15 December, 2021
Pretzels – Soft
Posted in : Bread on by : MikeZ
Soft Pretzels
A Delicious Homemade Family Recipe with traditional flavor. Difficulty: Easy
Servings 12 Pretzels
Equipment
- Large Soup Pot
- Two Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
INGREDIENTS
Pretzel Dough
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 2 ¼ tsp. instant or active dry yeast - 1 standard packet
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. brown or granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter - melted and slightly cool
- 3 ¾ – 4 cups AP Flour
- coarse salt or coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Baking Soda Bath
- ½ cup 120g baking soda
- 9 cups water - for Soda Bath
INSTRUCTIONS
Making Dough
- Whisk the yeast into lukewarm water. Allow it to sit for 1 minute. Whisk in salt, brown sugar, and melted butter. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more, as needed. Poke the dough with your finger – if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for 3 minutes and shape it into a ball. Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, Lightly spray paper with nonstick spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 1/3 cup sections.
Twist Pretzels
- Roll the dough into a 20" rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the two ends together at the top of the circle. Twist the ends together. Bring the twisted ends back down towards yourself and press them down to form a pretzel shape. (See Photo)
- Meanwhile, Boil Water for Soda Bath in a Large Pot and add Soda.
- Drop 1 to 2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds. No more! Using a slotted spatula, lift the pretzel out of the water and allow as much of the excess water to drip off. Place pretzel onto a prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels. If desired, you can cover and refrigerate the boiled/unbaked pretzels for up to 24 hours before baking.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm
Notes
Freezing: Baked and cooled pretzels freeze well up to 2-3 months.
To reheat, bake frozen pretzels at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until warmed through, or microwave frozen pretzels until warm.
The prepared pretzel dough can be refrigerated for up to one day or frozen in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight.
The refrigerated dough can be shaped into pretzels while still cold, but allow some extra time, about 1 hour, for the pretzels to puff up before the baking soda bath and baking.
The baking soda bath is strongly recommended to create that chewy texture and distinctive pretzel flavor. I
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