Starfish Pretzels

We made starfish pretzels after seeing them in my daughter's favorite magazine: The Big Backyard.  If you are a nature lover and want your kids to have a magazine to promote a love of nature then I would suggest getting a subscription. You can view the recipe we followed online here. These pretzels were quite yummy and we put a new twist on it by adding cinnamon and sugar instead of salt on some of them.  This seemed to be the perfect recipe since we are going to the beach soon.

For the pretzels you'll need:

-1 package of active dry yeast

-1 1/2 cups warm water

-3/4 teaspoon regular salt

-1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

-4 cups flour

-1 egg

-2 tablespoons coarsely ground salt

(melted butter and cinnamon/sugar if you want to make some like the one pictured above)

For the dough:

1. Stir the sugar and regular salt in the warm water.  Mix in the yeast and let set for 5 minutes.

2.  Stir in the flour a little at a time until a dough forms. Knead the dough for about 2 minutes.

3.  Roll out the dough into a long snake.  Cut 5 pieces of dough into 2" or 3" pieces. 

Push the pieces together to form a starfish shape.

For cinnamon and sugar pretzels, brush the dough with butter. 

Sprinkle the butter covered pretzels with cinnamon and sugar for sweet tasting pretzels. For salty pretzels, brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven on a foil lined cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Here are our golden cinnamon and sugar starfish pretzels.

Here are our salty starfish pretzels. 

We really enjoyed these pretzels! We can't wait to go to the beach. Maybe we'll see some real starfish!

Be sure to check out the July issue of The Big Backyard to find out more about starfish and other creatures.