Pretzels
Submitted by: Tom Ford
These are large Bavarian style pretzels that are soft and chewy. Dip in hot honey mustard. Perfect for Oktoberfest celebrations.
Ingredients
Flour 490 grams (100%)
Starter 224 grams (46%)
Water 296 grams (60%)
Sugar 14 grams (3%)
Diastatic Malt Powder 3 grams (1%)
Salt 10 grams (2%)
Process
- Combine starter, water, diastatic malt powder, and flour. Autolyze for about 40 minutes.
- Add sugar and salt. Knead until smooth and elastic (5 to 10 minutes).
- Place dough in covered bowl and let it sit for about 40 minutes. Then stretch and fold. Repeat stretch and folds three more times (for a total of four stretch and folds).
- Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature.
- After the stretch and folds, proof the dough in the refrigerator overnight.
- When the dough is proofed, prepare two baking sheets by lining them with oiled parchment paper. You will shape the pretzels and put them on the baking sheets for the final proof.
- Turn the dough out ontol a lightly floured surface and divide it into six equal pieces.
- To shape the pretzels, roll each piece into a long “rope” (about 18 inches long). Pick up each end of the rope and lay it down on the counter in a “U” shape without letting go of the ends. Then simply twist the ends together two times to close the U and lay the twisted ends in the interior of the U.
- To form a pretzel lift the dough rope on either end and allow the middle to sit on the surface, forming a “U” shape. Twist the ends of the rope together 2x and fold the twist over and rest on the center of the “U”. Lift the pretzel by the two top loops and place on the oiled parchment paper.
- Place the formed pretzel on the oil baking sheet and form the next one. These are large pretzels, so I could only put three on each sheet.
- Cover each sheet with plastic wrap (I sprits oil on the pretzels so the plastic wouldn’t stick). Proof for about an hour.
- After an hour, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (2230 Celsius). At the same time, add about 100 grams of baking soda to 8 cups of water and bring to a boil.
- Boil each pretzel int the baking soda solution for 10 seconds per side. Place them back on the baking sheet after they’re boiled (I could only do one at a time in my pan).
- Make an egg wash by beating on egg and brush each pretzel with the egg wash. Sprinkle with Kosher salt. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pretzels are a golden brown.
Notes
- The hardest part for me was rolling out the ropes. If your surface has too much flour, they won’t roll–too little and they stick. After a few attempts I got the hang of it though.
- You can make smaller pretzels by using less dough and rolling out the ropes thinner