Homemade Soft Pretzels
So we are day… I have no idea… of quarantine due to the coronavirus. I have always wanted to make homemade soft pretzels. They are my favourite mall indulgence. I love dipping mine into pizza sauce.
Duff Goldman went live on his Instagram showing the steps on how he makes this delicious snack. It is quite the process, so you definitely need to set aside a few hours from start to finish. But, what else is there to do since we can’t leave our homes. Perfect time to give these a try.
But then I ran into a problem. I did not have all the ingredients Duff used for his recipe. So, I did my own research and came across a different recipe that I could make work. Then I added some of Duff’s techniques to this recipe.
So between both recipes and the minor changes I have made, these homemade soft pretzels are well worth the time spent and surely worth gossiping about!
Homemade Soft Pretzels
Yield: 8 pretzels
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup warm water
1 pkg dry active yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
4 cups water
1/3 cup baking soda
Cooking spray
Kosher or flaky salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add the warm water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachement. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly.
2. Add the melted butter, salt and flour to the stand mixer. Turn on LOW and allow the stand mixer to knead the dough for 15 minutes.
3. The dough should be very soft, but shouldn't stick to the sides of the bowl at all. If it does, add tbsp of flour little by little until you get proper consistency.
4. Place the dough in a greased bowl and set aside in warm area. Allow the dough to rise until double, about 1 hour.
5. After the dough has doubled, punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal sized pieces. Set aside.
6. Combine the water and baking soda in a large pot on the stove top. Bring to a boil.
7. While the soda water is coming to a boil, shape the pretzels. Take one piece of dough and roll into a 2 ft long rope. Lay the rope in the shape of a 'U'. Cross the ends of the 'U'. Repeat this step so the rope is twisted. Fold the ends of the 'U' down towards the bottom of the 'U' and pinch the ends to create the pretzel shape. (Go on YouTube if its hard to understand). Complete all pretzels and set on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Once all of the pretzels have been shaped, gently place each pretzel (one by one) in the boiling soda water. Allow the pretzel to boil for about 30 seconds before removing and transferring back onto the parchment paper. Repeat with remaining pretzels.
9. Spray all the pretzels with cooking spray and generously sprinkle with salt.
10. Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Best eaten day of with pizza sauce, melted cheese or mustard. Enjoy!
*** Recipe adapted from @cookingwithkarli
