Soft Pretzels

Submitted by Rebecca The Angel

"The best tasting pretzels ever! This recipe comes from the Joy Of Cooking 75th anniversary cookbook."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 12 5-inch pretzels
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup warm water
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup warm water
• 8 cups water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• coarse salt

directions

1. Put the 1/2 cup warm water and the yeast in the bowl of a mixer and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, which will take about 5 minutes.
2. Add the flours, butter, sugar and salt, and mix on low speed while slowly adding the second 1/2 cup of warm water.
3. Stir for one minute, adding more flour or water as needed to make a mosit dough, but not sticky.
4. Knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
5. Move the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it once to coat with oil.
6. Looosely cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 to 1/2 hours until doubled in volume.
7. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball on an unfloured work surface.
8. Loosely cover with oiled plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.
9. Roll each ball into an 18 inch long rope, and twist into a pretzel shape (pull the rope into an oval, twist the ends, and pull the oval down over itself).
10. Let the pretzels sit for 35 minutes.
11. Boil the 8 cups of water and the baking soda, and reduce to a simmer.
12. Putting in a few pretzels at a time, let the pretzels sit in the simmering water for 30 sceconds, then flip them, and keep them in for another 30 seconds.
13. Sprinkle with salt, and put the pretzels in a preheated 400 degree oven.
14. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
15. Cool, and enjoy!

Reviews

[deborahlee555]

These were very good, with a very good flavor, they were not the thick, chewy, soft philly-type pretzels I was hoping for. However, the two people I shared them with thought they were fabulous and they loved the crispy texture of the outside crust. I found they did not rise all that much though, and I suggest watching the cooking time. The suggested time was too long for my oven, and I had to cut down about 3 minutes on the time. Also, they got very soggy very quickly, but a couple of minutes in the toaster perked them right up to the just-baked texture.