How to Make Soft Pretzels

I have been experimenting with different pretzel recipes to try and get a pretzel that tastes like the kind we get in the mall and the following recipe seems to come pretty close. Although a majority of the recipe comes from Alton Brown, I did do a little tweaking to the salt and sugar ingredients (just click Alton's name to view the recipe as he wrote it). As you can see from the photo, I still need some practice folding the little guys.



What you need

• Active dry yeast...3tsp.
• Water...1 ½ cups (110° to 115° F)
• Brown sugar...1 Tbsp. (this substitution made all the difference)
• Salt...2 tsp.
• All-purpose flour...3 - 3 ½ cups
• Butter...4 Tbs unsalted, melted
• Water...10 cups (enough water to fill a big pot to be used to boil the pretzels)
• Baking soda...2/3 cup (no, this is not a typo: it's cup)
• Egg yolk...1 large, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt (if you don't have pretzel salt, use any coarse salt you have on hand: Kosher or sea salt)

Putting it together

1. In a mixing bowl add the yeast, brown sugar, and water. Let the yeast swim around and have fun for about 5 minutes. When it is foamy, they are ready to go
2. Add a cup of flour, the melted butter, and salt. Stir to combine
3. While mixing, begin adding the flour one cup at a time. This is a stiff dough, so when you test it, the dough will not stick to your fingers. Once you reach this desired consistency, continue kneading by hand until the dough is shiny (I don't want to risk over-mixing the dough with the machine)
4. Place dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Leave in a warm location until doubled in size (about an hour)
5. Once doubled, grab a large pot and fill with water (this is where the 8-10 cups of water come in)
6. Add the baking soda and bring to a boil
7. While the water is coming to a boil, remove the dough from the bowl and separate into 8 equal pieces
8. Roll each piece into a ball and set aside
9. On a floured surface, take one ball and roll it into a 18-20 inch long rope
10. Taking each end, make into a U shape and loop one end around the other
11. Place both ends in the middle of the U and press well to seal
1. Better yet, avoid my badly worded instructions and view this great step-by-step instructional photo gallery at...The Kitchen You see, once again I didn't have the foresight to take my own pictures
12. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough
13. Pre-heat oven to 450°
14. Once the water comes to a boil, place 1-2 pretzels (you don't want them touching each other) in the water and boil for 30 seconds
15. Remove and place on a drying rack and repeat until all pretzels have had their bath
16. Take your egg yolk solution and brush each pretzel
17. Place pretzels on a parchment-lined baking sheet (or oiled baking sheet) and sprinkle with the Pretzel salt
18. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until nicely browned (I check after 12 minutes and then recheck every minute or so)
19. Remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes
20. Enjoy

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