Hot Buttered Soft Pretzels
Hot Buttered Soft Pretzels
(81)
|
rate this recipe » |
| quick-n-easy | |
| Hands-on time: | |
|---|---|
| Baking time: | |
| Total time: | |
| Yield: | 8 large pretzels |
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 7/8 to 1 cup warm water*
- *Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.
Topping
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- coarse, kosher or pretzel salt, optional
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Directions
1) To make dough by hand, or with a mixer: Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl, and beat until well-combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it's soft, smooth, and quite slack. Flour the dough and place it in a bag, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
2) To make dough with a bread machine: Place all of the dough ingredients into the pan of your bread machine, program the machine for dough or manual, and press Start. Allow the dough to proceed through its kneading cycle (no need to let it rise), then cancel the machine, flour the dough, and give it a rest in a plastic bag, as instructed above.
3) To make dough with a food processor: Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in the work bowl of a food processor equipped with the steel blade. Process for 5 seconds. Add the water, and process for 7 to 10 seconds, until the dough starts to clear the sides of the bowl. Process a further 45 seconds. Place a handful of flour in a bowl, scoop the slack dough into the bowl, and shape the dough into a ball, coating it with the flour. Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, close the bag loosely, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4) While the dough is resting, prepare the topping: Combine the boiling water and baking soda, stirring until the soda is totally (or almost totally) dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler).
5) Preheat your oven to 475°F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper.
6) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each).
7) Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour the baking soda/water into a 9" square pan.
8) Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28" to 30" long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda/water, spooning the water over their tops; leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the baking sheet. This baking soda "bath" will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color.
9) Transfer the pretzels to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt, if desired. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
10) Bake the pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
11) Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you've used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that's what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.
Yield: 8 large pretzels.
Reviews
- 05/07/2012
- I made these for the first time last week for my teenage grandson. Let me just say they were a HIT! They did not last long. Very easy to do, and will certainly be made again and again. Every recipe I've tried from this site has turned out perfectly. You are my "go - to" reference on any thing baking from cookies to cakes to breads.
- 05/02/2012
- These were so amazing! My family absolutely loved them. I'm going to make them again this weekend.
- 04/25/2012
- Such a simple recipe! Both of my children were able to help out. The pretzels came out perfect. I made 4 of them with salt, and the other 4 I tried with a sugar/cinnamon sprinkle. Everyone agreed that the salt pretzels were better. They even looked exactly like the photos, but my family ate them all before I could take a picture! Easy, and worth the effort!
- 04/21/2012
- I have made many different recipes for soft pretzels over the past 6 months but this one has just been wonderful. I do like my pretzels to be a bit chewy, perhaps next time I will do half bread flour and half AP. Used the bread machine dough cycle and was impressed with the soda ratio for soaking (prior to baking) finally seemed perfect. Great crisp crust and butter flavor. Thanks for the recipe!
- 04/21/2012
- Ohmymymymy! These are so good. Easy to prepare and look great. I did put the dough in a plastic bag and coated the dough with flour, but some dough still stuck to the inside of the bag, so I'd be careful with this step. Probably a lot of fun to make with kids - easy, good, and fast results!
- 04/15/2012
- This recipe is fantastic! I've made it a few times now. The first time, I followed the recipe exactly. The second time, I took the finished pretzels, covered them in pepperoni and cheese and throw them back under the broiler. It came out okay, but not great. So, the third time I made them, I tried a few variations. For one batch, I added some pizza seasoning and pizza dough flavor into the dough and them made them into pizza pickets, filled with cheese, sauce, and pepperoni. The second batch, I made according to the recipe but turned them into breadstick twists topped with everything bread and bagel topping and Turkey & Cheese pretzel pockets. The third batch, I made into pretzels bites, but added in some cake enhancer so that they would last for an extra day. Everything came out great. My husband loved the pizza pockets and they tasted good reheated later during the day. He thought the pretzel bites were better than the mall variety.
- 04/11/2012
- These are by far the best soft pretzels I have ever had. I've made them twice now and each time, they've turned out perfectly. I should also note that they freeze beautifully. I re-heat them in a 350 degree oven for about 7 minutes and they are just as good as when they are fresh out of the oven.
- 04/06/2012
- I thought I added too much water because the dough was really sticky and difficult to make into a rope and twist- still we managed to make them and they were delicious. The texture was just right- good crust and light and chewy on inside- so I am not sure- maybe the kitchen was too warm? Sesame seeds on some was great. Sea salt on the others were amazing. Everyone liked butter on top, but it is not necessary; the pretzels are very tasty by themselves.
- 03/25/2012
- This recipe is delicious! I used all KAF bread flour. The outside was crispy while inside was chewy and light. I coated one batch in butter and cinnamon sugar and the other in butter and kosher salt. It was so good! Highly recommend. One thing though. I used parchment paper to cook them on. The pretzels stuck to the paper. I guess I didn't use enough non-stick spray. I wonder if I could use non-stick foil instead of parchment paper? Anyway, make these. It is fun for the kids and it is so simple that even my sister who burns water can make these.
Sorry to hear of the difficulty. Yes, using a non-stick spray on the parchment will help. The stickiness is coming from the moisture on the outside of the pretzels. give it a try. Frank @ KAF.
- 03/21/2012
- So good! I hate to deviate from a recipe on the first run, but I used about a cup of KA bread flour since I like my pretzels on the chewy side. I brought them to school for my son's teachers as a little afternoon treat and they were gone in less than five minutes!
