Today was the last day of our stay at home order (what a fabulous start to 2021 we've had), and what better way to mark the occasion than a few hours spent in the kitchen whipping up one of the most exciting things I have baked in a long time. In all truth I have been avoiding baking pretzels for the longest time, mostly because I was afraid I could not possibly do justice to the soft, chewy pretzel I tasted in Frankfurt Airport almost 9 years ago; but as I have spent my most recent stints in the kitchen baking with yeast - see my super easy Focaccia, and then try my Iced Buns - I was fairly confident that this rainy Saturday would be the day I conquer this German treat.
A few tips I learnt while making pretzels:
Unlike a lot of bakes, you want this bread to be somewhat chewy, so the initial kneading time is significantly less than any other recipe I've created for a yeast dough.
The beautiful lines you typically see scored across the pretzel are created naturally during the proofing stage, and you will feel the dough has horizontal air pockets when you roll it out - do not squish the dough to get rid of this air.
You must grease your parchment paper with oil before putting the pretzels on it, otherwise they will stick.
The egg yolk and water wash you glaze over the top is absolutely the best wash I have ever used and will be adding it to more of my recipes in the future. Make sure you don't miss this step.
This yields 8 decent sized pretzels, though only 6 made it into the container as Mum and I could not possibly stop at our usual taste of half each. Serve these warm with softened butter for the ultimate pretzel experience. Now that I have successfully pulled off one of my most feared bakes, I will definitely be recreating them regularly, with lots of different flavour combinations to come.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cup Warm Water
1 Tbs Caster Sugar
2 Tsp Salt
1 Sachet (7g) Active Yeast
4 1/2 Cups Plain Flour
75g Melted Butter
Egg Wash:
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tbs Water
1/4 Cup Baking Powder
Extra Salt for Sprinkling
Let's Make These Pretzels:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the water, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and allow to dissolve for around 5 minutes. Do not stir in the yeast.
Once the mixture is foamy, add half the flour, and the melted butter, and stir with a metal spoon. Add the rest of the flour and mix until a rough dough is formed.
Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for around 5 minutes. The dough will become smooth and form into a ball easily.
Transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Allow dough to rest for 1 hour and it will double in size.
Pre heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius fan forced, and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Lightly brush the paper with oil to prevent the pretzels from sticking.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
Turn out your dough onto the kitchen bench (no need to flour), and divide into 8 equal portions.
Roll each potion out to around 50cm long, and shape into a pretzel. Form a U shape with the dough, then cross over at the top. Bring the tips of the rope down and firmly press into the bottom to stick together.
Once all pretzel shapes have been made, add the baking powder to the boiling water. Add one pretzel to the water and boil for 30 seconds. Transfer to the baking tray immediately and repeat with the rest of the pretzels, one at a time.
In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk and water, and brush generously over the top of each pretzel. Sprinkle pretzels with salt, and place in the oven.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops of the pretzels are golden brown.
Allow pretzels to cool slightly before serving.
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