Pretzel Bread

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1 package dry active yeast
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup rye flour
• 3 3/4-4 cups flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• coarse salt

Recipe

• 1 in a 2 quart or larger pan stir together beer, cornmeal and molasses.
• 2 bring to a boil over high heat, remove and cool to 110*.
• 3 in a large bowl sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand 5 minutes.
• 4 stir in beer mixture, oil, table salt and rye flour until well blended.
• 5 stir in 3 1/2 cups flour until smooth.
• 6 knead bread until smooth and elastic, around 15 minutes, a dough hook around 10.
• 7 place in a greased bowl, turning once to cover with oil, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• 8 punch down, turn out onto a floured board and knead for a few turns to release the air.
• 9 at this point you can shape into rolls, or a loaf, 1 large or 2 small, or shape into a pretzel shape for sandwiches later.
• 10 which ever you do, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, around 30 minutes.
• 11 remove plastic, brush top with egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.
• 12 for bread and pretzel shaped bread bake at 350* for about 30 minutes, rolls 15 to 20.
• 13 cool on a rack.