who doesn't love pretzels? every time i am at a mall and pass wetzel's pretzels i kind of die inside. why? because all i want is to cave and get a dang pretzel! my mom and i love pretzels. like really love them. so naturally i have been wanting to make them for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. i finally decided to make them yesterday after re-stocking the baking section in my kitchen. these are relatively simple to make. i do wish there was more dough so i could have made these babies a bit bigger and make more than just 8. who doesn't want big pretzels?! these taste pretty great. these are a perfect summer snack...who am i kidding these are a perfect anytime snack!
recipe taken and tweaked from a cozy kitchen
Pretzels
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 ounces (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
vegetable or olive oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water
pretzel salt (or regular salt)
combine the water, sugar, and kosher salt in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. allow it to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. add the flour and butter and mix it until it is well combined. when the mixture starts getting doughy take the dough and begin to knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes. remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with the vegetable or olive oil. return the dough to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. sit it in a warm place for about 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. line 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable or olive oil. set the pans aside.
in an 8-quart saucepan bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil.
in the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope (this part is a little hard because it takes some time to get it to stretch out this much). make a u-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rop, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the u to get the shape of a pretzel. place onto the parchment-lined pans.
place the pretzels into the boiling water, one by one for 30 seconds. remove them from the water using a large flat spatula and return to the pan. brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with salt. bake until the pretzels are dark golden brown in color, about 15 minutes. transfer the tasty pretzels to a cooling rack.
