Saturday, October 31, 2009

Homemade Soft Pretzel



I was not a fan of pretzel before until I tasted the soft pretzel selling in the Malls. I was then hooked on this soft pretzel. Whenever I was shopping at the Malls, I always got attracted by the delicious looking large soft pretzels. With the sweet tooth that I have, I prefer the sweet pretzel. I don't know, we Asian seem to prefer sweet bread instead of salty. However, pretzel is not cheap, at almost $3 a piece, it needs some consideration on my part. Am I willing to spend that much for a pretzel? I guess occasional treat would do. But fear not, soft pretzel is not that hard to do and I can easily made a bunch for less than $3. I made mine in salty version because I thought it would be better for freezing. I didn't prove mine long enough as they were harder than my first attempt.





Adapted from
Sugarlaws.

Ingredients: (Yield 1 dozen, small size pretzels)

(A)

  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast
  • pinch of sugar
  • 2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. warm water
(B)
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp. oil
(C)
  • 3 Tbsp. baking soda
  • 1 cup hot water
(D)
  • 1. Sea salt + garlic powder/sesame seeds
  • 2. Maple syrup/honey + cinnamon powder


Method:


1.
Put (A) in a bowl, stir well and let stand 10 minutes, until creamy colored. In another bowl, add in (B), stir-well. Add in (A) mixture and knead until a dough is formed.

2. Transfer the dough in a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rest until double in size. Time needed depends on the temperature in your kitchen.


3. Preheat oven to 425'F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.


4. When the dough has double in size. Cut it into half, divide into 6 balls. Take one ball and roll it into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough and continue with the other half of the dough. After all 12 long strands are rolled out, take the first one and stretch it out again and twist it into a pretzel shape (like pictures shown) and place on the parchment paper. Repeat and finish the rest.


5. Mix (C) together until baking soda is dissolved (I had a hard time making the baking soda dissolved, never completely dissolved for me). Dip each pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with (D) 1 for salty soft pretzel or (D) 2 for sweet soft pretzel (brush on maple syrup/honey). Or for plain pretzel, just sprinkle with sea salt.


6. Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Or freeze leftover for later, just microwave for about 50 seconds to reheat it.



Pretzel from my 1st attempt, nicely proved and very soft.



14 comments:

  1. Beautiful!!! I'm going to have to try this. Far healthier that Auntie Amy's or whatever....

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  2. Philly is famous of their soft Pretzel but I am not a fan of it. I find them too dry.The only Pretzel I eat is the one from Auntie Annie's with sweet caramel dipping sauce :)

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  3. Looks yummy! I love soft pretzels. Always so hard to resist when walking by the shop in the mall. I like mine with jalapeno. :) Gives it a little spicy kick.:P

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  4. First time on yr blog. I like those soft pretzels from the mall too. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  5. I have been looking for this recpe so long,Thanks for sharing.My kids love this, and like you said, the price selling outside is not cheap.I will defintely give a try soon.

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  6. love this! $3 a pop is indeed expensive. tks for sharing.

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  7. they looked so good :) thanks for the recipe

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  8. wah! your pretzels look as good as the ones from auntie anne's


    i too love sweet pretzels compared to savoury ones...but the one stuffed with cheese's also pretty good :)

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  9. Looks fabulous and nicely pleated! Who can so no to them? Goes well with a cup of coffee. ;)

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  10. I'm on braces now, so these soft pretzels are really suitable for "bo-ge" (toothless) me hehe

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  11. I only start to like pretzel when I realize they can be soft instead of the hard kind. I will sure add that to my to do list.

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  12. I just tried this recipe and it's really good. The only problem is the dough is kind of dry. I had to add 4 extra tbsp of water during the kneading process. Did I miss something? Other than that, the pretzels came out very soft and tasty. Thanks for the recipe!

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  13. Glad it turned out well for you Mickey. I am not quite sure how the dough felt at that time since I haven't made it for a long time.

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