Pretzels

Making Pretzels

Scald the milk (heated to steaming but not boiling) over the stove or in the microwave (we microwaved).  

Add butter, sugar and salt to the hot milk and mix to combine.  

In a separate bowl, dissolve the yeast in small amount of lukewarm water.  

When milk mixture cools (100-110 degrees F), add yeast and the egg white.  

Place the milk mixture in a large bowl and sift the flour gradually into the mixture.  It will produce a soft dough.  

Once combined, knead the dough for 3-4 minutes.  

Cover the dough in the bowl and allow to rise until doubled (about 1 hour).  

Punch down the dough, then roll out on a floured board to ¼ inch thickness.  

Cut the dough into strips ½- ¾ inch wide (or really, whatever thickness you want).  

Roll the dough to desired length and thickness, then twist into pretzel shape (numerous YouTube videos and instructions may be found on the web).  

Allow the shaped pretzels to rise (~ 30 minutes).

Fill a large shallow pan half full of water and alkalinize with baking soda (see the blog post for full discussion).  

Heat the water on the stove to a temperature of 190-200 degrees F (keeping it just under the boiling point).  

Place the pretzels into the bath gently with a slotted spatula, one at a time, for around 30 seconds, flip each pretzel once for another 30 seconds, then remove and drain on a board.  

Brush each hot-bathed pretzel with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with salt.  

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes on a buttered baking sheet with or without parchment until the pretzels take on a medium-to-dark brown hue. 

Read the Pretzel Blog Entry

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