Pretzels

I wanted to make the German style pretzel with a crunchy exterior and a soft crumb. I think that comes from the water bath you put the formed dough in before you put it in the oven, and crank the oven temperature really high.

Here's my version of the German pretzels. The last time I used baking soda in the water bath, but this time I used brown sugar and I think that made a big difference. What is your trick for getting a crunchy, hard crust?


Pretzels

3 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Instant Dry Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Warm Milk
4 tbsp Brown Sugar (for the water bath)

Mix all the ingredients together. Knead for about 8-10 minutes or until smooth and silky.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a muslin cloth. Let the dough rise for about an hour. Gently deflate and divide into 6 parts.

Bring a quart of water to a rolling boil with the brown sugar. And preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Roll each part into a long rope (try to get it to about 22" to 24"). Holding each end, twist the two portions of the rope and the fold it back down. Watch this video for shaping instructions.


Gently lift each pretzel with a spatula and lower into the water. Keep it in the water by pushing down on it with the spatula. Let it boil for about 20 seconds per side. You can boil 2-3 pretzels at a time.

Transfer the pretzels to a lightly oiled baking tray. Sprinkle with Kosher salt. Place in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until a dark golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with mustard.


This is for Susan @ Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.

Other pretzels in this blog: Jalapeno Pretzels.