Month: February 2016

Soft pretzels are a wonderful thing. If you crave one (or two) right now, the good news is that they can be on your table in less than one hour. And you will need just a few ingredients (…it always amazes me how something so simple to put together can turn out so special).

This recipe results in the classical kind of pretzel with coarse salt on top, but you can try other variations too – cinnamon sugar, Parmesan Cheese or minced garlic with oil to name just a few.

You can find all the details on making these cuties below…

In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine all the dough ingredients and knead with the dough hook on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.

Place the dough ball in a lightly greased bowl, dust with flour, cover with a plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 °F (230 °C) and lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. Remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a very lightly oiled countertop. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (just cut it with a knife). Form a ball out of each piece.

Roll each of the eight pieces into a long rope.

Then shape each rope into a pretzel.

Whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. The alkaline bath of baking soda and water essentially gelatinizes the outside of the pretzel, preventing it from fully “springing” during baking and giving pretzels their signature chewy crust. It also gives them their unique “pretzel” flavor.

Dip each pretzel in the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet.

Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let them rest for 8 minutes.

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven.

Enjoy!

With lots of love,
Petra

This recipe was adapted from FifteenSpatulas.com.