Homemade Soft Pretzels

At the top of my list of universal truths is this one: outside of the farmers' markets, no tomato beats a home grown one. Some foods are worth the effort to grow at home, and some aren't. I put carrots in that second category. Mine seem to come out too small, gnarly, and bitter.

Soft pretzels are the culinary equivalent of the homegrown tomato.

Dissolving the yeast and setting the dough aside to rise.
The homemade versions are much better than the standard soft pretzel from a food truck or a ball game. This recipe comes with a warning, then: once you make pretzels at home,  you won't want to eat them anywhere else. Fresh out of the oven, with a crisp shell and chewy, doughy, middle, they are divine.







Rolling, rolling, rolling.
An added bonus is that they are fun to make. Dough is always great for children to manipulate, and this dough gets rolled into long cylinders and formed into pretzel shapes. It's like rolling and shaping clay or play dough, but this dough is okay to eat. In fact, when you think about it, we should all get rid of the play dough and keep a stash of pretzel or pizza dough in the refrigerator for play time. It offers the same amount of fun, but at the end of the process, we can cook it into something delicious.

Shaping the pretzels and dropping them into their boiling water bath.
This recipe came into our lives from my brother-in-law, one of many great recipes he has shared. Now we make pretzels to accompany soup for dinner, as an appetizer, or as a stand-alone snack. There really is no bad time of year for them but I think  fall  is the best time. As the weather gets cooler and we start to hunker down for winter, they are perfect to eat in front of the fire, or while snuggled in front of the TV. As Olivia says, "They're warm and soft, and melt in your mouth. And they're very comforting on a cold day."

I probably don't need to say this, given that pretzels are essentially a bread product, but the children all loved them. In fact, we brought them to a neighborhood party this weekend and they were devoured immediately. I admit that I strolled around with the basket of hot pretzels telling everyone that they really should eat them right away because they were best hot. But nobody seemed to mind.

Second Helping: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip After School Cookies

Get 'em while they're hot!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

These pretzels are best eaten while they are hot, fresh out of the oven.

Makes 1 dozen pretzels
2 hours preparation time (including the rises)
about 15 minutes baking time

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
3 cups unbleached white flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
8 teaspoons baking soda
large-grained sea salt or Kosher salt for sprinkling

Measure the yeast into a large mixing bowl and add the warm water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the yeast has dissolved. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and butter, and mix with a wooden spoon to combine. Using your hands, mix a bit more to incorporate the butter. Don't worry if the butter doesn't mix in completely; some small lumps will give the pretzels a delicious buttery flavor.

When everything is incorporated, knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticks to the bowl. Cover the bowl with a dishcloth and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. (I admit that I have cut this rise short -- to about 30 minutes, and the pretzels were still delicious.)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

After the dough has risen, punch it down, and cut it into 12 roughly equal-sized pieces. Sprinkle a bit of flour onto the counter to keep the dough from sticking and roll each piece of dough into a long snake. Form each snake into a pretzel shape and set it onto the cookie sheet to rise. Be sure to pinch the dough together at the meeting points to keep the pretzels from unraveling when you cook them. When you have formed all of the pretzels, cover them with the dishtowel and let them rise again for 15 to 30 minutes.

While the pretzels are rising, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Fill a large, non-reactive pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the baking soda.

After the pretzels have risen, add a few at a time to the boiling water and let them boil for about 1 minute. As you take each pretzel out of the water, shake it a bit to remove the excess water and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the coarse salt on top. After you have boiled and removed all of the pretzels, bake them for 12 to 15  minutes until they are golden brown.

Jobs for children: This entire process is child friendly. Children can measure and mix the yeast, measure and mix the flour and butter, knead the dough, and prepare the baking sheets. Most fun of all, though, is for them to cut the dough, roll it into long snakes, and form it into pretzel shapes or any other shapes you like, really.

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Comments

[Anna]

The other day the dude told me he wasn't a soft pretzel guy. I bet he'd like these. I'll have to show him the recipe since he's our bread baker.

[Betsy @ zen-mama.com]

I'll definitely make this. We're big bread makers at our house so it won't be too much of a stretch. Thanks!

[Susan]

Hey! You forgot the mustard! Gotta have honey-mustard for dipping.

[Katherine Schroder]

My kids and I were just talking about making soft pretzels...maybe it has something to do with the cooler weather and all the soup we've been eating?

Question: Do you think I can substitute Earth Balance butter substitute for the butter? Leaving aside the loss of flavor, do you think it would mess with the consistency? I'm very careful about substituting for butter when I bake because it can wreck a recipe, but it seems a shame to make these and then keep them from Claire.

Just wondering and thanks for another great idea!

[Margy]

Katherine, I have never baked with Earth Balance so I'm not sure what effect it has in a recipe. I put olive oil in my pizza dough, though, which is very similar to this recipe, and it is delicious. I think it would work as long as you incorporate it well into the dough. If you do try it, come back and let us know how it worked out for you.

[Ophelie]

So funny!!! I need to try this recipe !!!

[Sandy]

Hmm I love soft pretzels and I have made them before myself at home.

I do have to agree with Susan though that you have to have mustard!!! But I prefer spicy brown with pretzels.

[Andrea]

One of our all time favorites, especially with cauliflower soup. The recipe is very similar to ours (which is the same as our pizza dough as well) and we use canola or olive oil with no problems at all. The butter sounds even better, though.

Yum!

[Nancye]

Have you ever tried freezing these? I know, they don't last that long.... My boys hae decided they love hot pretzels as an afterschool snack, but I don't have the energy to make them all the time. I'm wondering (with a double or triple recipe, of course as we must eat some now) if they can be frozen. As dough? After the boiling? After the baking? Anyone ever tired it?

[cori vanchieri]

Can you make the dough the day before or does that screw up the rising?
C