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Buttery Soft Pretzels
SUBMITTED BY:
CHRISTA ROSE
PHOTO BY:
marathonmama
"After spending so much money on those Mall bought pretzels, I thought I'd try making some myself. So here's a recipe that has worked for me. These pretzels are a bit sweeter than other types and are buttery. These are great plain with a bit of pretzel salt or coated with cinnamon and sugar. Once finished, dip the hot pretzel in melted butter and coat with your favorite flavors. Enjoy!"
RECIPE RATING:
Read Reviews
(328)
Review/Rate This Recipe
PREP TIME
2 Hrs
COOK TIME
10 Min
READY IN
2 Hrs 20 Min
Original recipe yield 1 dozen
SERVINGS
(
Help
)
Servings
US
METRIC
INGREDIENTS (
Nutrition
)
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping
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DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.
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REVIEWS
Reviewed on Jul. 28, 2007 by mose
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mose
Jul. 28, 2007
Good recipe, though I replaced the oil with butter and used less flour. Another reviewer asked why the baking soda bath is necessary: Old world Germans used to dip their brezels (pretzels) in a solution of sodium hydroxide (lye) and water before baking. Lye is a very strong and caustic alkaline. Because most people aren't comfortable mixing lye and water to make pretzels, baking soda - a much weaker alkaline - is now used in most pretzel recipes. Once the pretzels begin baking, a 'Maillard reaction' occurs. This is a chemical reaction sortof like carmelization, which allows the exterior crust to become a deep rich brown color. The reaction accelerates in an alkaline environment, which - you guessed it - has been provided by the baking soda bath. The baking soda, and resulting reaction, is also responsible for the unique taste of a pretzel. Without the baking soda bath the pretzel exterior ends up pale/white, and taste more like bread. This baking soda / lye bath step is paramount in making a pretzel a pretzel.
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186 users found this review helpful
Good recipe, though I replaced the oil with butter and used less flour. Another reviewer...
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Reviewed on Sep. 15, 2003 by ALLAN T
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ALLAN T
Sep. 15, 2003
I have gotten into baking breads, etc. since my wife bought a baking stone. This recipe is very good. The pretzels didn't last long. Here's what I will do next time I make a batch: After dividing the dough into 12 pcs., roll the dough out into a rope at least 20-24" long. The dough will expand. Spray "I Can't Believe Its Butter" after I place the pretzels on the sheet and sprinkled coarse salt. I tried this on 3 pretzels from my first batch and they were better tasting. Use a rack that's up higher in the oven to prevent burning of the pretzels bottoms. Make sure my wife stands over me to supervise.
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49 users found this review helpful
I have gotten into baking breads, etc. since my wife bought a baking stone. This recipe is...
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Reviewed on Feb. 11, 2007 by Jade
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Jade
Feb. 11, 2007
These are better than Auntie Anne's or Pretzel Time!! My kids ate all 12 within 10 minutes - I couldn't believe how good these were !! I wish I had made a triple recipe. They all said they tasted BETTER than the ones at the mall - I agree ! And a lot cheaper making them yourself ! I was puzzled why the recipe called for them to be dunked in a baking soda and water mixture - if anyone knows why, please explain? I did it anyways. The changes I made = I used 4 cups of flour instead of 5. I used organic pure cane sugar and All Natural sea salt and instead of vegetable oil (I used super healthy 'Organic Virgin Coconut Oil by Tropical Traditions') and also used that to grease the bowl the dough was to rise in. After putting the pretzels in the soda/water mixture, I put them on parchment paper which I sprayed with Olive Oil spray (instead of greasing) and then I sprinkled Kosher salt on the tops of them (on a few others I did cinnamon w/Raw sugar). The oven temp. seemed way to high even at 415, so on the second batch I decreased it to 400 degrees for 8 minutes - they got browned very quickly on top. After removing them from the oven I brushed melted UNsalted butter over the tops and bottoms of them - saturating them with butter (I did not put any more salt on after the butter). Loved the recipe -- the rolling took a while,didn't have a lot of patience - I didn't roll them on the table, I just rolled them between my hands vertically until the 'snake' became long and thin.
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40 users found this review helpful
These are better than Auntie Anne's or Pretzel Time!! My kids ate all 12 within 10 minutes - I...
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Reviewed on Jan. 19, 2004 by KFAIRCHI
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KFAIRCHI
Jan. 19, 2004
Update to my review from over a year ago... I'm still making these pretzels and love them because they are soooo easy. I've found the sea salt is the absolute best thing to top them with (but be sure to use kosher salt in the dough), Excellent recipe! I've found it is best to add 3.5 cups of flour and slowly mix in the final half cup as I'm kneading the dough. I've made these at least 4 times in the past 2 weeks. They freeze up great! Just thaw and pop in the oven for a couple minutes for an awesome snack!!
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34 users found this review helpful
Update to my review from over a year ago... I'm still making these pretzels and love them...
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Reviewed on Jan. 28, 2007 by loves2cook
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loves2cook
Jan. 28, 2007
WOW!! These pretzels are absolutely amazing. They were soft and chewy on the inside, awesome flavor, with that great authentic thin "pretzel" crust on the outside. I spooned the melted butter over them after baking which soaked in and was just perfect. My husband described them as "heavenly", haha, never heard him use that one before! Next time I will bake at maybe 415 or lower to keep them from being too brown before being done in the middle. I've been searching for a pretzel recipe and this one was much easier than most that I found. Tip: let dough rise in your oven, no heat, just turn on the oven light. Provides a draft free, warm place for dough to double flawlessly. Also use a damp kitchen town instead of plastic wrap to cover bowl and you won't have a dry crust to your risen dough. I do this with all of my bread recipes!
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29 users found this review helpful
WOW!! These pretzels are absolutely amazing. They were soft and chewy on the inside, awesome...
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Reviewed on Aug. 14, 2006 by
UMM-OMAR
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UMM-OMAR
Aug. 14, 2006
I couldn't understanding why other reviewers had such a hard time with the dough....then it dawned on me, I did not follow the instructions. I looked at the water, yeast, salt sugar content, mixed all those together and THEN added as much flour as it could hold. That is what I do for all breads, because the amount of flour can vary according to type, weather etc. I found it very easy to knead and roll out. I faced the problem of them sticking to the pan (I don't have a non stick pan). I oiled the pan well, but the water from the soda mixture caused them to stick somewhat. I was suprised I did not read another reviewer having the same problem. We brush with butter when they come out of the oven and drizzle with honey. Thanks for the great recipe.
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29 users found this review helpful
I couldn't understanding why other reviewers had such a hard time with the dough....then it...
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Reviewed on Aug. 10, 2007 by
manda2525
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manda2525
Aug. 10, 2007
As I was reading the reviews, I was pretty unsure about how it was going to turn out. I halved the recipe, because it is just my boyfriend and I, and this was my only mistake! I made them as the recipe stated, using the dough hook on my mixer. I added flour until the dough was no longer sticky, so I do not know exactly how much I ended up using. When rolling out the dough I came up with a trick. You need to make them much thinner than you think, so i rolled small pieces into thin (like about the thickness of a finger) sticks, then joined two together to get them as long as I needed them to twist. I made the dough quite thin, but they puff up a lot, do not worry! I also dipped my pretzels in the baking soda mix, which I think really makes the whole pretzel. When they cook they get this browned yumminess on the bottom, that tastes JUST like the ones at the mall. I just drizzled them with butter and a little kosher salt when they came out warm... they were gone right after that. Will make again and soon!
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22 users found this review helpful
As I was reading the reviews, I was pretty unsure about how it was going to turn out. I halved...
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Reviewed on Jan. 23, 2005 by PTURKEL
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PTURKEL
Jan. 23, 2005
I've been using this recipe for a few years, and have found it to be my most popular bread. My friends STRONGLY encourage me to bring pretzels to most events. A few recommendations- use higher gluten flour to get a little more chewiness. I always need at least 1 1/2 cups of water, sometimes more. The softer the dough, the easier shaping the pretzels is. I bring the soda solution almost to a simmer and soak the pretzels for about 10 seconds each. I also only use 2 or 3 tsp of yeast.
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22 users found this review helpful
I've been using this recipe for a few years, and have found it to be my most popular bread. My...
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Reviewed on Sep. 15, 2003 by SIYA
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SIYA
Sep. 15, 2003
These were DELICIOUS! They taste just like the ones at the mall. They're that good. But I did read the reviews before hand, and decreased the flour. As an alteration I used brown sugar instead of white, I think it tastes better.
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21 users found this review helpful
These were DELICIOUS! They taste just like the ones at the mall. They're that good. But I did...
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