“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
OSCAR WILDE, The Picture of Dorian Gray
OSCAR WILDE, The Picture of Dorian Gray
CHOCOLATE PRETZELS
Thanks to Happy Cook, have woken up from my slumber to make my first entry for a wonderful and festive blog event…‘A Spoonful of Christmas’ which is a ‘food as a gift’ theme event…‘An event designed for all the people who love to cook for their loved ones. Those, who are willing to spend some time in the kitchen in order to come up with great ideas for food as a gift.’ 
Great way to usher in the holiday season, and a theme that I can’t think can get better. HOME-MADE gifts…my mantra always! The mind is thinking, so hopefully Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen should have more entries.
Here’s a recipe I’ve made umpteen times, over & over again. It’s from my first baking book I bought after I got married, ‘The Baking Encyclopedia‘ . The kids love these chocolaty, crisp pretzels. I sometimes colour co-ordinate them with the cake frosting at birthdays; & at other times, like for Christmas, I use Xmas sprinkles. They are great fun to make, & cookies made at home have a wonderful flavour that you can’t find in ones that are store-bought! Always worth the bother…these pretzels can be put into a pretty box or basket & make great gifts.
Pretzels with Iced Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
Flour- 1 cup
Salt – 1 pinch
Cocoa Powder – 3 Tbsps
Butter – 1/2 cup
Castor sugar – 2/3 cup
Egg – 1
Egg white – 1/slightly beaten for glazing
Sugar crystals, dragees, sprinkles etc for decoration.
Method:
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Sift the flour + salt + cocoa powder 3 times. Keep aside.
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Cream butter with sugar until light.
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Beat in the egg.
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Add the dry ingredients and stir to blend. Gather together to form a ball.
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Wrap in clingwrap & chill for 1 hour.
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Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease 2 baking sheets.
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Divide the dough into 28 balls. ( I first divide it into half, then make a long cylinder, mark it 14 times & then make the balls). Flour your hands if the balls are sticky.
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Roll each ball into a rope about 10 inches long. Mark the centre of the rope, and bring both the ends in a loop to meet the centre. Twist the ends and fold back on the circle to make a pretzel shape. It sounds a bit tough, but is simple to do..look at the picture.
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Brush the pretzels with egg white. Sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles and bake for 10-12 minutes till firm. Transfer carefully to a wire rack to cool.
