soft pretzels

i've waited all week for these. and the pretzel bite and pretzel roll recipes that showed up on other blogs this week didn't help the craving. so this morning i gave in.

the dough comes together quick and the boiling part isn't nearly as complicated as it first sounds. if you have pretzels that don't keep their shape while boiling - i had a couple turn back into long ropes - push the joints together before boiling or just reshape them after boiling, before they're baked. no biggie.

i like mine with lots of salt, jason likes his with a little salt...so i made them exactly how we like them...

...and i left a few unsalted just for this -



warm them up in the microwave, brush the top with melted butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. perfection.

you'll notice alton's recipe makes 8 pretzels and the first time we made them, we made 8. but you end up with 8 big pretzels, like food court at the mall sized pretzels. and really, they're too big when you just want a snack sized pretzel. so i cut the size in half and reduced the bake time since they aren't as thick. long story short - make them whatever size you want. you want them smaller? go for it, just check on them around 8 minutes. want them bigger? i'd still check at 9 minutes, but they'll probably take a little longer.

soft pretzels
based on alton brown's homemade soft pretzels

makes 16 4 inch pretzels in 1.5 hours (includes rise time)

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 packed active dry yeast
22 ounces all purpose flour (about 4.5 cups)
2 ounces melted unsalted butter (about 4 tablespoons)
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
nonstick cooking spray
pretzel or kosher salt to sprinkle on top

1. combine the water, sugar, and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit about 5 minutes, until foaming.
2. add the melted butter and flour to the bowl. mix on low speed with a dough hook until combined. turn the mixer up to medium and mix about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. remove the dough from the bowl, spray the inside with cooking spray, and replace the dough back in the bowl. cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
4. line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. preheat the oven to 450F.
5. bring 10 cups of water and baking soda to a boil.
6. while the water is heating up, turn the dough out onto a well oiled cutting board. using a pizza cutter or chef's knife, cut the dough into 16 equal pieces (i cut mine like a pie).
7. roll each piece of dough into a rope about 18 inches long. form into a pretzel shape and place on the baking sheet. roll and form all pieces.
8. drop pretzels, 2 at a time, into the boiling water. boil for 30 seconds, remove with a slotted spatula or wire spider, and place back on the baking sheet. repeat with all the pretzels.
9. brush the tops of the pretzels with the beaten egg and sprinkle with salt to your liking.
10. bake for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown on top.
11. let cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
12. these are best eaten within 10 minutes of coming out of the oven, but a quick 20 seconds in the microwave works well too.
13. do not store in a sealed bag or food storage container as they will become wet and lose some of their chewiness. consume within 3 days, if you can make it that long.