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Super Awesome Pretzels

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)1 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 51 vote, average: 5.00 out of 5

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Level: Intermediate

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Description

These pretzels are delicious! They remind me of the pretzels sold at the ballpark. I used my regular bread recipe as a base and added the poaching step to give them that lovely, unique pretzel-y flavor. I like to make them with half wheat and half white flour. NOTE: for a sweet topping, bake the pretzels plain; when they’re done, brush with butter and sprinkle them with a cinnamon and sugar mixture (3 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon)

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
  • ½ cups Warm Water
  • ½ cups Milk
  • 2 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Softened
  • 1 whole Egg
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • 3-¼ cups All Purpose White Flour
  • _____
  • FOR THE POACHING LIQUID:
  • Water
  • ¼ cups Baking Soda
  • _____
  • FOR THE TOPPING:
  • 1 whole Egg Yolk
  • 1 Tablespoon Water
  • 1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds, Or More If Desired

Preparation

1. Sprinkle yeast into warm water until bubbles form, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, mix yeast/water, milk, brown sugar, butter, egg and salt until combined. Gradually add flour until dough becomes a slightly sticky ball.

2. Knead dough on floured surface for 10 minutes, adding extra flour if necessary, until ball becomes tacky and satiny. Place in an oiled bowl, turn dough over, and cover with towel. Let dough rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size, then knead again for 30 seconds. Spray 2 large baking pans with non-stick spray.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Cut dough into 16 pieces. Cover pieces with a towel so they don’t dry out. On an unfloured surface, roll each piece into an approximately 18” rope* and fold into a pretzel shape. Place formed pretzels onto cooking sheets, covering them with a towel. Let rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime: in a large pot, bring 2” of water to a boil for the poaching liquid. Add baking soda, then reduce to a simmer.

4. Drop 2 pretzels at a time into the poaching liquid for 1 minute, turning midway. Place poached pretzels back onto the pan (you should sprinkle corn meal on the pan first to prevent sticking). Mix the egg yolk with water and brush onto the poached pretzels. Sprinkle on seeds or kosher salt.

5. Bake pretzels for 10-13 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks. Yum!

*NOTE: Try not to stretch the dough. If you have trouble rolling them to 18”, roll each one to about 10”, making sure to keep them covered. Then, go back to the first pieces and roll them longer.

4 Comments

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coolbee on 9.18.2009

Thanks for the comments, everyone!! I forgot to mention that sprinkling corn meal onto the pan before putting the poached dough pieces onto it is a good idea. I usually do that, and mine don’t stick. I will also edit the time; I live at a high altitude, and sometimes it takes a few extra minutes for things to bake completely up here :o)

These do take a few tries to get perfect! I always give myself lots of time to prepare them because the poaching in particular takes a while.

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lovelylyric on 7.30.2009

I made these last night and they are so yummy! I think I’ll make a couple changes next time, though. I’ll make them larger because I like my pretzels big and these are relatively small. Also, I only cooked mine for 10 minutes and they were pretty brown. I think if I’d cooked them for the full 12-15 minutes they would have burned. As far as them sticking to the pan, it depends on the pan. I used two different kinds and on one they stuck like crazy, but on the other they slid right off. When all is said and done they were really good. I ate mine with spicy mustard. Mmmm.

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ionlyliveindreams on 7.21.2009

These were good, but I had some problems… Maybe because I was in too much of a rush lol. First, you need to put cornstarch on the pan. I have non stick baking pans(which I hate regardless) and they stuck really badly to the point I had to throw them out because I couldn’t scrape them off. Also, make sure to drain the pretzels well after putting them in the poaching liquid. And one more, don’t let them sit for too long before you start poaching them, I think that was part of the reason mine were messed up, lol. They had an awesome pretzely flavor though, I will definitely try again.

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Gratsiella on 7.16.2009

looks yummy

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lovelylyric on 5.17.2010

I made these last night and they are so yummy! I think I’ll make a couple changes next time, though. I’ll make them larger because I like my pretzels big and these are relatively small. Also, I only cooked mine for 10 minutes and they were pretty brown. I think if I’d cooked them for the full 12-15 minutes they would have burned. As far as them sticking to the pan, it depends on the pan. I used two different kinds and on one they stuck like crazy, but on the other they slid right off. When all is said and done they were really good. I ate mine with spicy mustard. Mmmm.

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