Make this perfect pretzel at home to satisfy your craving for a salty crunchy crust and soft chewy bite. Rolled it into a classic twist, dinner roll, or bite-sized nibble, the addition of a little sodium hydroxide makes every inch of crust that beautiful glistening mahogany.
Ingredients
- 1.5g (½ tsp) Diastatic Malt Powder
- 2.5g (½ tsp) Dark Brown Sugar
- 480g (2 cups) Water 115°F
- 25g (1 tbsp) Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 15g (1 tbsp) Instant Yeast
- 800g (5 â…“ cups) Bread Flour (split in two portions of 400g)
- 20g (1 tbsp 1 tsp) Kosher Salt
- 50g (3 tbsp 1 tsp) Sodium Hydroxide
- 1kg (1 qt) Water
- Pretzel Salt for Dusting
Equipment
- Stand Mixer Equipped With a Dough Hook
- Baking Sheets
- Non Reactive Latex, Vinyl, or Nitrile Gloves
- Non Reactive Plastic Bowl or Stainless Steel Bowl
Timing
Active Time: 45 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours
Yield
12 Pretzels
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Stand Mixer
In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix together on low diastatic malt powder, brown sugar, water, butter, yeast, and 400g bread flour. Mix this until it resembles a lumpy batter.
Mix salt and the remaining 400g of flour. One spoonful at a time add the flour and salt mixture into the mixer. Once all is incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix for 8 minutes. The dough should be smooth, firm and slightly damp.
This recipe will make 12, 110g pretzels you can measure them individually or simply cut the dough into 12 equal portions by eye. We suggest cutting then weighing and adjusting from there. This will allow the pretzels to cook evenly.
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Proof and Roll Dough
Cover the dough with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 5- 10 minutes.
For a pretzel roll, simply roll the dough out into a 1 inch thick rope with tapered ends. Tie that rope into a single knot.
Once you have tied all the portions into knots allow them to rest on a sheet of parchment paper covered with a towel for 1 hour.
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Add Sodium Hydroxide
From here on out you need to wear gloves. Sodium hydroxide is caustic and can cause burns if you are not careful. Be sure to use a sturdy stainless steel or plastic bowl. Do not use aluminum or glass.
Pour the water into the bowl first, this will keep the sodium hydroxide from bouncing or splashing out of the bowl. Use a whisk to mix you sodium hydroxide into the water.
Once the pretzels have proofed for 1 hour at room temperature. It’s time to dip them. Put two pairs of gloves on for this.
Once the pretzels have proofed for 1 hour at room temperature. It’s time to dip them. Put two pairs of gloves on for this.
Get a stainless steel sheet pan or cookie sheet. Do not use any Non-stick cookware as it will ruin it. We like to use 2 sheets of wax paper with non stick cooking spray on the top layer. We find this is the easiest way to keep the pretzels from sticking.
Uncover the pretzels and peel them gently off the parchment. They should remove easily. Place them in the sodium hydroxide solution one at a time. After 5 seconds roll the pretzel over with a stainless steel spatula or other cooking utensils and let sit for another 5 seconds. Remove the pretzel with the spatula draining off any excess liquid before moving it to the sheet pan. Repeat this step for all of the pretzels.
Once this is finished, remove the top pair of gloves.
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Salt, Bake, and serve
Sprinkle the salt onto the pretzels, this is really to the liking. If you enjoy the salt load them up. If you don’t enjoy the salt as much go easy.
Bake the pretzels for 20 minutes at 425°F. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 205°F.
Once the pretzels are finished, remove the pan from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before removing them from the paper. Place them on a wire cooling rack and serve them warm.
Based on 4 Review(s)
10 Comments.
Do you need to heat up the solution prior to dipping the rolls or pretzels?
No, room temp works just fine.
Oh my these are good. I didn’t get the golden brown. I wasn’t sure if you had to wait an hour after you dipped in the water and baking soda. Also are you to do it twice?? I made hot dog buns. So I could surprise my husband he wanted crabby hot dogs. He saw them on a car show on TV. The pretzel rolls have a great taste. Thank you
I hope you’re dipping it in water and sodium hydroxide, not baking soda. ? You only need to dip it once.
Please please wear safety goggles when preparing and handling the sodium hydroxide solution!
Hello! What temperature should the butter be when adding it?
110F
The first time I made this recipe, it was terrible—it turned out I inadvertently used tortilla flour instead of bread flour. The next two times it worked out a little better, but this last time, they came out perfectly. I bulk proofed before dividing the dough; I used 125 g and a different shape, making 10 rolls; I refrigerated the dough balls for 15 min, and I added the lye very slowly to almost boiling water (stove turned off) based on a pretzel recipe I have. Too bad I can’t share the photo!
Mine aren’t dark color and the texture is all wrong!
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