Soft Pretzels
I am in love with these. I want to marry them and buy a house on the beach with them, and grow old with them. They are soft, buttery, salty, chewy...completely conducive to and encouraging…
I don't really have the pretzel-shape down pat yet. I just kind of twisted them around until they looked good. But then I laid them on an unfloured pastry mat before I boiled them, and they stuck and completely ruined what little shape I did have. Next time, I'll know better. If you want a quick tutorial on shaping pretzels, try (this link). This is not the same recipe I used, but there are some step-by-step pictures.
This is really one of the easiest dough recipes ever. All of the
Soft Pretzels
I am in love with these. I want to marry them and buy a house on the beach with them, and grow old with them. They are soft, buttery, salty, chewy...completely…
Ingredients
- 1 packet rapid-rise yeast
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Cooking spray (to grease bowl)
2/3 cup baking soda
~10 cups water
1 egg yolk with 1 Tablespoon water
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Flaked Sea Salt, Pretzel Salt or Kosher Salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, sugar, salt and water. Stir until yeast is dissolved. Using the dough hook attachment, add melted butter and flour and knead/mix until the dough comes together and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. If dough continues to stick, add flour 1 teaspoon at a time until dough becomes smooth. Once dough is smooth, knead with dough hook on medium-low speed for about 5 minutes. Form dough into a ball and place in a large bowl sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
Line two cooking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mat and set aside (near stovetop...this is where you'll place the pretzels immediately after boiling. Bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a large stock pan, and add 2/3 cups of baking soda. Reduce heat to maintain a low simmering boil.
Flour a working surface, then separate dough into eight equal sized balls. Roll each ball into 22-inch long strips. Form each strip into a pretzel shape. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Working one at a time, drop pretzels carefully into boiling water. Allow to boil for 30 seconds. Remove from water using a large slotted spoon and place onto parchment covered cooking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg yolk and 1 Tablespoon of water. Use a pastry brush to brush boiled pretzels with the egg wash. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove from oven and move pretzels to a wire rack.
Melt 4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter and liberally brush each pretzel with butter, then sprinkle with salt.
Notes
Source: Annie's Eats and Alton Brown/The Food Network
Oooh-I can’t pass these up at the concession stands which means making these at home would be starting a pretzel addiction. No doubt these are delicious. I have a solution though, I will give this to a friend of mine and she can share a few with me after she bakes them. Yum!
I’ve been looking for a good soft pretzel recipe…I am definitely saving this one to try!!
How much yeast is in the packet?
2 and 1/4 teaspoons
No stand mixer means I won’t be able to make these. Good thing, as I’m trying to lose weight! But I am salivating nonetheless.
I love fresh hot pretzels and so does my daughter and husband. These sound easy enough so I will most definitely be making these pretzels this weekend!! patzipsie@gmail.com
2/3 CUP of baking soda??
Yep! This goes in the boiling water though, not the pretzels. 🙂 It’s what helps them have that chewy, pretzel texture! Lately I’ve been using a little less, more like 1/2 a cup and it still works just fine. I buy those little tiny boxes of baking soda and store them away just for pretzels.