Spirited Essence Works

What better to compliment your beer than a soft pretzel. I made these for our Super Bowl party,  but they are just in time for the upcoming baseball season. They would be a great addition to watching any of your favorite team’s games. You can serve with a side of mustard, cream cheese icing, or just by themselves. 

Soft Pretzels

Prep Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Cook Time: 14 mins

Total Time: 1hr 29 mins

Yield: 8 pretzels

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of warm water

1 Tbsp of sugar

2 tsp of salt

1 package active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups of flour

1/4 cup of butter, melted

10 cups water

1/3 cup baking soda

1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp of water

Pretzel Salt

Directions:

Mix the water, sugar and salt in standing mixer bowl and stir in yeast. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 

Add in flour and butter and, using the dough attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then grease bowl. Put dough back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil.

Boil the 10 cups of water and baking soda in a saucepan.

Knead the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. 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 greased piece of parchment paper.

Put each pretzels into the boiling water seperately for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water and place on baking sheet. Brush each pretzel with the egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake 12-14 minutes. Let cool for 5 mins.

Enjoy!