You may have noticed by now that I’m one of those people who prefer to go beyond the normal mode of operation when it comes to entertaining. I may not have a flair for presentation yet or make the coolest decor, but I’m one hell of a cook lately which is an important start. Best to get the basics down before you start worrying about it looking good. Unless you can’t cook at all and need the decorations to distract from the taste! 😉
As I started thinking about what we could put out to snack on during the Saturday of Lanternfest, my thoughts wandered to pretzels. They’re simple and always a hit. The last couple of times we’ve had a pretzel snack mix out for parties it was gobbled up. So I tracked down a spicy pretzels recipe on allrecipes and altered things a bit because I didn’t have Ranch dressing mix. Instead, I just used the dry ingredients from the Ranch dressing recipe I usually use (it’s one of those things you can’t buy in Germany – like many other dressings.)
Everyone raved about these pretzels. We actually had to take the bowl off the table because people could not stop eating them. They are a vastly cheaper alternative to flavored pretzels you can buy in the store here…and much more interesting in flavor. If you want to speed up the process a bit, you can also bake the pretzels in the oven at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for about 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons teaspoons garlic powder
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (15 ounce) package pretzels
- 1 package of Ranch dressing mix OR the following ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 2 pinches dried thyme
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together cayenne pepper, lemon pepper, garlic salt, ranch-style dressing mix and vegetable oil.
- Place pretzels in a large, seal-able plastic bag. Pour in mixture from bowl. Shake well. Allow pretzels to marinate in the mixture at least 3 hours before serving. Shake and flip bag occasionally to spread coating evenly.