Simple Soft Pretzel Recipe

Right now I'm going through my Pinterest food board and I'm actually attempting the recipes I've pinned over the years. 

Who even does that right?

Well, I decided I wanted to be that person. 

My younger brother lives in Idaho, going to school there and he had a little pretzel business with a couple other people and when I found that out I was supremely jealous, cause SOFT PRETZELS! 

I have a serious love for them, its unhealthy really.  The obsession become even greater in this last pregnancy. I got the pretzel love bad!

So the other day I decided instead of going to QT kitchen to pick up a pretzel (btw they have good soft pretzels there) for the umpteenth time, I'd attempt making them myself.

I did not expect them to turn out, the recipe I found said I should use a stand mixer but I don't do things that way.  I mix everything by hand so I was leery of the outcome.

If you're like me then I want to let you know that yes, they will turn out and you will be happy you didn't skip out because you don't have a stand mixer.

I got quick Instagram story of my first batch right out of the oven, i wanted to post it but the video is being finicky so here is a crappy screen shot of the video. :) I made a second batch the next day and instead of the usual pretzel shape I made them into pretzel bites.  I've been poppin way too many in my mouth.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Yields: 8 small pretzels

recipe adapted from Sprinkles Some Sugar

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)

1 cup warm water

1 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour + up to 3/4 cup more if needed

2 cups water

4 tbs baking soda

1 tbs coarse salt, for sprinkling on top

6 tbs salted butter, melted

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees and line a large baking sheet or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine yeast with warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with hook attachment. Once mixture becomes "frothy" your yeast is ready. 

Stir in salt and melted butter. Add flour 1 cup at a time until a dough forms and is no longer sticky. You may need more or less depending on temperature differences. If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it's ready to knead. Knead dough for 5 more minutes until smooth and pliable. Form dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, prepare baking soda bath.

In a medium sized pot, boil 2 cups of water with 4 tbs of baking soda. Once the baking soda is mostly dissolved, take mixture off heat and allow it to come down to a lukewarm temperature. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish once cooled down.

At this time, 15 minutes of dough resting time should be up. Take dough out of the bowl and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cut dough into 8 sections (like a pizza). Roll each triangle into a long rope, about 19-20 inches long. Shape dough into pretzel shape and place in baking soda bath for 2 minutes. If the whole pretzel isn't covered by the water, spoon it on top of the areas is doesn't reach. Once the 2 minutes is up, carefully pick pretzel up either by your hand or with the help of a fork and place on prepared baking sheet. You may have to re-shape slightly. Sprinkle the pretzel with coarse salt while still wet (optional). Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheet(s).

Bake pretzels for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately from the oven, brush with melted butter.