I found this recipe in the Penzey’s catalogue and thought, well that is just cruel. This is so simple and oh so good. It is terrifying for me to know how to make such addictive foods quickly, easily, and with ingredients I usually always have on hand.
1 ¼ cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 Tbs rapid rise yeast
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups bread flour
1 ½ - 2 cups all purpose flour
4 cups water
4 Tbs baking soda
Pretzel Seasonings: Flake salt, garlic powder, cinnamon and sugar, etc.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for a few minutes, until it is frothy. Add the sugar and 2 cups of bread flour, stirring well. Add the first cup of the all purpose flour and stir to combine again. Turn the dough out onto the kitchen table and add as much of the remaining all purpose flour as needed to make a soft dough. Add a sprinkle of flour at a time while kneading, as soon as the dough starts to stick. Knead for about 10 minutes or until you have a nice smooth elastic dough ball. Form a ball and place in a bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. It doesn’t have to double in size but it should be substantially bigger.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Divide the dough into 12-18 pieces. Bring the 4 cups of water to a low boil and dissolve the 4 Tbs baking soda.
Roll each piece of dough in a “snake” about 18” in length. Twist into pretzels and pinch the ends into the turns they cross over to hold in place. Dip each pretzel one at a time into the water for 5-10 seconds, making sure to get the water over the top of the pretzel. I hold the pretzel on a slotted spoon and this seems to work well. Shake off most of the excess water and place on baking sheets greased or lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with your seasoning of choice and bake for 6-8 minutes.
The pretzels will look done on the top before they are brown on the bottom so lift them with a spatula to check they are done on the bottom before taking out. Remove quickly to a cooling rack to cool.
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