Sourdough Soft Pretzels

Last spring, when the “New York Pause” of self-isolation began, our family enjoyed many special Happy Hours. My son tried every flavor of San Pellegrino soda and my daughter’s beverage alternated between lemonade and Arnold Palmer. We have limited these indulgences to once a week (if at all) at this point. 😉

The kids and I made these soft pretzels on a couple of these occasions. I loved that we all shaped them differently! We ate them with a variety of mustards and with warm queso (from Trader Joe’s) on another occasion. The melted butter was essential.

This recipe was adapted from King Arthur flour. I used active dry yeast and omitted the malt. Great.

For the Dough:

• 3/4 cup (170g) water
• 1 cup (227g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard
• 3 cups (361g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (35g) nonfat dry milk
• 2 tablespoons (14g) non-diastatic malt powder or 1 tablespoon (14g) sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast

To Garnish & To Serve:

• 2 tablespoons (28g) water
• pretzel salt
• 2 tablespoons (28g) melted butter
• yellow, deli, and coarse mustards, for serving, optional
• warm queso, for serving, optional

1. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper.
2. Mix and knead the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a cohesive, fairly smooth dough. It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, knead in an additional tablespoon or two of water.
3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes. It will rise minimally. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F, preferably on convection.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, fold it over a few times to gently deflate it, then divide it into 12 pieces, each weighing about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 ounces.
   
5. Roll each piece of dough into an 18″ rope. Shape each rope into a pretzel.
6. Brush the pretzels with water and sprinkle lightly with coarse pretzel salt.
7. Bake the pretzels for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Note: This is correct; there’s no need to let the shaped pretzels rise before baking.
8. Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush with melted butter, if desired. (We thought it was essential!)
9. Serve with a variety of mustards and/or queso, as desired.

About Josette@thebrookcook

I live in Stony Brook, New York on Long Island. I love garlic and baking. My hobby (and love) is to try new recipes. My favorite recipe resources include The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and Martha Stewart Living. Enjoy!

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