These soft and chewy pretzels are so much better than the ones you'll get at the mall. My boyfriend told me so and he's a very picky eater :). What I love is that they are so easy to make especially if you have a stand mixer. If not its still super easy you'll just be kneading your dough by hand. And there is nothing wrong with that because you get a nice little arm workout! In this recipe I make both salted and cinnamon sugar pretzels. They were truly the best, so soft and chewy and fresh and you can honestly taste the love and care that is put into these pretzels.
First thing you'll want to do is bloom your yeast. Blooming the yeast is important because this is what helps your dough rise and grow. In my pantry I have active dry yeast which means I have to bloom it in warm water for about 10 minutes until its bubbly or foamy. This means the yeast is activated. If you have instant dry yeast then you can put it directly in your dry ingredients because the granules are finer and doesn't need to bloom its already ready to go! With this recipe, I let the yeast bloom right in my mixing bowl with the water and sugar. After about 10 minutes when its bubbly, I add my oil and salt. Then slowly one cup at a time and with the speed on low, using the dough hook, I add the flour. Make sure to add the salt AFTER the yeast is bloomed and activated otherwise the salt will contradict with the yeast and the dough won't rise.
You'll need to knead the dough for about 4 minutes with the speed on medium once you see the dough pulling away from the bowl. If your mixing by hand, follow the same steps of putting the ingredients in a large bowl and then you'll want to add your flour a cup at a time making sure to stir with a spatula in between. Once it all starts to come together, start kneading and working the dough with your hands and knead for about 4-5 minutes until its nice and smooth and somewhat tacky to the touch. If your hands are sticking while your kneading, just spray your hands with a little non stick spray or rub them with oil. The dough should be like satin and smooth. You'll know if you over worked it when the dough starts tearing and getting tough. Once your dough ball is ready, oil your bowl and place it back in there to proof covered for about an hour in a dry area. If you keep your home on the warmer side or if you live in a hotter climate, check it after about 40-45 minutes. It should double in size.
After proofing is up, Its time to boil the water and the baking soda together. I like to use a pretty large sized pot just to make sure I'm not making too much of a mess. The reason why you need to boil the pretzels before baking in an oven in baking soda is to help the bread rise. The baking soda in the water causes carbon dioxide bubbles which causes the bread to rise.
To form your pretzels, its pretty hard to describe how to do this but I will do my best. First I take my dough and work it into a pizza shape. Using a pizza cutter, I cut it like a pizza into 8 pieces and roll each one with my hands into long thin logs making sure to make sure its even in size. Next all I do is take the two ends, lift the dough up off the counter and twist it and lay it back down making sure its on its other side and the middle is twisted. Now just pinch the ends into itself and hopefully you have a pretzel! repeat with your other pieces.
Before you boil your pretzels make sure your area is prepped because things start to happen fast at this point. I like to have a sheet tray greased and lined with parchment paper
ready to go after the boiling process. I also keep my timer out and ready to go for accurate boiling time. And make sure your oven is ready and already preheated. I use a slotted spoon to place my pretzels in and out of the boiling water for easy draining and only boil two at a time. Lastly I just like to have my egg wash prepped and ready for the pretzels before they go in the oven.
After all your pretzels are boiled and ready on your sheet tray, all that is left is brushing with egg wash and salting them. The egg wash is what gives it that nice golden brown sheen color. I like to use coarse kosher salt but you can also use coarse sea or even flaky sea salt just be cautious of your usage. Bake until golden brown and then immediately brush with melted butter. Add more salt if you feel its needed. To make the cinnamon sugar pretzels, in a bowl combine about 2 cups of sugar and 3 tbs of cinnamon and you will take your pretzels and dunk them in the melted butter and then dunk them in the cinnamon sugar mixture on both sides and coat as much as you'd like. These pretzels are so much better than the mall and so surprisingly easy to make! You'll be making all the time for family and friends!
RECIPE:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp yeast
4 tbs canola oil, divided
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups flour
10 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg + 1 tbs water
4 tbs melted butter
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Proof the yeast in a stand mixer with 1 1/2 cups of water and brown sugar together. Let stand about 5-10 minutes until bubbly. Add in 3 tbs of oil and salt. Using the dough hook, add in the flour one cup at a time on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and let the dough mix/knead until it smooth and is pulling away from the bowl, about 4 minutes.
2. Remove the dough and oil the bowl with the remaining 1 tbs of oil and then add the dough ball back in the bowl moving it around making sure the dough is fully coated with the oil from the bowl. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to proof in a dry area for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
3. In a large pot, bring the 10 cups of water and 1/4 cup of baking soda to a boil.
4. Place your dough on your work surface and roll into a pizza shape. Using a knife or pizza cutter, divide the dough into 8 even pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope and twist to make a pretzel. Repeat with remaining pieces.
5. Boil The pretzels 2 at a time in the water solution for 45 seconds. Drain with a slotted spoon and place the pretzels onto a greased parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Beat together the egg and 1 tbs of water to make the egg wash and brush the pretzels all over. Sprinkle with salt.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and immediately brush with melted butter. Dip in cinnamon sugar if desired. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
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