Homemade Pretzels- Lent & St. Monica- August 27
Updated: Feb 27
Happy feast day to wives and mothers!
Today we celebrate a woman who suffered a very difficult marriage with her Pagan husband Patricius who was prone to unfaithfulness and violence towards her and he refused to let their three children be baptized. As the well known story goes, she also had a very painful relationship with her son, St. Augustine, who fell into worldly and sinful ways when she desperately wanted him to become Catholic. She prayed unceasingly for both of these men even when there seemed to be no hope of conversion for either of them and persevered through her heartache until both her husband and son became Catholic.
I love this quote from Franciscan Media, as if St. Monica isn't relatable enough this really showcases it. "The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter in law, and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of those temptations."
To celebrate her feast day I made these delicious homemade pretzels. The pretzels are symbolic, folded like her arms were in prayer and the sprinkled salt reminds us of the many tears she cried. If you don't make them for her own feast day you could certainly make them for St. Augustine's which is tomorrow!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour
Bake Time 12-14 minutes
Yields: 8-10 Pretzels
Assemble the Team!
For the Dough
1½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2¼ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast (1 packet)
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted melted butter
Coarse salt for sprinkling before baking
For the Baking Soda Water Bath
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
For the Egg Wash
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
After slightly warming 1 1/2 cups water pour it into a glass mixing bowl.
Pour 1 tbsp light brown sugar into the warm water.
Sprinkle in 2 tsp kosher salt and whisk it around until it is completely dissolved.
Should look like this after about 2-3 minutes of whisking.
Now pour out one packet of yeast, don't worry about whisking it in!
Let the yeast sit on the top of the mixture for about 5 minutes until it begins to foam. While you are waiting you can go ahead and melt 4 tbsps of butter.
Be