| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 2 hr |
| Cook: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 28 small pretzels |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dry active yeast
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
- 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- Assorted fillings, optional
- Coarse salt or other toppings
Instructions
- Mix 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), the yeast and agave in a bowl. Set aside 5 minutes.
- In a food processor fitted with the dough blade, pulse the whole-wheat flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour and the sea salt. Add 1 egg and the yeast mixture and pulse in 10-second intervals until the dough comes together, about 3 pulses. Turn out onto a floured board. Knead 10 to 12 times, adding up to 3/4 cup more flour if the dough is too sticky. Cut the dough into 4 equal portions; cover with a clean towel.
- On a floured board, roll out one piece of dough into a 14-by-11-inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick, with a shorter side facing you.
- To make plain pretzels, cut the dough rectangle into seven 11-by-2-inch strips. For stuffed pretzels, follow the filling instructions, then cut into strips.
- One at a time, pinch the cut long edges of each strip together and roll into a 12-inch rope with your hands. Transfer the rope to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Grab the ends and bring them toward each other, forming a U shape, then cross the left end over the right end to make a pretzel shape. Cross the left end over the right again to make a twist in the middle. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the pretzels 3 inches apart. Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes; preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
- Beat the remaining egg in a bowl. Brush the pretzels with the egg; sprinkle with salt or other toppings. Bake until browned, 16 to 18 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 28 servings |
| Calories | 90 |
| Total Fat | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 13 mg |
| Sodium | 65 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 28 servings |
| Calories | 90 |
| Total Fat | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 13 mg |
| Sodium | 65 mg |
Reviews
I really want to make these, just so I can say they’re terrible and wish I had read the reviews. No, not really. (;
I am giving this recipe 4 stars, for flavor ONLY. The recipe, made as written, is terrible. It can be VASTLY improved, however, by modifying the procedure a bit:
1) After making the dough, let it rise on an oiled, covered bowl until doubled. This is probably the most important step, and the recipe omitted it.
2) While the dough is rising, combine 1/4 c. baking soda with 2 c. of very hot tap water, and stir to dissolve the baking soda. Every other soft pretzel recipe you will ever see uses this step, and this is what gives pretzels their pretzel-y flavor. Omit this step, and you simply have pretzel-shaped rolls.
3) Skip the 11×14 rectangle step; no rolling pin is needed here. Instead, divide the dough into four equal portions, as written. Take one portion and pat into a roughly 5×7 shape, which will be about 1/2 inch thick. Cut off roughly 1/2 inch strips, and roll them into a 14 in. (or so) long snake (Remember? Like you used to do with Play Doh?). Twist each rope into a classic pretzel shape. Repeat with each portion of dough, or freeze any excess.
4) Preheat your oven to 450 degrees instead of 475.
5) Dunk each pretzel into the baking soda solution, sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet pan. Each pan will fit 6-8 pretzels. Cover with a clean towel, and let the pretzels sit for 15 minutes or so.
6) Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
7) I like to brush the pretzels with melted butter after they come out of the oven, but that’s personal preference. These are great topped with a bit of spicy brown mustard or sweet mustard.
1) After making the dough, let it rise on an oiled, covered bowl until doubled. This is probably the most important step, and the recipe omitted it.
2) While the dough is rising, combine 1/4 c. baking soda with 2 c. of very hot tap water, and stir to dissolve the baking soda. Every other soft pretzel recipe you will ever see uses this step, and this is what gives pretzels their pretzel-y flavor. Omit this step, and you simply have pretzel-shaped rolls.
3) Skip the 11×14 rectangle step; no rolling pin is needed here. Instead, divide the dough into four equal portions, as written. Take one portion and pat into a roughly 5×7 shape, which will be about 1/2 inch thick. Cut off roughly 1/2 inch strips, and roll them into a 14 in. (or so) long snake (Remember? Like you used to do with Play Doh?). Twist each rope into a classic pretzel shape. Repeat with each portion of dough, or freeze any excess.
4) Preheat your oven to 450 degrees instead of 475.
5) Dunk each pretzel into the baking soda solution, sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet pan. Each pan will fit 6-8 pretzels. Cover with a clean towel, and let the pretzels sit for 15 minutes or so.
6) Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
7) I like to brush the pretzels with melted butter after they come out of the oven, but that’s personal preference. These are great topped with a bit of spicy brown mustard or sweet mustard.
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/soft-pretzels-recipe.html#communityReviews?oc=linkback
Nasty stuff! Wish I would have read the reviews instead of assuming they would be good because there was a 4 page spread in the Food Network magazine.
Shaping a hard flour mixture into a “pretzel” doesn’t make it a pretzel.
Following the directions, these turned out drier than flour and weighed 8 oz each! Here’s how I salvaged the “recipe”: I rolled the dough out, brushed it with the egg mixed with a bit of oil, dusted with garlic sale, cut them into narrow strips and made them into pretty good breadsticks. I also reduced the oven temp to 400.
This is another example of the celebrity chefs thinking they can cook everything.
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/soft-pretzels-recipe/reviews/index.html?oc=linkback
Guy is one of my favorite Foodnetwork stars. I had a craving for soft pretzels so I dug out an old Foodnetwork magazine where I remembered Guy had this recipe published.
I made the pretzels with cheddar cheese and topped with sesame seeds and onions as outlined in the magazine. I wish I could say I was impressed, but that would not be true.
I found the texture to be much firmer and drier than expected. As much as I love using whole wheat flour (Weight watchers friendly), I think it was partially responsible for a less than desirable flavor that I was expecting.
Sorry Guy. My wife and I have made many of your recipes and have never been disappointed. We still love you. -Roy and Barbara-
Really really not good. 🙁 I am so glad to see all of the other rating say the same thing, as I was wondering if I had just messed up. This tasted NOTHING like a pretzel. And now I have a whole container of Agave Nectar and don’t know what to do with it!
More like crackers than pretzels. The dough was very dry and tough to work with. Alton Brown’s recipe much better.
These pretzels are not what I was looking for. Dried out and tasteless.
Dry, no flavor! Very disappointed in this recipe. My son and I read over this recipe very carefully and made sure we didn’t forget any ingredients or steps. There is something wrong with this recipe!
I also wish I’d read the reviews. Really dry dough. After rolling out the quarters and slicing I let it sit covered a bit with a damp towel, and that improved the ability to turn it into a tube for the pretzels. The cooked pretzel was flavorless except for the toppings.
I wish I’d read the other reviews… I had the same problems: they were tough, dry, flavorless, and burned. This is the first Guy Fieri recipe I’ve tried that wasn’t just wonderful… and I wasn’t happy about having to purchase a pricey bottle of agave nectar just for this recipe, either!