Quick Soft Pretzels

Up until very recently, I had zero idea how easy pretzels were. Did you know this?? Well, whether you did or didn’t, I am just now discovering it and man were they easy. The kneading is really what takes the most time but if you have Netflix streaming on your laptop in front of you or you’re listening to a great podcast (see: Modern Love or The Moth) or maybe you’re jamming out to this, it’s all good. Trust me when I say: if we have an hour, we can make these and we GOT this.

Couple of things I learned along the way:

• Have your water already coming to a boil when you start the kneading process so it’s ready to go.

• The dough is about feel - you’re looking for slightly dry and not super sticky. Make sure to pay attention if it’s crumbly though. We don’t want crumbly. Adjust with flour or sprinklings of water while you knead, depending on how it feels.

• There are no flavor restrictions when it comes to pretzels - you do what you want and no one absolutely “needs” pretzel salt (sorta pun intended). I used a course french sea salt but there are SO many fun and flavored salts out there to try.

Quick Soft Pretzels

From Joy the Baker (the master herself)

THE WATER

10 -12 cups water

1/2 cup baking soda

THE PRETZELS

1 1/2 cups warm water (approximately 110℉ straight out of the tap from your faucet)

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast (you could you instant yeast, too)

1 tablespoon + a pinch granulated sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I use Diamond Krystal)

3 3/4 – 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (we’ll break it down below)

THE EGG WASH

1 egg

splash of water

coarse salt + pepper (or whatever you’d like on your pretzel that sounds delicious to you!

THE PREP

Place your two oven racks in the middle and upper third spots in your oven. Preheat to 400℉.

Place parchment paper on two rimless cookie sheets and spray the parchment lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Set a large pot of water over a medium-high heat on the stove to come to a boil while you make the pretzel dough. Have the 1/2 cup of baking soda ready for later. We’ll add this right before we boil our pretzels.

THE PRETZEL DOUGH

Add the warm water to a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Add a pinch of sugar overtop of the yeast. Measure out 3 cups of the flour and dump on top of the yeast/sugar mixture. Add salt and the measured tablespoon of sugar on top of the whole thing. Use a firm spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture together - it will be very, very sticky. This is good.

Measure out 3/4 cups more of the flour and place in a small bowl - this is what is known as “bench flour”. Bench flour is the measured flour we’ll use on our bench (or counter top) to both dust and knead into the dough. It’s a great practice to measure out the bench flour to prevent accidentally kneading in a TON of flour accidentally and resulting in tough pretzels. Plus, you know exactly how much flour you’ve added at the end of your recipe. It’s about control. Set the bowl aside.

Add the last 3/4 cups of flour (not the bench flour) to your sticky dough and stir again to combine. At this point, it should look like a moist, shaggy dough ball.

Using your bench flour, generously dust a clean countertop and your hands with the measured flour. Using your floured hands, coax the dough out of the bowl onto your prepped counter. The dough will be soft and a little sticky. Begin to knead the dough, slowly adding the bench flour from the bowl, for 5 to 7 minutes. If your hands begin to get sticky, add a little more flour to them/the dough and continue kneading. Any little bits of dough that are on the counter, just re-knead those suckers back into the dough. You’re looking for a smooth, slightly sticky dough that is supple and has a little bounce in it when you are done. The slight tackiness of the dough is what you want, as it will allow the dough to roll easily on the counter in a minute.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and have those pieces off to the side with a large amount of counter space in front of you. I didn't weight my dough - I jut eyeballed it. Looked right to me but feel free to weigh yours if you’re wanting to be more exact.

Lightly dust the counter with flour (you still want the dough to be able to grab the countertop a little as they roll, making this next process easier - it adds tension). Begin to roll the first portion of dough into a rope on the counter. My ropes ranged were each between 20 to 25 inches in length with slightly tapered ends.

Once you have your first long rope, take the ends up/away from you, give them a single twist, and then bring them towards you, pressing the tails down onto the bottom 7 o’clock and 5 o’clock positions on your pretzel. Adjust your shape if you want and set your first pretzel aside at the top of your lightly floured counter - you did it! Repeat the process with the remaining 7 dough balls until you have 8 pretzels.

Check your water - is it boiling yet? If so, add the baking soda now. It will fizz up and immediately settle. It shouldn’t fizz out of the bowl but it may bubble enough to splash for a second. Once the fizzing subsides and it’s back to a consistent boil, we are ready to boil our pretzels.

Working two at a time, gently lower your pretzels into the boiling water. You will want them to simmer for only about 30-45 seconds, so use a timer to prevent over-boiling. To remove the pretzels from the water, use a spider or large slotted kitchen spoon to remove the pretzels, letting them drain well. Place them onto the prepared baking sheets. Repeat the process, in groups of two, with the remaining pretzels.

For savory pretzels, you’ll need an egg wash. Whisk together the egg and a splash of water in a small bowl. Gently brush the egg wash over the pretzels with a pastry brush, avoiding any major pooling of the egg mixture on or around the pretzel. Sprinkle generously with your salt, seasonings, or whatever you’re putting on your pretzel.

Bake the pretzels for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pans once during the baking time. They will puff up, crack a little, and become a beautiful golden brown as they bake. Once the bake is complete, remove from the oven, let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, and then finish cooling on a wire rack. Enjoy however you’d like - with butter, mustard, beer cheese, or maybe even for breakfast with an egg and bacon. Eat, share, and be one with the pretzel!