EASY BUTTERY SOFT PRETZEL

These soft, delicious pretzel are fun to make. Enjoy. “Easy Buttery Soft Pretzel.”

Prep: 30 min  Cook Time: 25 min   SERVINGS: 8 pretzels 

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)

2 Tsp kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

4 ½ cups All purpose flour

1 Tbs brown sugar

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted +for brushing on finished pretzels

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Coarse Sea Salt or cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS 

• Warm the milk in a small saucepan 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. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and stir into the mix.
• Add the remaining flour and kosher salt to make a sticky dough. Add more flour if necessary to form dough into a ball. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
• 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 and cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 450 F. (230 C) Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

• Punch the dough to deflate it then turn the dough out onto a slightly floured surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 24-inch rope, slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch.
• Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
• Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan.
• Place the pretzels into the boiling water (one by one) for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. (re-shaping if necessary).Return to the sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel Coarse Sea Salt.
• Bake until golden brown 10 – 14 minutes. Melt remaining butter and brush on baked pretzels.

NOTES

• *If you prefer a cinnamon sugar topping, then brush with butter after baking and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
• ×TIP -to make cinnamon sugar you’ll need (1/2 cup sugar plus about 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon)your content here.

TIPS

Different Ways to Eat a Soft Pretzel

• • Toppings- pretzels with toppings are extremely popular. Common toppings include Parmesan, ranch, garlic, cinnamon sugar, raisin, jalapeno, almond crunch, and the special everything pretzel.
  • Add Dip-include honey mustard, cheddar cheese, pizza sauce, cream cheese, nacho cheese, caramel, and icing.

• • Pretzel Bites- One of the most popular alternatives is pretzel bites in a variety of flavors like Parmesan, ranch, garlic, cinnamon sugar, stuffed mozzarella, and sweet n’ salty.
  • Pretzel Rolls-Pretzel rolls are somewhere between an calzone and a stuffed pretzel. Designed to be more of a meal than a snack.
  • Pretzel Dogs-Pretzel dogs wrap an all-beef hot dog with a fresh, warm pretzel. These tasty treats fall somewhere between a meal and a snack. The perfect complement for pretzel dogs are honey mustard, cheese sauce or mustard
• Credit visualhunt.com