinced, then try this simple little indulgent snack and prepare to be converted.

You'll need:

• 150g bag of salted cashew nuts
• 50g mini pretzels
• 50g chocolate (milk, dark, white - take your pick)

Make it!

• Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. The key to a smooth melt is to keep the chocolate moving. Don't use a wooden spoon as this makes it lumpy; go for a metal fork instead.
• Once melted, simply add the cashews whole, break up the pretzels into smaller chunks and pop them into the mix, blending until covered.
• Spoon the mixture out onto tin foil and pop straight in the fridge until set

You can chop and change with this simple little treat - add caramel chunks, swap cashews for macadamias, go for white chocolate or even dispense with the nuts altogether and try salted popcorn instead.