Soft Pretzels

The perfect pretzel is soft, but chewy. Salty, yet slightly sweet. A satisfying snack. Almost nothing speaks more to the heart of a Philadelphian than a giant, soft pretzel. I suppose, bit by bit, we are taking on the culture of our city. Pretzels, for instance, have become more important to me than at any other time of my life. And so, one Saturday when there was nothing to do, Brad and I took on the task of making our own homemade soft pretzels.

They were a lot easier than I expected. And a lot more fun. Granted, rolling 12 logs of dough into 20 inch long ropes is a bit tedious, but it turns into a fun project when a friend is helping you. Brad's job was to roll the dough into ropes while I tied them into perfectly shaped pretzels. 

A quick bath in baking soda enriched water and those knots puff up into the most beautiful pretzels. A brief stint in the oven finishes them off with a gorgeous, dark brown luster and then they are ready for you to sink your teeth into them. 

They were a huge success and I must say that I prefer them to any pretzels that I have tasted from a shop (gasp!). This recipe used honey as the sweetener lending a very subtle, pleasing sweetness to these salty snacks. While I wouldn't want to make them regularly, they were a fun project and freeze well. 

Brad is constantly sneaking to the freezer to steal one. In fact, as we were climbing into bed that very evening, he stated that he was hungry and leapt out of bed before I could protest at the lateness of the hour. A minute later, he was nibbling on one of those tasty knots. I must confess that I asked for a bite. Yup, they are that good. 

Soft Pretzels

Makes 12

1 tsp. yeast

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp salt

3 cups bread flour

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)

3 T. baking soda

2 T. coarse salt, poppy seeds or sesame seeds

Mix together yeast, honey, salt, flour and water in standing mixer. Using dough hook, knead at low speed for 5 - 7 minutes. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough, cover and let rise until nearly doubled in size again, 30 to 40 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 450*. Pour 6 cups water into 12-inch skillet and add baking soda. Stir, cover and bring to a boil. Line a baking sheet with tin foil, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 20-inch long rope. Shape each rope into a pretzel (Place dough in a U-shape, cross "arms" once and then again. Moisten the dough at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock with a little water and then pinch ends onto the dough. See photo below). 

Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower pretzels into boiling water, top-side down (You can fit 4 pretzels into the skillet at a time) and boil for 30 seconds. Flip and boil for another 30 seconds. Remove pretzels with slotted spoon and place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt, poppy seeds or sesame seeds and bake for 12-16 minutes or until well-browned (turn sheet 180* halfway through baking). 

This recipe is from Baking Illustrated.