Looking for the ultimate Super bowl snack? You will love making this soft pretzel recipe. It’s fun to make, flavorful and delicious, soft and chewy on the inside with a golden brown spicy exterior. Homemade soft pretzels are easier to make than you think with just a few ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. Get the kids on board to help. They will enjoy shaping the dough into the twisted knot which resembles a heart shape and can serve double duty as a Valentine’s Day treat. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- salt
- 4 and ½ cups flour, more if dough is too sticky to work with
- 4 tablespoons margarine, melted
- Pam
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 egg, beaten with one teaspoon water
- everything topping
Place the 1 and ½ cups warm water, sugar, salt, and yeast into the large bowl of a mixer.
Add the flour and the margarine, and using the dough hook, mix until well combined. Increase to the speed to medium high and knead the dough with the dough hook until the dough feels soft and pulls away from the sides. If it is a humid day and the dough is very sticky, add some more flour, a little at a time until you get the dough to the desired consistency.
Place the dough into another mixing bowl that has been sprayed with Pam, cover with a kitchen towel, place in a warm area in the kitchen and allow to rise until doubled in bulk. This usually takes about 1 to 1½ hours.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Lightly spray with Pam.
Bring the 10 cups of water and baking soda to a rolling boil in a very large sauté pan or Dutch oven.
Punch down the dough and place on a lightly floured pastry board. Divide the dough into twelve equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope that is about 18 inches. Make a u shape with the rope, then cross each end over the other twice and pinch them to the bottom of the pretzel, forming the traditional pretzel shape. Repeat with the remaining ropes until you have 12 pretzel shapes.
With a large spatula, lift one pretzel at a time and place in the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Repeat this process with all 12 pretzels.
Brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg glaze, sprinkle with everything topping, then place in the oven for about 14 minutes until golden brown in color.
Allow to cool a few minutes and serve while they are still warm.
Make 12 Pretzels
Adapted from Alton Brown
