Pretzels

What can I say about these? They are pretzels. The big, soft kind. I've also used the same recipe to make pretzel buns where I didn't roll them out into ropes for the traditional shape.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C warm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp yeast (1 packet)
• 620g all purpose flour
• 4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
• 10 C water
• 2/3 C baking soda
• 1 egg yolk

Preparation

Combine warm water, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast on top. Set aside for a fewminutes until the yeast begins to foam.

Add flour and butter and mix on low speed with dough hook until combined. Turn the mixer speed to medium and knead the dough for 4-5 minutes until it is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Cover the bowl and set it aside in a warm place until it doubles in size. This should take just under an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly oil them.

Put the 10 cups of water and baking soda in a large saucepan. Ideally, it should be one with straight edges. You will be boiling the pretzels in this mixture one at a time, so pick something sized accordingly. You'll need enough water in there to cover the pretzels. Bring the liquid to a boil.

Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto an oiled surface. Divide the dough into eight pieces. For traditional pretzels, roll each piece into a 24" long rope and fold it into a pretzel shape. If you are making buns or rolls or similar, just make that shape with the pieces.

Beat the egg yolk with 1 tbsp water. Place the pretzles, one at a time, in the caustic water for 30 seconds each. Move them to the baking sheets and brush with the egg wash while the next one boils.

Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake until golden brown, around 12-14 minutes. Allow them to cool for five minutes before eating.