Twisted Soft Pretzels
Servings: 6 pretzels
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 package (2 1/4 tespoons) active dry yeast not rapid rise yeast
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar packed
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 teaspoon salt fine
- 1/3 cup baking soda
- to taste coarse salt
Instructions
- Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds.
- Do not taste or eat any raw dough or batter made with uncooked flour and/or raw eggs.
- Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it's 110°F or warm it in a microwave for about 30 seconds; pour the milk into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast rest for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup of the flour with a spoon. Melt 2 Tablespoons of the butter and stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and fine salt to make a sticky dough. Add more flour if necessary to form dough into a ball.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a clean, lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch.
- Form each into a pretzel shape – form a U-shape, then holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other, and press firmly onto the bottom of the pretzel.
- Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups of warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on a prepared baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
- Bake until golden, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove pretzels from oven.
- Melt the remaining 3 Tablespoons butter and brush on baked pretzels. The pretzels are best enjoyed fresh on the same day.
Notes
If you prefer a cinnamon sugar topping, omit the coarse salt. Brush with melted butter after baking and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.