Baking Bread – Pretzels

Hi everyone, with so much time on our hands and nowhere to go right now it’s the ideal time to test your bread baking skills!

I wanted to stretch myself (literally) and try something I had never attempted before, and what better way to do that than by making Pretzels! And no folks, not the little crunchy ones, the big soft, salty goodness that is a giant pretzel. 😀

You will need a few ingredients on your bench but THE most important one has to be PATIENCE. 😀. Yes people, bread is a bit of a waiting game and if you are not a patient person this your second test.

Here is the ingredient list:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup melted butter

10 cups water

2/3 cups baking soda

1 large egg yolk with 1 Tablespoon water

Pretzel Salt/Rock salt

Non-stick cooking spray/oil

For the first step I put my warm water into the mixing bowl, stirred in the sugar and salt and sprinkled my yeast into the water on top. The first wait is a short 5 minute one while the yeast puffs up/froths in the water.

Then I added the rest of the ingredients up to the melted butter. Making sure I had my dough hook attachment on my mixer I tuned it to medium speed and let it work it’s magic for around five minutes more. And low and behold – a lovely dough ball.

Now the longer wait begins…oil a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth for an hour or more, or until it is double the size.

The next bit involves a bit of rolling and some time making your best pretzel shapes. Dividing it into 8 pieces I rolled each one out into a long thin rope until they were all 24” long.” ( Yes, I did get a ruler out to measure 😄).

I then made some lovely U shapes and brought the ends down to cross over and meet the bottom of the U. 🥨

Lining them all out on two baking paper lined pans I put a pot of the water and baking soda combo on the stovetop to boil. Now, one by one I placed them into the boiling water for 30 seconds at a time. Another time consuming process, but essential to the bake.

Brushing these lovelies with an egg yolk/water wash combo I then sprinkled them with my rock salt (as that’s all I had available). They then go into a preheated oven at 235 degrees Celsius for approximately 14 minutes (keep that timer handy people).

They go a gorgeous deep golden brown and glisten if you brush them with melted butter straight outta the oven.

If you have a bit of time on your hands and LOVE pretzels, why not give this bake a go!

‘Til next time folks ❤️