Everything Soft Pretzel
Carbs are just everything aren't they? So warm and twisty, it's like eating a hug. Ok, maybe I just need more hugs in my life, but these Everything Soft Pretzels are absolutely worth the time and effort. We bought soft pretzels at a specialty shop last week and my son actually said that the ones I made taste so much better! Isn't that enough to make you get into the kitchen and roll out a dozen of these bad boys? Uh.. yes. Yea, a little bit of praise gets you everywhere with me!
Soft pretzels have always seemed pretty imitating to me, especially since it requires a 2 step cooking process. In order to get their signature pretzel flavor, color and chew, you first need to boil the dough in a baking soda water solution before baking them in the oven.
The dough is a pretty simple bread dough. The ingredients get mixed and kneaded in a stand mixer, then allowed to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size. Then comes the shaping.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and starting from the center roll the dough into a long snake. Stretch it ever so slightly as you roll so that it stretches to the proper length. Silly me thought this would be a fun activity for the kids to do with me, but...nope. Maybe I'm too uptight, but when kids do this, the rolled dough turns out uneven, lumpy and just down right un appealing. They tried, they had fun with the dough, but I needed to make this right. lol. Also because after the rolling the twisting takes a bit of practice and I just couldn't get it with the kids asking for help every 5 seconds! But I finally got it.
Once rolled out to the proper length find the midpoint, fold the roll in half and twist the two ends together. Now here's the tricky part... twist the twist around itself looping the end into the loop at the top. Once done, transfer to a parchment lined sheet pan.
Now its time to boil! I didn't get a chance to take a pic of this step because I was too busy watching the water temperature, and trying to wipe up the baking soda spurting out of the boiling water. But Drop each dough twist into the boiling water and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Take it out with a spider or a slotted spoon and place back on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Once out of the oven, brush with melted butter and top with everything bagel seasoning or cinnamon sugar. Enjoy warm! Nothing feels more like a warm hug that a fluffy, doughy, soft pretzel. And these are better than anything you'll buy in a store!
The Everything Soft Pretzel
*adapted from Just a Taste
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm (110-115°F) water
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Vegetable oil
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
- 3- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2-3 Tbsp Everything Bagel Seasoning (I used Trader Joe's but you can do a mix of sesame seeds, onion flakes, poppy seeds, and salt)
Method
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, sugar and kosher salt. Stir in the yeast and allow it to sit for 5 minutes or until it begins to get foamy.
Using the hook attachment, mix in the flour and melted butter on low until the ingredients are combined.
Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, 4 to 5 minutes.
Place the dough into a well oiled the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm, draft free area for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Line two sheet trays with lightly oiled parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 450ºF and position the oven racks in the middle two positions in your oven.
Stir together the 10 cups of water and the baking soda in an 8-quart pot. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
While the water comes to a boil, turn the dough onto your work surface and divide it into 12 equal pieces. (Don't worry about flowing your board- you will need the friction to help you roll out the pretzels)
Starting from the middle and working your way out, roll out each piece of dough into an 18- to 20-inch rope. Fold each rope in half, twisting the two pieces around one another and pressing the ends together. Twist the bottom end around the top, feeding it through the top hole and pressing to secure. Place the twists on the cookie sheet.
Once the water is boiling, Carefully place each twist into the boiling water for 30 seconds. (The original recipe said one by one, but I did two because I am that impatient.. but it still worked)
Remove each twist from the water using a large slotted spoon and place it on the cookie sheet. Brush the tops of the twists with the egg yolk wash.
Bake the twists until golden brown in color, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans (between racks and turning to rotate pans) halfway through, then remove the twists from the oven and allow them to cool slightly.
Once the Pretzels are cooled slightly, brush them liberally with melted butter and sprinkle as much everything bagel seasoning as you can. Enjoy warm. To reheat: place them in a 350F oven for 10 minutes.