Soft Pretzels

I don’t know about you, but I love soft pretzels. Lately, I’ve been buying a container from Wegman’s . They’re bite size but the container/bucket is pretty big so it’s hard for me to get through before they go bad so I only get them once in a while, when I know I will be around to eat them throughout the week. Anyway, last year I started making soft pretzels on my own and although I’ve only made them twice, they were so good. The reason I held off for so long on making them on my own is because it involves yeast, and if you’ve been following me for a while then you know how I feel about working with yeast. But this recipe from King Arthur Flour was easy to follow and the results were delicious! You know the drill, click on the link for the exact recipe which is what I used! The only changes I made were that I didn’t twist the pretzels – I kept them like sticks – and instead of brushing hot butter on the pretzels, I used olive oil.

Follow along for the photos and some information on the process!

First, I combined the flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, and warm water in a bowl and mixed it in my stand mixer. Run the machine until the dough is soft and smooth. Flour the dough and then put it in a plastic bag to let it rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough rests, make the baking soda bath. The baking soda bath helps give the pretzels their golden color. To make the bath, you just use boiling water and baking soda and stir until the baking soda dissolves. Set the bath aside to let it get to lukewarm.

Divide the dough in to 8 equal parts and allow to rest uncovered for an additional 5 minutes. I rolled the dough out in to ropes, but instead of twisting them in to pretzel shapes, I cut them to make sticks or thick rods. Then, I put a few in to the baking soda bath at a time. Make sure the pretzels are covered in the water and leave in there for 2 minutes. Then, transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. I sprinkled on coarse salt on top.

Bake for 8-9 minutes at 475. In the original recipe, you would brush the pretzels with melted butter when they come out of the oven. I brushed them with olive oil. It’s a little healthier and although I like butter, I didn’t want the buttery taste.