With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, I thought I would begin sharing some fun Valentine’s Day treats and ideas with you all.
Creating my blog, means preparing for seasonal celebrations a bit earlier than I normally would. Hopefully, my early preparations give you time to try some of these fun Valentine’s Day ideas in your own homes and kitchens.
Due to my love of hearts and all things pink, Valentine’s Day is a fun holiday for me to celebrate with my family. However, I do not think you have to “buy into” the overly commercialized side of the holiday. Personally, I prefer using thrifted items to decorate for this sweet day. Keep reading along and I will show you how you can do the same.
Thrifted items, paired with some fun DIY valentine’s day crafts, and some delicious recipes- can make a lovely, inexpensive Valentine’s celebration.
I would be thrilled if you would join me on “this Valentine’s Day journey” over the next several weeks. All I ask you to bring is your imagination and a dusting of creativity. Let’s get started then, shall we?
~The Inspiration Behind My Valentine's Day Treat~
Back in October, my family and I attended a German Octoberfest. While we were there, we decided to treat our children to a cinnamon sugar pretzel. And while it cost about three times more than it would cost me to make at home… the treat was certainly delicious.
In fact, every time a child was distracted, I would sneak a bite. The tempting pretzels were warm, spicy, sweet, crunchy, and chewy- all at the same time. I intended to make these cinnamon-sugar treats over the Christmas break, but time got away with me, and I never had the opportunity to do so.
Therefore, with Valentine’s Day looming in the future, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make my own cinnamon- sugar soft pretzels.
Naturally, hearts go hand-in-hand with Valentine’s Day, so I decided to make my soft pretzels into an adorable heart shape.
~Soft Pretzel Recipe- With a Slight Twist~
See what I did there, “a slight twist”- pretzel twist. Anyway, I digress- back to the topic at hand.
Soft pretzels are delicious. I love their soft, slightly- chewy texture. While I enjoy eating them in a savory fashion (i.e. with butter, salt, garlic, and parmesan cheese), I also enjoy eating them with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top.
Savory, or sweet, soft pretzels are an anytime treat.
Easy Soft Pretzel Hearts
Ingredients
Method
- In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Set aside.
- Warm the water. Add the sugar to the warm water and stir. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water. (Allow yeast mixture to sit for ten minutes- until the yeast mixture is activated and bubbly.)
- In a large mixing bowl, measure the bread flour and add the salt. Stir the dry ingredients to combine.
- Pour the activated yeast mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine (making a shaggy dough).
- On a lightly floured work surface, knead the pretzel dough for 8-10 minutes (or until elastic and smooth).
- Grease a large bowl and add the kneaded pretzel dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm area. The dough will double in size after 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet (you can grease this to ensure the baked pretzels do not stick if desired.)
- In a large pot, add 8-10 cups of boiling water and 1/4 cup of baking soda.
- Take your pretzel dough and divide it into 8 even sections (110 grams each). Roll out each divided section into a long rope and cut in half. (This will give you two snakelike pieces that are about 8- 10 inches long each).
- Take the two pieces and form them into the top of the heart shape, slightly overlapping in the center (this is an "m" shape.) Twist the two center pieces together.
- Then curve the top pieces around- until you complete the heart shape at the bottom. Twist the end pieces shut. (See blog post for photographs).
- Using a metal spatula, gently lower the pretzel hearts into the boiling water. Boil each side for 30 seconds, flipping in between.
- Carefully remove the pretzel from the water and place on the lined baking sheet. Once all pretzels have been boiled, place them in the oven to bake. (Place each pretzel a few inches apart as they will rise some in the oven).
- Bake the soft pretzel hearts until they are golden brown (about 20 minutes.)
- *For the cinnamon sugar topping: Melt 4 tablespoons of salted butter. In a medium mixing bowl and set aside. Mix 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 1/3 tsp of cinnamon. Stir together. Using a pastry brush, brush each baked pretzel with the melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture,
- Remove the pretzels from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before adding the melted butter and cinnamon sugar.
- Now, the pretzels are ready to be served.
Notes
~Activating the Yeast- a Homeschool Activity~
Rule number one: activating the yeast comes before enjoying the feast.
First, we must activate the yeast… and to do this for our recipe, we add warm water and sugar. The warm water rehydrates the dried yeast and the sugar feeds it. This is always a fun science lesson for my Happy Hawks Homeschool crew to observe.
My children especially like seeing the yeast “come alive” and begin to bubble on the top of the water. Again, I am convinced that learning happens in the kitchen on a regular basis.
As their mom (and teacher)- I too, am always learning new things each time I bake or try a new recipe. To see another English recipe that uses yeast as a main ingredient click here:
~The Combination of Wet and Dry Ingredients~
Everyone knows- a picture is with a thousand words. Per my usual, I will walk you all through the recipe steps using my photography to illustrate.
~Preparing the Soft Pretzel Dough~
The dough is obviously the most important part of a soft pretzel recipe. With a bit of measuring, mixing, and kneading- a lovely dough is created.
Personally, I love the process of kneading bread dough. I find it very therapeutic and satisfying. Plus, I feel like kneading dough gives my arms a little work out.
When kneading, I like to use the palm of my hand to push the dough away from my body- and then fold the dough back onto itself- repeating the process over and over. “Stretch, pull, fold- stretch, pull, fold.”
My children like to help with this step of the recipe as well. Moreover, it reminds them of playdough- and therefore, can keep them occupied for a little while.
You can see me first using this English plate as ring plate…while also learning to make English Muffins here:
~Allowing the Soft Pretzel Dough to Rise~
Now is the time to pour yourself a nice cuppa tea and have a much-deserved rest from all that kneading you just did.
Or perhaps you may want to use the time wisely to tidy the kitchen or do a load of laundry. Either way, this soft pretzel dough needs about two hours to properly rise. A warm place on your kitchen countertop will do the trick.
You will know the dough is ready when it has doubled in size.
~Making the Heart Shape for My Soft Pretzel Recipe~
Obviously, these pretzels do not have to be made into hearts- but nothing says Valentine’s Day more than a heart shape.
Making a heart from the dough can be done a couple of ways, but I found using two separate pieces of dough was the easiest route for me.
~"Rolling In the Dough"~
After dividing my dough into eight equal sections, it was time to roll out the dough.
The thicker you leave the dough, the fatter the pretzel will be. The reverse it also true. The thinner you roll the dough out, the thinner the baked pretzel will be.
I played around with both sizes- and in the end, none of my pretzel hearts were exactly the same. And you know what… I was okay with that because that is the beauty of homemade.
Personally, I found splitting the divided section in half- and then rolling a half until it was about 8 -10 inches long- seemed to be the easiest length to work with.
Incidentally, if you roll the dough out too thinly, it is difficult to remove the dough from the countertop. Thus, making the transfer into the boiling water difficult as well.
~The Baking Soda Boil- A Bath for the Soft Pretzels~
The baking soda and boiling water “bath” help to give the pretzel is flavor. It also helps the pretzel dough to brown and remain chewy.
Just be sure not to let your pretzels “swim” for too long in this bath- as it can impact the flavor (causing a slightly soapy taste).
~A Sprinkle of Cinnamon Sugar Goodness~
A sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar is perfectly paired with a soft chewy pretzel.
This step is simple: all you need is the other half of your stick of butter (4 Tablespoons). Melt the butter in the microwave and then brush the tops of your soft pretzel hearts with the melted butter. In a medium bowl mix 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon. Give the mixture a little stir- that is it! You are now ready to sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar topping on your buttered, soft pretzel.
~Serving the Valentines Treats in a Thrifty Way~
How wonderful it is to serve a homemade treat in a beautiful way.
My favorite way to do this is by using a thrifted find to make my food shine. When visiting a thrift store, I am always on the lookout for beautiful serving pieces and fine china, but I am also drawn to cake stands.
My most recent glass cake stand is simple. This simplicity allows the homemade food to take pride of place on the table.
Do you recognize the thrifted heart plate from England? Maybe you first saw it in this post? I do love to repurpose my treasures- making them functional and beautiful in a variety of uses.
~Until Next Time~
It is now time to conclude another sweet blog post. I hope my soft pretzel hearts recipe inspired you to try these sweet treats in your own kitchen (alongside someone you love). Using simple, staple ingredients… and a bit of creativity, can open up many new recipes to try.
Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing some fun Valentine’s Day crafts, thrifted Valentine’s Day decor, and some lovely Valentine’s Day recipes- so stay tuned for those fun topics.
As always please subscribe and feel free to share my posts- so more people can join in and enjoy the creative fun.
Stay tuned to my Cotswold Kitchen Mom Facebook page and Pinterest page to get more fun ideas and inspirations.
As always, thank you for your time and support. I look forward to checking in with you all next Friday.
Until then, let me know in the comments if you have any English recipes you may like to learn about -or feel free to share any fun thrifted home items with me that you have found. I would love to read about them.
~Elizabeth~
Did not know that you had to boil the soft pretzels first. The ole gray mare learned something today!!
🙂 It is a similar process to making homemade bagels. The baking soda boil helps the soft pretzel to have a chewy texture and helps with browning and flavor. It is an added step, but a fun process to go through. I am glad you learned something new. I do too…every time I am in the kitchen.