Homemade Pretzels

I have been at The Country Living Fair and will be posting about it tomorrow.

I made this recipe for homemade pretzels the other day.  I am posting it because my family loved them.  I, however, did not think they had great pretzel flavor so I will be trying other recipes soon.  These are worth making because they have a nice crisp crust and a chewy center.  And they are very easy to make.

Pour 1 C. of water into your mixer bowl. Add 2-1/4 tsp. of rapid rise yeast, 1-1/2 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. salt.  Mix until blended.

Add 3-1/4 C. of all purpose flour.

Mix and kneed until you have a nice ball of dough.

Place it in a greased bowl and flip to coat.  Cover with plastic and let proof until doubled.
I actually doubled this recipe so you can see my bowl is full.

You would end up with one log of dough.  Cut it into 12 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a long rope about 18 inches long.

Fold into pretzel shapes and lay them on greased parchment paper.

Let them rise for about 20 minutes.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add 2 tsp. of baking soda.  Turn it down to a simmer.

Drop the pretzels in the water and cook them for about 20 seconds on each side. Drain them on racks.

Place them on parchment covered cookie sheets and brush them with a mixture of 1 egg white and 1 tsp. of water.  Sprinkle them with course salt.

Bake them at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden.  As you can see they do not look like classic pretzels but they still were very good.  I will keep searching for a good recipe.

Comments

~mel said…
Yum ~ thanks for reminding me about pretzels. I haven't made them in some time now. Your recipe sounds like the one I have. They're pretty easy to make ~ don't know why I don't do them more often. I'm just wishing I had your mixer - it looks like a nice one:)
Anonymous said…
I'm not a big fan of pretzels. I like them but never buy them :-)

Looking forward to read about the Fair!

Have a great day!
Christer.
brokenteepee said…
Fine Cooking just had one - I'm going to try them soon. You drop 'em in a lye solution instead of baking soda and that might be the difference. That's what commercial bakeries do with bagels and pretzels.
Sara said…
I haven't made pretzels in way too long. I'm going to have to give them another try. PS... can't wait for tomorrows post.
I've always been pretty meh about pretzels, myself. Apart from having a neat shape, they really don't taste much different than any bun. At least the pretzels I've had don't.
Guillaume said…
COOOL! Pretzels! So nice with beer.
Ina in Alaska said…
I bet Teddy would enjoy them!
Anonymous said…
they look wonderful, we're so lucky you are so diligent to perfect the recipes, because we all reap the beneifts, you do all the leg work you could say, thats not really fair, we should be rewarding you, I wish you were closer you could come for tea ,I would bake for you!Probably one of your recipes, ha ha,
Julia said…
Well you've got more patience than I have. I don't think mine would look quite so professional as that. :) Liking the Autumnal background, by the way. :)
Well, they certainly LOOK good!!!! Showed pic to husband and he said; "What's wrong with them???" ,-)

Looking forward to your report on the Fair. Which must have been super!

Oh this weather is being glorious, over in my neck of the woods. Hope yours is holding thus, too. :-)

"Auntie"
Mmm, love them with a little cinnamon & sugar, perfect Autumn snack!
Unknown said…
Hi! Your pretzels sound delicious and very american to my ears!!! We don't do pretzels in this neck of the woods!!
SharleneT said…
What exactly didn't you like about the pretzels? The vendor across from me at the Midtown market stuffs her pretzels with either a vegetarian or a meat mixture. With this recipe worked for something like that? Or was it the actual taste of the pretzel you didn't like? Will look forward to your other pretzel recipes. Come visit when you can.