I can’t believe summer is ending, which means fall is coming and it is now football season.
I wanted to make a snack for Scott while he binges on Sunday football. I have to admit, I somewhat dread football season (which could very well be his most favorite thing ever). It’s not that I don’t like football..I really don’t mind it. What I don’t like is the hogging of the TV on Saturday, 8 hours on Sunday, and even Monday night! How’s a girl suppose to catch up on her shows? One thing I do love about the season is being able to test out fun recipes because the boys will come over and eat up all my experiments. So I thought to myself…. how about trying out homemade soft pretzels? They actually were a lot easier to make than I thought they were going to be. I’m surprised I haven’t made these sooner! I had everything I needed in my kitchen to make these pretzels, except for the Maldon sea salt. Which, really, I have been waiting for an excuse to buy anyways so that was perfect. The recipe calls for “pretzel salt” but I figured the Maldon sea salt would be more versatile as I can use it for other dishes. And again…I really wanted an excuse to buy it. They large sea salt flakes are so pretty!
We had our’s with a simple cheese sauce but with grainy mustard on the side would go well with these also.
Apparently you are suppose to criss-cross pretzels…I somehow overlooked that step, but they still came out cute!
Original recipe can be found here from Alton Brown.
- 1½ cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 22 ounces all-purpose flour, or 4½ cups
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- Vegetable oil, for mixing bowl and baking sheet
- 10 cups water
- ⅔ cup baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Pretzel salt (I used Maldon sea salt flakes)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, sugar, salt, and yeast. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and get foamy.
- Add flour and melted butter. With the dough-hook attachment, mix until combined. On medium heat, knead for 4-5 minutes. Remove the dough and oil the bowl. Return the dough to the the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rest for 50-55 minutes (or until doubled in size).
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and highly brush with oil. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot with 10 cups of water and baking soda to boil.
- Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled surface and divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece to a 24-inch rope. Take the rope and create a U shape, take the ends and cross them over each other or bring the ends inward and press into the bottom of the U. After each piece is shaped, carefully place onto the oiled baking sheet.
- Once the water reaches a boil, boil each pretzel for 30 seconds. Remove pretzel using a flat spatula and return back onto the oiled baking sheet.
- Once all pieces have been blanched, brush each pretzel with egg yolk and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes (or until golden brown). Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving with your favorite cheese sauce or grainy mustard.
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