Soft Pretzels

Categories:Bread
Tags:,
madnad

Some time ago, I decided to make some pretzels. As soon as they were out of the oven, and I mean they were still surface-of-the-sun hot, my husband and brother descended on them. Within moments, all that remained were a couple of sheepish faces and a few leftover crumbs.

To be fair, these are best when warm, so be prepared to fight people off as they come out of the oven.

The glossy finish is due to boiling them in a water and bicarbonate of soda, then egg-washing before baking.  Commercial bakers use a food-grade sodium hydroxide, but sadly I cannot get hold of that in small quantities, so baking soda will have to do.

See here for tips on how to fold your pretzels.

Soft Pretzels

Serves 8
Dietary Vegetarian
Misc Freezable

Ingredients

  • 250ml Milk (warm, not hot)
  • 7g Instant Yeast
  • 2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Caster Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 440g Strong White Bread Flour
  • 5 tablespoons Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 1 Egg

Directions

1. Pour warm water in a mixing bowl
2. Stir in the yeast and sugar and leave for a few minutes to bloom
3. Add in the salt and flour and mix until combined
4. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 mins until dough is smooth and elastic
5. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film and leave to double in size, about an hour.
6. Turn out onto floured surface and divide into 4,6,8 pieces depending how big you want your pretzels. This mixture will make four large pretzels or eight small ones
7. roll each portion into a long rope, then form into a pretzel shape
8. When you have all your pretzels formed, boil 1½ litres of water with 5 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.
9. Add each pretzel individually and boil for 1 min on each side, then lift with a straining spoon and place on a lined baking sheet
10. Once your pretzels are all boiled, brush with an egg-wash and then sprinkle with rock salt or sesame seeds.
11. Bake at Gas mark 8 / 230°c / 450°f for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown

Note

You can eat these just as they are or try serving them with a spicy tomato or barbecue dip.

They freeze quite well once cooked. Just drop into a freezer bag, smoothing out as much air as possible, and freeze. Leave out for a couple of hours to defrost before use.


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