Soft Seasoned Pretzels
Written by joythebaker on August 24, 2008 – 9:39 pm -
I must be out of my mind. It seems that even the deep August heat can’t curb my constant craving for homemade carbohydrate treats.
Last week I slaved over a pot of 350 degree vegetable oil to fry some fresh doughnuts and this week I hovered over a pot of boiling water cooking up some traditional soft pretzels.
I will admit that these pretzels weren’t nearly as satisfying as the homemade doughnuts. I found the shaping and the subsequent boiling a little bit trying of my patience. I realized half way into the pretzel making process that I was in not mood for shaping and tending to yeasted dough. I was in the mood for instant carb gratification. I should have just hit up the drive through for some french fries.
Begrudgingly, the pretzels got made and adorned with grill seasoning instead of pretzel salt. I like the course flakes of salt, pepper and spices. Of course, served warm with a little brown mustard, my frustrations mostly melted away. The mess in my kitchen…. that was another story entirely.
Do I sound cranky? I certainly don’t mean to.
I say give these pretzels a try if you have a lazy Saturday afternoon, sometime in cool, crisp late October, not (not!) mid August. Silly silly Joy the Baker.
For a much cooler treat check out my Blueberry Mango Frozen MiniPops over at FoodProof.
Soft Seasoned Pretzels
adapted from Gourmet, March 2004
1 tablespoon sugar
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pretzel salt or grill seasoning
1 heaping Tablespoon baking soda (add it to the boiling water just before throwing in the pretzel dough!)
Stir together sugar, yeast, and 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (105 to 110°F) in a glass measuring cup, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
Whisk together 3 1/2 cups flour and 1 tablespoon table salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough. Dust work surface with 1 tablespoon flour, then turn out dough and knead, gradually dusting with just enough additional flour to make a smooth sticky dough, about 8 minutes. (Dough needs to be somewhat sticky to facilitate rolling and forming into pretzels).
Return dough to bowl and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface and cut into 8 equal pieces. Using your palms, roll 1 piece back and forth on a clean dry work surface into a rope about 24 inches long. If dough sticks to your hands, lightly dust them with flour. Twist dough into a pretzel shape. (Dough will retract as you form the pretzel.)
Transfer pretzel with your hands to an oiled baking sheet and form 7 more pretzels in same manner with remaining dough, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart.
Let pretzels stand, uncovered, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. Bring a wide 6-quart pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add heaping tablespoon of baking soda.
Using both hands, carefully add 3 pretzels, 1 at a time, to boiling water and cook, turning over once with tongs, until pretzels are puffed and shape is set, about 3 minutes. Transfer parboiled pretzels to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining 5 pretzels in 2 batches.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper and oil paper, then arrange pretzels on sheet. Brush pretzels lightly with some of egg and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Bake until golden brown and lightly crusted, about 35 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then serve warm.
Cooks’ notes:
• Dough can be mixed and kneaded in a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook.
• Pretzels are best the day they are made. (When they are kept overnight, salt may dissolve.)
Tags: Bread, pretzels, snack
Posted in Bread, Snacks | 66 Comments »
i am in the process of letting the dough rise right now. i added the garlic powder like the suggestion above. lets see how they come out. and thank you for clarifying the amount of water.
I just finished the pretzels. And they came out AMAZING!!!! I will be using this recipe quite often. I am putting it in my recipe book. yummy!
what a relief to hear that. And actually yeah our pretzels were definitely not brown like yours. I have never made any time of yeast bread and let me tell you this went WAY easier than i thought it would, super fun you seem to get attached to them in a way. We made a couple with cinnamon sugar on top and one with garlic and cheese =D WHOOO!! im going on a joy the baker spree now, as if i needed anymore reasons to..how does it feel to be a baking celebrity like you?
First and foremost, your blog overall is fantastic! Secondly I wanted to say that these look delicious, and I am going to attempt making them tonight for my bread-loving husband (as it is his b-day). Can’t wait to taste how they turn out!
Just finished making your pretzels. Everything seemed hunky dory until I tasted one. They are not bad but I think you made a mistake in your recipe. You didn’t have the Tablespoon of salt with your original list of ingredients. That added salt to the flower before mixing is A BIT TOO MUCH SALT. Kinda ruined them, still going to eat them, just can’t add salt on top(which defines a pretzel), so you might want to change the amount of added salt. Maybe you just made a mistake, but other then that they came out okay. Came out a little too crispy so your cooking time might be too long. Sorry if I sound frustrated, I am, but I seems to be cursed
Hey Leo- I’m so sorry you had such a hard time with the pretzels. I know it’s no fun to work so hard some something, especially a yeasted dough, and then have it come out wrong. I’m really sorry.
I seem to remember thinking the tablespoon of salt was a great deal, but I added it with no problems.
Here is the original recipe. It also suggests the same amount of salt and baking time.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/NEW-YORK-PRETZELS-109221
I understand your frustration. Let me know if you have any other problems!
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Tks for the reply. I did them a second time without the tbl salt. Kept an eye on them with the baking time (which I should have prolly done in the first place as you mentioned). Came out well, I’m sure there is a more precise recipe but your not far off. Anti annes(forgive the spelling) pretzels are good(commercially). These are a close replica to them…Much more healthy of-course. I read John Trudeau “Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About” book. That’s what go me started with all this. But if you think it came out okay with the added salt, you are most likely used to having too much salt in your diet. That’s all fine and dandy, the pretzels are an indulgence as it is. In my mind, you add the salt you want on top? Plus the fact you didn’t add it in your starting ingredients sounds like a spurt of the moment thing. But you gave me the means to correct what I did and come up with somthing good, tks. Didn’t know where to begin before
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hey, i was wondering how auntie anne’s make their almond pretzels sweet
do they add honey?
I made these!! Thanks for the recipe. Now, can you tell me how to make CINNAMON SUGAR pretzels?
Instead of twisting into pretzels, I like to cut the ropes into small enough pieces that it fits in the pot (probably 2 or three pieces) and then cutting them into bites after boiling and before baking. Quick toss with some melted butter and kosher salt and you have tasty bits of pretzel goodness.
These look so yummy! I’m making them right now! I’m putting plan old salt on half and a cinnamon n sugar for my little sister! Yummy Yummy!
How many pretzels does this recipe make?
just made them… most of them fell apart while boiling, but i just cut them up into small pieces and now i have more =) i made cinammon and sugar for one batch and garlic parmesan for another. yummy! thanks for the recipe =)
I like Stephanie’s Seasonings, it is all natural and all purpose with no anti-caking agents, fillers, sugar or MSG. It has a great taste unlike any other seasoned salt. Here is the website:
http://www.stephanieseasonings.com
Try it, you will like it.