Soft Pretzels

Rainy day? Looking for something fun to do with the kids indoors? May I recommend a little old-fashioned pretzel baking?

A good soft pretzel recipe is something every mother should have in her repertoire. Afterall, kids love them, and they’re as much fun to make as they are to eat. Without a recipe to call my own, I scoured the Internet in search of the most appetizing recipe I could find. Two looked promising: the first was a traditional German-style soft pretzel, similar to the street vendor variety; the second was supposedly a copy of Auntie Anne’s famous mall pretzels. I made both, and then lined up a taste test panel of picky pretzel eaters (a.k.a. my kids, their friends and my husband). The Auntie Anne’s copy was the hands-down winner. The more traditional German-style pretzels were a bit dense and chewy (much like they are on the street), but the replicas of Auntie Anne’s were light, a touch sweet, and deliciously buttery (much like they are at the mall).

I should warn you: your kitchen will definitely get a light dusting of flour. But it’s worth it…kids love the fun, the mess, and - of course – eating the finished product. Enjoy these fresh on the same day.

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Soft Pretzels
adapted from Food Network
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
5 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 tablespoons for dough, 3 tablespoons for brushing on finished pretzels)
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
Coarse salt, to taste

Directions

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it’s about 110 degrees (alternatively, warm it in the microwave for about 40 seconds); pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup of the flour with a wooden spoon. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 ¼ cups flour and fine salt to make a sticky dough. Add more flour if necessary (you’ll probably need a few tablespoons) 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.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick 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).

3. Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on a prepared baking sheet (re-shaping if necessary) and sprinkle lightly with course salt. Bake until golden, 10 – 12 minutes. Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter and brush on baked pretzels.

*If you prefer a cinnamon sugar topping, omit the coarse salt. Brush with butter after baking and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar (1/2 cup sugar plus about 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon)