The traditional sign of the baker in Germany and Austria is a pretzel (pretsel in German): bakeries all hang a large pretzel sign over the shop door (see The Baker’s Wife, page 154). Pretzels are an old form of bread, a length of leavened dough shaped into a twist or a round, and dropped into a hot water bath before baking. (Bagels are a specialized form of pretzel). All pretzels, even the dried packaged ones, have a distinctive back taste when you chew them that comes from baking soda in the water bath. This yeasted pretzel is enriched with milk and butter and sweetened with a little malt syrup. The dough does a quick first rise before being shaped, bathed and baked. Shaping is simple: You hold a long string of dough in two hands to make a loop, then twist several times, lay the loop down, and trail the ends up onto it.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 45 min |
| Prep: | 5 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 8 pretzels |
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or wheat malt syrup
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, softened
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 teaspoons milk, for egg wash
- Coarse salt
Instructions
- Place the milk in a medium bowl and stir in the yeast to dissolve it well. Add the malt syrup and 1 cup of the flour and stir until you have a smooth batter. Sprinkle on the salt, add the butter, and stir well to incorporate. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and stir and turn the dough to incorporate it. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, incorporating more flour as necessary.
- Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with plastic and let rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until smooth, softened, about doubled in volume.
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and place a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles, if you have them, (or a baking sheet) on it. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface. Cut into 4 equal pieces and cut each piece in half. Place a parchment paper-lined baking sheet next to your work surface.
- Work with 2 pieces of dough at a time, keeping the remaining pieces covered with a cotton cloth. Roll each piece of dough out under your palms to a long skinny rope, 24 to 30 inches long, slightly fatter in the middle and very thing at the ends. Press down lightly and push outward toward the ends with both hands as you roll, encouraging the dough to lengthen and stretch. You will find the dough very elastic, and that it springs back and shortens after you let it go, so switch back and forth between the 2 pieces. This will give the gluten strands in the dough an opportunity to relax a little.
- Once you have a long rope, pick up 1 end with each hand and twist 1 around the other once or twice about 2 inches from the ends, then lay the dough down in a curve on the baking sheet and lay the ends onto the fatter center of the curve to make the classic pretzel shape. Cover lightly while you shape the remaining pretzels. Let the pretzels rise for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 cup of water in a large saucepan until almost boiling. Add the baking soda and stir well to dissolve. Keep the water simmering until just before ready to use. Have a flour-dusted peel (or back of a baking sheet) near your work surface, and a razor blade or sharp knife for slashing the dough.
- Lift up 1 pretzel with a wide spatula and place it briefly in the hot soda-water bath, leaving it on the spatula. Remove it after 20 seconds and let the water drain off the spatula. Brush the pretzel top with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, and place the pretzel on the peel. Make a deep 1 to 2-inch slash in the top of the fattest part of the pretzel, then immediately slide it off the peel (or sheet) onto the hot stone or tiles (or baking sheet). Repeat with the remaining pretzels. (If your stone or oven is small, you may have to bake them 4 at a time.)
- Bake the pretzels for 10 to 12 minutes, until a deep golden brown on top. Place on a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 217 |
| Total Fat | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 37 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Cholesterol | 29 mg |
| Sodium | 1904 mg |
Reviews
The recipe was confusing. I thought that was whey to much baking soda. They tasted terrible, I threw them out. I would have like to have the correct recipe.
these turned out pretty good for me. i was surprised at how easy they were to make, but i used my mixer to knead the dough. i also let the dough rise in the fridge and baked them off the next day. i think i might let them simmer in the liquid a bit longer than 20 seconds though, they weren’t quite as chewy as they should have been imo. 🙂
These pretzels are delicious if it wasn’t for the food network and sara’s secrets i would have never known.
I made these pretzels with my 5-yr-old son after I saw the show. I am not a baker by any stretch, but we were awed by the finished product. After reading the earlier reviews, I was worried, but I found the recipe to work just fine. My son said they were “just like the ones from the mall” — now THAT’S an endorsement! I would give this one 5 stars, but it was a decent amount of work for just 8 pretzels.
I did two pretzels with the baking soda boil and didn’t like them at all! Plus it was hard to maintain the shape, they were a mess. So, I did the rest of them without boiling them in baking soda and they turned out great! I kept a close eye on them to make sure I wasn’t burning them since I had to cook them a bit longer. I made a cheese dip for them and everyone was very impressed.
Once i saw the show i couldn’t wait to try this recipe. I found that the instructions were not very clear. Once I baked the pretzels the were very doughy, and never fully cooked.
I threw the whole batch out, too salty a waste of time not to mention the ingredients. Pleas have Sara e mail me correct recipe thank you.
Elaine
Elaine