How To Make A Cretzel: Part Croissant, Part Pretzel (Only 3 Ingredients)!

Chances are you've heard about the Cronut craze happening in NYC right now. It was Grub Street who broke the news that (brilliant) Dominique Ansel began selling these doughnut-croissant hybrids and you haven't been able to get near the bakery since—there's even a Cronut black market! 

Anyway, in the midst of the madness, my bestie challenged me to make a Cretzel: part pretzel, part croissant. It was fabulous idea—as all of her ideas are—so I decided to play around with it. But here's the thing! I wanted this recipe to be, like, the easiest thing you could ever make. The Cronut is so unattainable; cool cousin, Cretzel, should be way more low-pressure right? It's a snack after all! The answer of course was frozen puff pastry. Dress it up with melted butter and your choice of sea salt or sesame seeds and you have something delicious (and buzzy) to munch on. Here's how...

CRETZELS

MAKES: about 2 dozen

1/2 package (1 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

1 stick salted butter, melted

Sea salt or sesame seeds, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 450˚. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Lay puff pastry on a floured cutting board and lightly roll out to a 10-inch square. Cut it in half so you have two 5-inch by 10-inch rectangles.

3. Slice each rectangle, the short way, into 1/4 inch thick strips. Twist each strip into a pretzel shape and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.

4. Brush each pretzel with melted butter and sprinkle with either sea salt or sesame seeds. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to wire racks to cool slightly.