Friday, March 21, 2014

Soft Pretzel Heaven


Let me tell you, these soft pretzels are life changing.

I ate two in a row and had to force myself to stop before I accidentally polished all of them off.

Rumor has it, that somewhere on a road in Pennsylvania there is a woman who sells the world's best soft pretzels. She sells them out of the trunk of her car. My mom and aunt would always rave about these pretzels and would grab a couple every time they went to visit my grandmother. They knew the habit of this woman and could predict with shocking accuracy  if she would be selling pretzels that day based on how cloudy it was.

Since I was off getting a college education during most of what we'll call the Pretzel Phase I never actually saw this woman, thus keeping her in the category of myth and legend for the rest of my life. I think maybe one time I got to try a pretzel. Mom and Aunt Judy would sometimes bring extra pretzels home to freeze. That's how good they were. And I think it was one of these thawed pretzels that I got to sample.

Now I do not remember the exact taste of these legendary soft pretzels, but I would be so bold as to say that these pretzels rival those of pretzel lady. Only Mom and Aunt Judy can be the real judges of that.

The dough is easy to work with (not super sticky) and the taste is a little sweeter than the average soft pretzel. All good things in my book!

Ingredients: Water, active dry yeast, white sugar, flour, vegetable oil, baking soda, salt, and butter.

1. Start off by pouring 1 1/4 cups warm water over 1 tsp of white sugar and 4 tsp of active dry yeast. Just let this sit and get foamy while you mix the dry ingredients.

Side note: When I'm working with yeast I usually test the water for a good temperature by turning on the tap until the water is hot but not scalding. This is not the most scientific method, but it works for me. Water that is too hot kills the yeast, too cool and you'll be waiting forever for dough to rise.

2. Next, throw together 5 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp of salt.

3. Make a hole in the center of your flour mixture and add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and that yeast water mixture from the beginning. Mix components together and add another tablespoon of water or so if the mixture seems too dry. Knead the dough for a couple minutes until it has a smooth, even consistency.

4. Roll the dough into a ball and toss it in an oiled bowl. Roll the ball around once so it is covered in oil. I usually just spray a bowl with Pam. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it hang out and rise for about an hour. An oven or microwave turned off is a good place. Read a book, watch an episode of your favorite show, or make a quilt in the mean time.

6. Come back to your dough and get really excited when you find it has actually risen.

7. Pre-heat your oven to 450, and dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda into 4 cups of warm water.

8 Divide your dough into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a rope. Then twist it into a pretzel shape. Or your initial.

9. One at a time using your hands dip the pretzels into the baking soda/water mixture and put them on a baking sheet. The baking soda mixture gives pretzel that rich brown color. Don't skip this step.

10. Sprinkle some kosher salt on the pretzels and bake them for 8 minutes.

11. Melt about 1/2 stick of butter and using a pastry brush, cover the fronts and backs of the pretzels in a little butter.

I've halved this recipe successfully to make 6 pretzels. But why stop there, invite some friends over and enjoy 12 pretzels together.

Here is the link to the original recipe.

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