Hot Buttered Fluffy Pretzels

Have you ever waited in one of those really long lines at the mall for a soft pretzel? You know…the ones for Auntie Anne’s, or Wetzel’s Pretzels? You just can’t help it, right? You can smell that darned cinnamon sugar and butter wafting over from like 100 feet away.
Well try these at home, and you’ll never buy those mall pretzels ever again. There’s just no reason to anymore, because these homemade baked pretzels taste better and only cost a buck or two to make a whole tray.

Start by making a simple yeasted dough, and shape it into a ball.



Let the yeast work its magic and create these gorgeous bubbles.
Sometimes I just stare at the dough because it’s sooooo prettyyyyyy…



Divide up the dough into pieces, and roll each into a long rope.



Shape into pretzels by looping the rope through.



Sprinkle each pretzel with coarse sea salt and send them into the oven.



Bake until golden and puffed, then brush with butter.



Enjoy while they are hot!

Yield: 8 pretzels

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
• 12.5 oz all purpose flour (2.5 cups)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2.25 tsp instant quick rise yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
For the Topping:
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• vegetable oil for greasing the sheet pan
• coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.
2. Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. You could also do parchment paper if you can find one that's rated high enough (most parchment papers I've seen only go up to 420 degrees F).
4. Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (just cut it with a knife).
5. Whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. FYI it's not going to dissolve completely, and that's okay.
6. Roll each of the eight pieces into a long rope, and shape each one into a pretzel (see the step-by-step photos on the blog post to see how to do this).
7. Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let them rest for 10 minutes.
8. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven, so the bread can soak up all the buttery goodness. Mmm.
9. Enjoy while they are hot, and keep in mind these don't taste as amazing the next day. So this pretty much means that you're allowed to eat all of them now =) Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe adapted from Glenda's Hot Buttered Pretzels who adapted from King Arthur Flour.

http://www.fifteenspatulas.com/hot-buttered-fluffy-pretzels/