Salted Pretzel Bread Bowls

My friends, baking with yeast has just gotten a whole lot easier.  Let me introduce you to my new baking assistant: Red Star PLATINUM Yeast.  Let me tell you about some amazing salted pretzel bread bowls that I made with it.  Let me tell you how quick and simple and oh-so-soft these bread bowls turned out.

Are you apprehensive about working with yeast?  Sometimes I am.  I can’t lie.  Sometimes it’s intimidating.  Yeast can have their own opinions and just go off and do their own thing from time to time.

But not this yeast.  Red Star PLATINUM yeast is simplified yeast, if you will.  It contains dough strengtheners, it gives a little nudge to the bread dough to make sure it doesn’t fall flat but helps it to rise even higher.  And it helped give these bread bowls an amazingly light texture.  I’ve already used the yeast several times and the results are flawless.  It nearly takes the guess work out of baking.  Learn a little more about Red Star Premium Superior Baking Yeast with this video and check out some recipes using the yeast on the Red Star website.

And the bread bowls – the perfect vessel for fall soups and stews, right?  I told you a few weeks ago that I’m on a bit of a soup kick and it hasn’t slowed down one bit.  These bread bowls came in quite handy for some quick chicken noodle soup a couple of weeks ago.  The salty top was perfect for the golden outer shell.

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Salted Pretzel Bread Bowls

Yield: 4 bowls

Total Time: 90 minutes

Homemade soft pretzel bread bowls with sea salt. A perfect vessel for soup!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 (1/4-ounce) package Red Star PLATINUM yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour (about 24 ounces)
8 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. water
Coarse salt

Directions:

Combine the water, sugar and sea salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sprinkle the PLATINUM yeast on top and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes until a layer of foam appears on the top of the liquid.

Turn the mixer on to low speed and add in the flour, one cup at a time and mix thoroughly. I used a full five cups of flour, but you may need a little more or a little less depending on how we your dough is. Increase the speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl. While the dough is kneading, oil a large glass bowl. Turn the dough out onto the counter and shape it into a ball. Place the ball into the oiled glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm place for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpain liner or parchment paper.

Bring 8 cups of water to a simmer with the baking soda. Meanwhile, divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll into evenly-shaped balls. One by one, place the balls of dough into the boiling water for 1 minute, turning once. Remove and return to the Silpain liner.

Mix the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush the tops of each bread bowl and then sprinkle with coarse salt. Slit an “x” into the top of each bowl.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from Alton Brown

Red Star wants to give one of you a VIP Red Star PLATINUM Package!

This giveaway is now closed; the winner has been notified. Here’s what it includes:

Samples of Red Star PLATINUM Superior Baking Yeast
A floor-length Red Star apron (I love it!)
A Red Star wood cutting board
A reusable grocery bag
Coupons for the yeast

Bonus!  The winner of this VIP Package will also be entered to win a KitchenAid Mixer to be held on November 12.

Here’s how to enter:

Required entry: (You must do this to be entered into the giveaway.) Leave a comment below telling me your favorite fall recipe.

Optional entries: (please leave a separate comment for each one)

1. subscribe to Bake Your Day’s weekly newsletter & confirm your subscription.

2. follow Bake Your Day and Red Star Yeast on Twitter

3. follow Bake Your Day and Red Star Yeast on Facebook

4. follow Bake Your Day and Red Star Yeast on Pinterest

The giveaway will be open from Monday, October 22 until Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 11:59 pm.  Each participant can submit a total of five (5) entries.  The winner will be contacted via email using the address used to leave a comment below.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.  Open to US residents.  No purchase necessary to enter. 

Disclaimer: This post & giveaway are being sponsored by Red Star Yeast.  As always, the opinions expressed are 100% my own.