Friday was another experiment day, but my dad's been in town, so this is the first chance I've had to blog about it. A while ago, I found a recipe for homemade soft pretzels. I wanted to try it, but at the time I didn't have enough time, and I kind of forgot about it after that. Anyway, I found it again last week, and I tried it, and it worked wonderfully. I do have a couple of hints that I should share, though.
#1--When you boil the pretzels, do so in a tall pot with a narrow opening. I boiled mine in a frying pan, and I think there was just too much room. I would recommend using a 2 quart sauce pan.
#2--Bake them until they turn kind of orangy-brown. I baked them as long as the recipe said to, and maybe my oven's not as hot as it says it is, because they were tan, but they didn't have the right texture for soft pretzels. I put them back in for a few minutes, and they came out looking over-done but tasting perfect.
So without further ado, here's the recipe!
Soft Pretzels
Makes 12-24 pretzels, depending on size
1-1/2 tbsp. yeast
2 c. warm water
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
4-5 c. bread flour
4 t. baking soda
2 egg whites
coarse salt (for topping)
cinnamon-sugar (for topping)
Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand for 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, and flour and knead well, about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and let rise for about 45 minutes, or until double.
Divide into 12-24 pieces, depending on how big you want your pretzels. Roll into a long, narrow rope (about 18 inches) and twist into pretzel shape. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine 4 c. water and the baking soda in a 2 qt. saucepan and bring to a boil.
In a small bowl, combine egg whites and 2 tbsp. water.
Drop pretzels in baking soda water one at a time and boil for about one minute. Place on a rack to drain.
Brush tops of pretzels with egg white and top with either coarse salt or cinnamon sugar. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees F. for 12 minutes, or until shiny and brown.
Original recipe came from Basic Food Preparation: A User's Guide, by Janet C. Stocks.
2 comments:
Hi Lindsay, It's been a while. I'll give this a try. My husband loves soft pretzels.
I tried the recipe, and the result was great (even my dad had seconds!). The only thing I'm not sure about was when I put them in the oven, the sugar sort of caramelized and bubbled, which in the end made them look really opaque (and got my silpat all dirty xD).
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